Ardipithecus Ramidus Essay

The changes in morphology that resulted from selection for bipedalism included a readjustment of the pelvis and changes in the major locomotive muscle attachments. Habitual bipedalism necessitated a reduction in the gap between the sacroiliac joint and acetabulum, with a reduced sagittal breadth. Though the pelvis of early hominids differs from that of modern humans, but still had the traits necessary for habitual bipedalism. The Australopithecine pelvis is more similar to humans than to chimpanzees (Lovejoy, 1988): The blade of the illium is longer and wider in chimpanzees than in Australopithecus or Homo. This obvious difference is due to the functions of the pelvis in each species’ body, like being a weight bearing bone versus. Australopithecus afarensis, particularly Lucy, had a mosaic of anatomical traits featuring both human and apelike features. The short pelvis and broad iliac blades which curve around the side forming the area of gluteal muscle attachment confirmed that Au. afarensis was at least a habitual biped (Lovejoy,

They found that Au. ramidus had very similar characteristics to Sahelanthropus Tchadensis an ancestor that dates to 6-7 million years ago. Ardi had a foot that was primitive and had an opposable big toe which was most likely used to grab on branches. She also had a long and curvy spine just like humans. Its pelvis was large like those of apes and had short and broad shoulders suggesting it had a lower center of mass and could possibly walk on one leg at a time. But it is also thought that it was still spending a lot of time in the trees as well. Thus, why it is thought to be intermediate form of bipedalism it lived in both worlds, walking upright, and climbing trees, equal success in both biospheres. Although Ardi is not the connection to apes it still served to prove that the ancestor of apes was a lot more primitive than we believed. There are still several questions to be answered in this puzzle called our ancestry. It may seem that more questions arise as more clues are found, but that is science, there would be no intrigue left if all questions were

Purposely difficult and intentionally obsessive, Plato’s Phaedrus is an exceedingly difficult read that defies all conventional logic as a piece of discourse. The text is extremely subjective, open to interpretation and individual creativity as to what or whom the narrative is about. Written by Plato, a close disciple of Socrates, this text is set along the Illissus river where Phaedrus and Socrates meet for a day of speech, debate, rhetoric and okay…flirting. Phaedrus leads of the day and recites a speech by his close friend Lysias, who Phaedrus considers to be a top speechmaker. Socrates then, after chiding by Phaedrus unleashes two speeches of his own that overshadow and refute Lysias claim so boldly that Phaedrus is so taken by the

Michel Brunet and his team found the fossil in the sand dunes of northern Chad after “a decade of digging”(Whitfield 2002). This discovery is most definitely a new one and one that will cause the reinterpretation of all previous hominid research. What makes this find so spectacular is that the structure of the skull suggests a being that walked upright, though it lived in a time when apes and chimpanzees also existed. “Sahelanthropus has many traits that shout ‘hominid’. These include smaller canines, and thicker tooth enamel than apes. And the point at the back of the skull where neck muscles attach suggests that Toumai walked upright”(Whitfield 2002). The key to this discovery, Brunet believes, is the back of the skull that suggests a muscle attachment for upright walking ability, which supports the scientist’s theory that

Afropithecus is a fairly large extinct ape- 50kg, characterized by a lack of a prehensile tail, long snout with procumbent incisors, generalized limb proportions and thick molar enamel. The braincase of Afropithecus is fairly small in size compared to other Miocene apes and Old World Monkeys from the same area. The primitive characteristics of Afropithecus suggest a relation to early catarrhines- such as Aegyptopithecus. And the post-cranial fossil record suggest that it was both arboreal and quadrupedal, similar to the proconsul that Afropithecus is categorized

This article shows how Paleoanthropologist David Lordkipanidze and his group of archeologist discovered a 1.8 million-year-old skull fossil that could lead to knowing more about the earliest known ancestors of humans that ventured outside of Africa. Lordkipanidze’s excavation in the Georgia site known as Dmanisi. With this archeology find, it has been concluded that all early fossil humans belong to the same species known as Homo erectus. The article explains that the Dmanisi hominins had brains less than half the size of a modern human’s, and are key to understand the evolution and expansion these ancestors experienced from Africa to Eurasia. Genetic studies indicate that their expansion began from Africa about 1.9 million years ago. The article also mentions that with these new findings there can be a better ground from where to start to understand these ancestors as how they lived and socialized. Lordkipanidze does mention that the Dmanisi “were very primitive, we think there were social groups that connected with each other and learned from each other”.

The Australopithecine are some of the earliest known hominids and they embody many characteristics that are associated with bipedalism. Bipedalism is a highly specialized and unusual form of primate locomotion that sets modern humans apart from all other living primates as we are the only extant obligate bipeds. Many evolutionary biologists and paleoanthropologists have devoted innumerable research hours to attempting to understand this unique form of locomotion and how it evolved. A number of interdependent morphological adaptations occurred over a long period of time to solve challenges posed by habitual bipedalism. As a result, there are differences that exist between early and late hominin species.

Bipedalism is a highly specialized and unusual form of primate locomotion that sets modern humans apart from all other living primates as we are the only extant obligate bipeds. Many evolutionary biologists and paleoanthropologists have devoted innumerable research hours to this unique form of locomotion. While much of the extinct taxa within Hominidae were bipedal, but the degree to which they were bipedal remains the subject of considerable debate. The significant discoveries of fossil hominin remains in the last 40 years have resulted in this debate becoming increasingly focused on how bipedal certain fossil taxa were rather than on the overall process. Although the early hominin fossil record remains poor, evidence points to at least

But why was bipedalism so critical to human evolution? It is the earliest human feature to have evolved in hominins. Darwin felt that it was to free up the hands for making of tools and weapons. However, the first stone tools don’t appear until approximately 2.5mya, many years after the first evidence of bipedalism in hominids. A more logical explanation may be that bipedalism was selected simply because it is superior to walking quadrupedally. The Efficient Walker theory argues that bipedalism enabled hominids to travel further to locate food and fertile territory which coincided with the disappearance of Miocene forests and emergence of savannas in Africa.

The book identifies “Lucy” as an ancient demonstration of bipedalism and a bowl-shaped pelvis. Her species, Australopithecus afarensis, had both ape-like and human features. The adaptations she exhibited are an example a further branching off of species. Aside from bone structure, I found it logical that early hominids

The discovery of Ardipithecus Ramidus (Ardi) changed our whole insight of how humans evolved. The theory that we evolved from ape like species was disproven. Because of Ardi’s has close resemblance of qualities of both a chimpanzee and a human, she is thought to be the “missing link” between our last common ancestor and the Australopithecines. Ardi’s had a pelvis structure, which was evident that she was bipedal on the ground while she could also climb trees, using her long fingers and opposable big toe for grasping, however the flexibility that apes use to grab and scale tree trunks and vines she lacked. The way the hand, wrist and shoulder bones demonstration shown that she wasn't a knuckle walker and did not spend much time hanging or swinging

(Hunts 1996) Hunts goes on to say that early hominids developed arboreal bipedal from fruit gathering which evolved over time into what we know as bipedalism

Australopithecus ramidus was a hominin species. They dated back to 4.5 to 4.2 million years agosssfffffffffff

These two models provide insights into how bipedalism evolved from quadrupedal type of locomotion. Though the arguments are supported by numerous evidences, there are actually still a lot of things need to be explained, and they all seem to have something in common, which is to ensure the continuity of the

They have interpreted to different DNA analysis of bone fragments to show bipedalism. From the creature Ardepithecus ramidus, many different species of humans have developed from there.