German scientists from the University of Tübingen discovered that some Australopithecin species can use tools. This is indicated by the anatomy of the hands, which is close to the hand structure of modern humans. The study was published in the scientific journal broadcasting Journal of Human Evolution (JHE).
The team compared the muscle structures in the arms of three Australopithecin species: A. afarensis, A. africanus and A. sediba. The analysis was carried out using modern human, Neanderthal, gorilla, chimpanzee and orangutan hand models to examine the biomechanics in detail.
The Australopithecus species studied lived in Africa from 3.9 million to 1.8 million years ago.
The results showed that A. sediba and A. afarensis have muscle attachment patterns that suggest they have an anatomical basis for manipulative activities similar to humans.
This implies that these species are engaged in tasks necessary for tool use, such as strongly grasping and manipulating objects in their hands.
A. africanus exhibited a combination of attachment characteristics that suggest the use of both human and monkey hands. This mosaic pattern suggests the universality of manual behavior, potentially driven by tool-related activities.
The oldest stone tools found date back to approximately 3.3 million years ago. However, scientists noted that it is not yet possible to determine who exactly uses them.
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