Easy to gain but hard to lose: the evolution of the knee sesamoid bones in Primates-a systematic review and phylogenetic meta-analysis

Abstract

Sesamoids are variably present skeletal elements found in tendons and ligaments near joints. Variability in sesamoid size, location and presence/absence is hypothesized to enable skeletal innovation, yet sesamoids are often ignored. Three knee sesamoids-the cyamella, medial fabella and lateral fabella-are present in primates, but we know little about how they evolved, if they are skeletal innovations, or why they are largely missing from Hominoidea. Our phylogenetic comparative analyses suggest that sesamoid presence/absence is highly phylogenetically structured and contains phylogenetic signal. Models suggest that it is easy to gain but difficult/impossible to lose knee sesamoids and that the fabellae may have similar developmental/evolutionary pathways that are distinct from the cyamella. Sesamoid presence/absence is uncorrelated to the mode of locomotion, suggesting that sesamoid biomechanical function may require information beyond sesamoid presence, such as size and location. Ancestral state reconstructions were largely uninformative but highlighted how reconstructions using parsimony can differ from those that are phylogenetically informed. Interestingly, there may be two ways to evolve fabellae, with humans evolving fabellae differently from most other primates. We hypothesize that the 're-emergence' of the lateral fabella in humans may be correlated with the evolution of a unique developmental pathway, potentially correlated with the evolution of straight-legged, bipedal locomotion.

Keywords: cyamella; evolution; fabella; primate; sesamoid.

Figure 1.

Marginal ASRs of the cyamella in primates using (a) ARD and (b) 1HRA evolutionary models. Pie charts indicate proportional likelihoods of the presence (black) and absence (white) of cyamella at each node. (b) The absence values for hidden and observed rates are summed. Scale bar = 10 Myr.

Figure 2.

Marginal ASRs of the lateral fabella in primates using (a) ARD and (b) 1HRP evolutionary models. Pie charts indicate proportional likelihoods of the presence (black) and absence (white) of cyamella at each node. (b) The presence values for hidden and observed rates are summed. Results for medial fabella are similar and are given in the electronic supplementary material. Scale bar = 10 Myr.

Figure 3.

Results from stochastic mapping for ARD models. (a) Presence; (b) majority. The black colour indicates that the sesamoid is present, and the green colour indicates the absence. Scale bar = 10 Myr.

Figure 4.

Results from a simulation, stochastic mapping for the HRP model, presence dataset and lateral fabella. The black colour indicates that the sesamoid is present, grey colour indicates the hidden rate present (1P) and green colour the absence. Scale bar = 10 Myr.