The development of the human foot as a résumé of its evolution

Abstract

The changes the human foot undergoes during its development are described as indications of structural and functional changes which might have occurred during the evolution of the vertebrate hind foot. The human foot, when compared to other vertebrate feet, appears to be a relatively minor modification of the plantigrade hind foot of the shrew-like insectivores that gave rise to all of the mammals. There is no developmental evidence to indicate that the first toe of the human foot was ever prehensile. Thus, the generally accepted evolutionary view, which depicts the feet of the early ancestors of modern human beings as having ape-like prehensile first toes, is seriously questioned.