Evolution Quadrupedalism

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.

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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.

For many animals, the ability to move is essential for survival. Animals move for a variety of reasons such as: to find food, a mate, a habitat to live in, or to escape predators. It is important for animals to develop new abilities and traits to accomplish these necessities of living. Natural selection has shaped the locomotion methods and mechanisms used by moving organisms for millions of years. Generally, non-human primates are studied to garner an understanding of evolution caused by natural selection because of the many distinctive adaptations that have occurred within their taxonomic order. To understand the origin of locomotion that exist amongst primates, the two categories of primates must be analyzed to recognize morphological trait differences. Then, three major determinants can be evaluated to describe the variety of locomotor patterns primates display: the ecological niches in which the primate originates, the current inhabited niches, and the major key aspects of survival such as

Primates first evolved from the trees of tropical forests, later to the ground. Through the times of promisians 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

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

Another likely possibility is that a single rafting event resulted in a transoceanic colonization due to continental drift. Bearded capuchins are classified as robust capuchins one of the 2 classifications. The other being gracile which are monkeys with long limbs in relative size to their torso. It is theorized that the formation of the Amazon River led to the separation between robust and gracile capuchins. The advantage that the robust monkeys have over the gracile monkeys is that in adapting robust forms due to environmental changes, their physiological structure has allowed them to be able to exploit the hard nuts of unripe palm fruit and unripe fruits. Robust capuchins, particularly wild bearded capuchins are noted for their ability to adapt to less nutrient rich, diversely vegetated areas by adopting bipedalism. This was necessary in developing tool use by using hard, rigid stones to crack open palm nuts. The evolution of bipedal locomotion in bearded capuchins meant an increase in metabolic functions as muscle became leaner and indistinct and an increased blood supply to the lower limbs. The evolutionary advantage to bipedalism was largely the ability to carry larger loads, and larger stones, as the organisms did not have to exert as much energy as the species’ evolved

Humans are the weirdest species I have ever encountered; they are so different from an Australopithecus afarensis (A. afarensis) like me. Humans are way taller than me, an average human is about 69.4 inches for males and 63.8 inches for women (Statistic Brain RSS, 2014) while men of my species barely pass 4 feet and women barely reach it (Australopithecus Afarensis, 2014). Although my species has similarities to humans, like bipedalism, the ability to walk on two legs, and a similar dental structure, we are completely different because our ape-like ancestors (Australopithecus Afarensis, 2014). A. afarensis ancestors are very primitive and closely resemble apes that they actually look like them but, due to the fact that they are evolving, they have distinctive features that make them human. Humans and A. afarensis are different because of their exponential maturity, sexual dimorphism, and hair density, making them more human than we actually think.

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 Arboreal Hypothesis suggests that biped that are ground running had its adaptations in trees, such as leaping from tree to tree. Later on the feathers became important for jumping and parachuting. The cursorial hypothesis suggested that a reptile might transform or evolve scales on the arms. The scales could generate lift as the arms were flapping, thus making the animal take leaps which transformed into powered flapping flight.