Functional aspects of Neandertal pedal remains.

The fossil foot remains of the Neandertals (immediate predecessors of anatomically modern humans in Europe and western Asia between about 100,000 and 35,000 to 40,000 years ago) indicate an overall pedal configuration for these prehistoric humans that was largely indistinguishable from that of modern humans. They had fully adducted halluces, longitudinal and transverse pedal arches, compact posterior tarsal regions, slight valgus deviation of the hallux, and abbreviation of the lateral toes. Their pedal remains differed from those of modern humans only in their tendency to be more robust and their relatively short proximal hallucial phalanges and associated elongated distal hallucial phalanges. The former is related to their habitual levels of physical activity, which were greater than those of modern humans, and the latter is a pleiotropic effect of a biomechanical adaptation in the pollex for strength during manipulation.