Bipedalism Research Paper

The time interval that I analyzed this animal was from 11:30am to 11:50am and this monkey actually had a very active behavior and it was really a good experience to observe this monkey. The immediate physical description I was able to analyze from this primate was that it was black with a very long tail that later I was able to find out that it was actually a prehensile tail. The common behavior in this one was much walking and sitting during my analyzation. It was interesting to see the locomotion of this animal because I was able to see that it was both Quadrupedal and Bipedal. From the knowledge I have gotten from this class I know having that is a great advantage especially for the fact that it even uses it’s prehensile tail because it means they can travel for a much longer time compared to the primates that have only the locomotion of a quadrupedal. During my observation there was a point where the monkey was just prone on the cage and I thought it was almost going to pee on me because its genteel parts became very red so I stepped away from the cage. The primate at no time peed during my observation so that was a relief.

What evidence shows the changing from the early hominids to the modern humans? Throughout the human evolution body parts like legs and harms have changed for the better. By the early hominids being biped, meaning they are able to stand and even walk on two feet, it helped them to be able to do more things like getting around more and help with their tool making and hunting. A lot of the fossils discovered were found in the Great Rift Valley in East Africa, which contained many different lakes and small rivers. For many years researchers have been finding new species. These species have been named Australopithicus, robust australopithecines , Orrorin tugenensis, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, neanderthal, and Homo sapiens. These early

We share almost 99 percent of our genetic material with chimpanzees. Yet we have several traits that are very different. Two legged walking, or bipedalism seems to be one of the earliest of the major hominine characteristics to have evolved. To

I have to assume that the skulls that were closest to walking on four legs lived in environments with a lot of trees and high grounds. That being said, now I have to assume that our ancestors eventually found it easier to live in long plains and migrated which made them lose the need to be efficient on all fours, thus leading to bipedalism.

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 obvious differences that exist between early and late hominin species.

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

In the article “Born to Run” by Adam Summers, who is an assistant professor of bioengineering and ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Irvine, the author states that throughout time bipedalism has evolved to benefit endurance running. Summers also claims that bipedalism modern humans have differs from the one our early ancestors had. The author relies on the research by Dennis M. Bramble and Daniel E. Lieberman that have improved the understanding of human bipedalism and its evolution. According to Summers, the corrections made by Bramble and Lieberman’s research helped to draw a more accurate picture of an early human.

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

Primates first evolved from the trees of tropical forests, later to the ground. Through the times of prosimians to human, many characteristics has been represented due to the adaptations to new environments and resulted in evolutionary changes. The Earth has encountered several geological and climatic changes over time. For the primates existed at that time had to adjust itself especially in body configurations and locomotion in order to better survive. It is important to be aware of this information since we are the part of occurring changes as well. Throughout the evolution owing to the transforming environments interacting with natural selection, primates developed their own ways to move better (meaning changes in locomotion) with different types of bodies (meaning changes in body configuration).

First, evidence from the hominid fossil Ardy and archaeological evidence from the same area where Ardy was found points to the evolution of bipedalism in a woodland environment. This goes against the previous assumption that bipeds adapted to a more desolate environment. Additionally, it was also previously believed that bipedalism started with organisms that walked on two legs and their knuckles as a today’s chimp walk. However, there is no evidence in Ardy’s bones that it ever walked using its knuckles. On the other hand, Ardy possesses a short, broad hipbone which allows for bipedalism, but also a much longer lower half of the pelvis which would be more useful for climbing. Consequently, while Ardy could walk on two legs, it could not walk as well as future bipeds such as the fossil Lucy or modern humans. Lucy is often described as “the ape who stood up” and is further down the evolutionary track toward modern humans. This evolutionary adaptation to stand and walk on two legs opened great doors for humankind. Most important was the fact that walking on two limbs rather than four freed up our very special hands and empowered humankind to build tools and reshape the world as no creature could

Lizards also exhibit habitual bipedalism when they run. Ostriches, bears, and birds are more examples of this as well. The rise of bipedalism provides clues through fossil records, which in the long run helps to recognize species ancestral to modern day humans. “Though australopith material offers a strong case for habitual bipedalism, earlier hominins dating as far back as 7 Ma also provide exciting evidence for early bipedalism” (Fossil Evidence of Bipedalism). In the article Becoming Human: The Evolution of Walking Upright, research was done on a three-million-year-old South African Taung child where they came across a hole in the head where the spinal cord leaves and it being positioned further frontward underneath the skull than apes specifying that his head was held straight up and therefore was walking upright.

Approximately 4 million years ago a wonderful evolutionary phenomenon was happening in Africa. Early hominids, man’s ancestors, were beginning a giant leap in their evolution. These hominids were moving out of the forest and beginning to walk upright, out on the open plains (Fagan, 98). This change from quadrupedalism was the most significant adaptation that ever happened to these early hominids. It caused many adaptations that make man what he is today. This process occurred in early hominids for many different reasons, each reason helping to perfect the upright walking posture. Bipedalism is thought to have occurred because of changes in environment, feeding habits, thermal regulation, and

(Freidman 2006) However, fossil records do not provide enough information about the origin of bipedalism. There are many other theories on how our ancestors went from being quadrupeds to bipeds. One theory is the postural feeding hypothesis by Kevin D. Hunt in his article “The Postural feeding hypothesis: an ecological model for the evolution of bipedalism”. Owen C. Lovejoy created the provisioning hypothesis which can be found in his article “The Origin of Man”.

There has been much debate concerning the origins of bipedalism. Bipedalism, or the ability to move on two legs (eLucy, 2007) was said to have emerged due to climate change in East Africa, for sexual display purpose, to reduce exposure to sunlight, the need to use weapons and tools and many more (NOVA, 2013). There are numerous arguments associated with bipedalism as no one can be entirely sure as to what constituted to the emergence of this trait, which was first present in hominins Australopithecus Afarensis. Anthropologists claim that there is a missing link in the evolutionary lineage that makes it hard to confirm the real cause of bipedalism emergence. However, there are some models which are widely accepted by scientific world, such

The Australopithecines were the first to walk upright, or became bipedal, although rather clumsily. Their walk was unsteady, judging by their bone structure (Figure 1.), and they most likely were quadrupedal the majority of the time. The Australopithecines had a brain about the size of an orange, high up cheekbones, and big molars. They were about three feet tall, and had small thumbs. Australopithecines, while definitely possessing some human characteristics, humans are still much closer to the chimps. Australopithecines were vegetarians; even if they knew that animals were edible, they still had no reliable means of killing animals for food. About 2 million years ago, highly evolved Australopithecines made the