Theories Of Bipedalism

Why early hominins, the evolutionary ancestors of Homo sapiens, originally became bipedal is a source of contention among many physical anthropologists both today and in the past. There are multiple theories and models that have surfaced over the years to explain why these early hominins evolved to become bipedal, but because there is limited fossil evidence and very few intact pelvises from that time period to study, it’s difficult to conclusively conjecture about why this bipedal trait was initially selected for, and also what events or characteristics made bipedalism more useful to early hominins. One of the more interesting models to be developed on the subject of bipedalism was

Bipedalism, a locomotion that consist of the two lower limbs to move. This can be found in many animals, but it is considered more “optional” than “mandatory” as a way to transport. Some use it as a defense mechanism. In humans, it is one of the special characteristics that is used to differentiate the human species from the rest of the Hominidae family. Only humans have “mandatory” bipedalism. Other characteristics include massive brain size and the ability to make and use tools (Lovejoy,1988). It was discussed that because of going from quadrupedal to bipedal it cause many advancements such as brain development. Bipedalism was the biggest evolutionary change for the human ancestors. Nobody really knows the origins of bipedalism, but there are some theories that might explain it. It can be the freeing of hands to use tools or to hold and carry resources or offspring. It can be change of habitat from woodland to plain or use of defense mechanism to look beyond the plains for predators at further distance. It can also be energy efficient and to run longer more easier compare to quadrupedalism. Bipedalism gave many advantages with the change of human body, mainly the skeletal structure, but is it possible that some of these changes have tradeoffs? Some scientists believe that certain illnesses, injuries, and health complication are the results of the change of skeletal structure to become bipedal. There are disadvantages for bipedalism and it can differ between male and

Bipedalism was the first evolutionary change to define the hominid lineage. It was a major evolutionary change that changed the way we move. Bipedalism is the condition of using two feet for standing and walking. Before bipedalism emerged we were walking on all fours just as many animals do presently. Bipedal locomotion dates back to 7 million years ago with one of the candidates which is Sahelanthropus tchadensis. The other two candidates for the earliest bipedal hominid are Orrorin tugenesis, and Genus Ardipithecus. This evolutionary change brings about several benefits such as being better adapted to live on savannas, having freed hands, more efficient for travel, and better regulation of body temperature. However, similar to many evolutionary changes, Bipedalism comes with “costs” or disadvantages. These disadvantages include our loss of speed, and more stress on lower body joints including the spine.

Bipedalism is one of the big six events that happened in the evolution of humans becoming what we are today. Bipedalism means standing, walking on two feet rather than walking on four feet like the other apes our primate family tree. To understand why humans walk using bipedalism anthropologist must look into the past. One of the most significant fossil evidence of bipedalism is a fossil named “Lucy”. Lucy was found in East Africa. She is an adult female that stood at about three and a half feet. Lucy is a significant find because she was the most complete fossil. Forty percent of her body was found, making her the most complete fossil for bipedalism. It is accepted that there is a close relation to the environment for the reason to why there

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.

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.

Another important physical adaptation was bipedalism. This allowed early hominids to migrate longer distances which would lead to enhanced cognition.

The evolution of the human species has significantly changed during the course of evolution to what is now the modern day Homo sapiens. Some of the changes that have occurred through the evolution are bipedalism, changes in body features such as brow ridges, and an increase in brain capacity.

The first behavior, locomotion, is well known for hominins because of the evolution to bipedalism. Bipedal locomotion allows for the carrying of objects, provisioning family, and efficiency of energy, among many other reasons. Not all primates are bipedal. Chimpanzees can walk both bipedally and quadrupedally. They have been a common point of reference for a better understanding of the evolution of bipedal locomotion in early ape-like hominins. Many studies have looked into the evolution of walking quadrupedally to bipedally. These bipedal performances of contemporary non-human primates have given important context that can help in reconstructing early hominin bipedalism. Many anthropologists claim that biomechanical models link locomotor performance to anatomy and have the potential to reveal robust form function relationships, however, this is only given to the extent that locomotor performance of chimpanzees and other species are shown to fit

Current ideas suggest that the common ancestor of humans and African apes lived only about 5-8 million years ago; so, for more than 50 million years, humans and the African apes have shared primate ancestry. Within this ancestry, a new level of movement began to come into existence known as bipedalism: the ability to walk and run upright on two legs. There are various theories about when our ancestors started walking upright, but a popular view is that perhaps about 7-million years ago, early hominids began to adapt to a climate that was cooling globally. The huge rainforest expanses in Africa were being replaced with savannah and patches of woodland, requiring the tree-climbing apes to become more adept at walking on land. Our ancestors who ventured out into the savannah were rewarded with roots, shrubs and occasional animal carcasses, ensuring that those who walked on two legs were more likely to survive. Even so, the jump from trees to land is not all that significant because some of the early hominids’ anatomical structures may have already been pre-adapted to bipedalism while climbing trees and stretching for fruit. Bipedalism primarily allowed hominids to free their arms completely, enabling them to make and use tools efficiently, stretch for fruit in trees and use their hands for social

Walking upright with two legs is a common daily phenomenon, however, the ability of moving with only two legs is the result of millions of years of evolution and adaptation. During the process of human evolution, the appearance of bipedalism, which describes the terrestrial locomotion where animals move with their rear limbs in the form of walking, hopping or running, is considered as one of the major steps that sets Hominin group apart from other primates. Even though the transition from quadrupedalism to bipedalism has major drawbacks that sacrifice the flexibility and prevent bipeds to effectively practice arboreal locomotion, it provides a new form of locomotion and frees both hands to be capable of completing other projects while

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

However, the two models differ in terms of how the hominins acquired their biped form – how the body finally became adapted to walking on two feet. As opposed to previous beliefs, the road to achieving bipedalism involved “an extended and complex opening of habitats, rather than a single, abrupt transition from dense forest to open savanna” (SpaceDaily, 2002). This transition caused an increase dependence on upper limbs for foraging from branches of small fruit trees, and left the lower limbs for support, which over time eventually led to the emergence of this trait. This is different from what is proposed in rugged terrain model, where bipedalism is achieved by improvement in locomotor skills. This improvement is prompted by climbing, balancing, scrambling and moving swiftly over broken ground – types of movement encouraging a more upright gait (Winder, 2013). We can see that bipedalism arose as a result of hominins trying to ensure their survival, stimulated by different form of needs – the needs to eat, to avoid from predators, etc.

       In chapter eight "Early Hominis" of the textbook, "Introduction to Cultural Anthropology" by Conrad Phillip Kottak discussed bipedalism traditionally has been viewed as an adaptation tobopen grassland or savanna country (Kottak, Phillip Conrad, 129). On the other hand, compared with contemporary humans,

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