Essay On Bipedalism

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

My hypothesis is was not supported since there was not a single organism that walked on four legs according to my data. I realized that just the general shape and condition of the skull didn’t correlate with how old it was, but the cranial capacity was the major determining factor. Every time humans evolved the need for their mental capacity increased and that’s evident in the skulls: the oldest having the smallest cranial capacity, the most recent having the largest cranial capacity. I also want to say that according to my data, our ancestors didn’t all just start walking on two legs one day, but the need to walk on two legs wasn’t there for a couple of our ancestors which is why some are so close to not being able to walk on two legs at all. That leads me to say that bipedalism was not dependant on when an organism was alive but where an organism was alive. As for prognathism, I also believe that

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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.

My whole life has been centered around the field of kinesiology. Since I was about four years old I have been involved in some sort of sport or physical activity and I have never wanted to change that. When I learned that there was a major that could revolve around sports and activity of which I love so much, I decided to throw myself fully into it. I have always been one to throw myself into whatever I am doing and challenge myself and set high goals. Therefore, I have chosen to go to medical school after my undergraduate education and become an orthopedic surgeon. Within the next ten years I hope to be on a hospital staff, improving my skills as a surgeon for sports medicine.

Scientist show the ancestors of humans and chimpanzees, and show the similarities between them. Scientist also use Darwin's theory to show the change over time and develop natural selection to compete in its environment. The purpose of this lab is to explain the theory of evolution by observing skulls fossils to prove the change from quadrupedal

After reviewing the evidence, I believe that Dr. Donald Johanson is correct in his theory that Lucy is the missing link between ape and man. The anatomy of Lucy supports Johanson’s claim. The knee joint of Lucy had an outward slanting angle away from the knee just like humans. Lucy reconstructed pelvis with its short and curved ilium indicates bipedal human qualities. Unlike the Piltdown man, Lucy stood the test of time, Johanson’s fossils through potassium argon dating was found to be at least 3-million-years-old proving the integrity of Johanson’s find. Similar archeological finds also validate Lucy. The 1976 Laetoli footprints support the theory that there were hominids walking upright during the time of Lucy. In 1924, Raymond discovered the Tuang child in South Africa, it displays similar qualities of Lucy, small brain and bipedal abilities. Additional finds by Robert Broom, Richard Leakey, and many other creditable paleoanthropologists further prove Johanson correct.

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 are many theories as hypotheses that attempt to explain why the appearance of bipedal creatures known as hominins. One possible scenario that could have contributed to the emergence of bipedalism among hominins is evolutionary advantages of being taller. By standing upright and walking on two feet, one is able to see things from a new line of vision. Standing upright would change eye level and would likely allow the hominins to see things from a greater distance. This could make hunting easier, as one would be able to spot prey from farther away. Furthermore,, hominins might be able to see possible predators from farther away and respond appropriately to avoid injury. Lastly, the increase in height could possibly act on sexual selection.

Peter, 103). Thus, bipedalism of living hominids is considered to be more efficient than quadrupedalism (Rodman, S. Peter, 104). The morphology of locomotion is often a comprise with other dimensions of existence (Rodman, S. Peter, 105).

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 next species to appear were the Homo erectus which might have descended from Homo habilis. They were the first human whose fossils were found outside of Africa. They also had larger brain than the species before them. Homo sapiens sapiens came after the Homo Neanderthalensis; they are the only human species around. This could have been due to the result of increase brain sizes that allows more cognitive abilities that help them adapt to different environment changes and hence survive. Global evidence have been found of art, music, and culture and advanced tool making. In Mithen’s 3 phase of mind proposes that the shape of the Neanderthals’ frontal lobe was similar to the one of the modern Homo sapiens and this indicated that they were able to cope with complex cognitive functioning. Evidence for this could be explained using the phonological approach by Frank Gall (1758-1828).