Home » MOCA » Domains » Behavior

Accurate Overhand Throwing

Certainty Style Key
Hover over keys for definitions:
True   Likely   Speculative
What is MOCA?
MOCA FAQ...
Human Uniqueness Compared to "Great Apes": 
Absolute Difference
MOCA Domain: 
Behavior
MOCA Topic Authors: 
MOCA Topic Author

Humans have the ability to accurately throw overhand. They can throw with aim and precision and improve both with practice. In contrast, apes cannot throw accurately overhand. They can throw with great force, and can fling their objects without much precision or aim. The aiming of underhanded throwing can be accurate in apes.

Related MOCA Topics
Related Topics:
TitleCertainty
Breadth of Corpus SterniiLikely
Fine Motor CoordinationLikely
Mirror NeuronsSpeculative
Referenced By:
TitleCertainty
Larger Size of Dentate NucleusSpeculative
Timing

Timing of Appearance of the Difference in the Hominin Lineage.

For this entry assume that

  • the common ancestor of humans and old world monkeys was 25000 thousand (25 million) years ago
  • the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees was 6000 thousand (6 million) years ago
  • the emergence of the genus Homo was 2000 thousand (2 million) years ago
  • the common ancestor of modern humans was 100 thousand years ago

 

Possible Appearance: 
6000 Thousand Years
Probable Appearance: 
2000 Thousand Years
Definite Appearance: 
100 Thousand Years
Universality in Human Populations: 

 Populational variation in humeral retroversion

Mechanisms Responsible for the Difference: 

Carpal kinematics

Elbow flexion

Expansion of the anteroposterior (AP) dimension of the upper rib cage

Increased AP upper chest depth (measured as the ratio of the chord length of the second rib to humeral length) 

Increased humeral torsion and retroversion

Mechanical effects on epiphyseal growth

Mirror neurons

Orientation of the glenoid fossa

 

 

References: 

Calvin, W.H. (1993) The Unitary Hypothesis: A common neural circuitry for novel manipulations, language, plan- ahead, and throwing? In Tools, Language, and Cognition in Human Evolution. K.R. Gibson and T. Ingold, Eds. Pp. 217-230. Cambridge University Press.

Calvin, W. H. (1983) A stone's throw and its launch window: timing precision and its implications for language and hominid brains. J. Theor. Biol. 104:121–35.

Calvin, W. H. (1982) Did throwing stones shape hominid brain evolution? Ethology and Sociobiology 3:115–24. 

Cowgill, L.W. (2007) Humeral torsion revisited: a functional and ontogenetic model for populational variation, Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 134: 472–480.

Ferrari P.F., S. Rozzi, L. Fogassi (2005) Mirror neurons responding to observation of actions made with tools in monkey ventral premotor cortex. J. Cognit. Neurosci. 17, 212–226.

Knusel, K.N.  (1992) The throwing hypothesis and human origins. Journal of Human Evolution 7(1): 1-7. 

Larson, S.G. (1988) Subscapularis function in gibbons and chimpanzees: implications for interpretation of humeral head torison in hominoids, Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 76: 449–462.

Leca, J.B., C.A.D. Nahallage, N. Gunst, and M.A. Huffman (2008) Stone-throwing by Japanese macaques: form and functional aspects of a group-specific behavioral tradition. Journal of Human Evolution 55 (6): 989-998.

Rizzolatti G. and L. Craighero (2004) The mirror–neuron System. Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 27, 169–192.

Wolfe,S., J. Crisco, C. Orr, and M. Marzke (2006) The Dart-Throwing Motion of the Wrist: Is It Unique to Humans? The Journal of Hand Surgery, Volume 31(9): 1429-1437.

Wood, J.N., D.D. Glynn, and M.D. Hauser. (2007) The uniquely human capacity to throw evolved from a non-throwing primate: an evolutionary dissociation between action and perception, Biology Letters 3: 360–364.