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the development of bipedal
the development of bipedal
evidence for hominin bipedal locomotion
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Hominid's Development of Bipedalism 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 behavioral mechanisms. During the time of the late Miocene epoch, about 10 to 7 million years ago the earth was changing. This change caused a fall in temperatures, which resulted in forest depletion, increasing the percentage of open environments in tropical latitudes. Forest depletion made the species that survived the temperature change adapt to become mostly terrestrial. In fact 40 or more extinct primates including hominids had to adapt to a terrestrial life style. Approximately 4 million years ago this change led to bipedalism in hominids because of problems quadrupeds had moving on the ground (Fagan, 98). Bipedalism was much more efficient when the African plains dried up and resources were very scarce. Long distance traveling on the ground was favored by bipeds (Leney, 00). In 1996 Kevin Hunt proposed a feeding hypothesis on why bipedalism ocurred. It stated that 80% of the time chimpanzees feed, they are exhibiting a bipedal locomotion (Jacobs, 90). This occurs when chimps feed o... ... middle of paper ... ...lk on two feet, it was the path that started a series of events that helped our ancestors to be better adapt. These adaptations helped hominids to survive to evolve into humans. Bipedalism was truly the path to the future. Bibliography: Bibliography Fagan, B. (1998). People of the Earth (9th ed.). New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. Jacobs, J. (1990’s). The Origin of Bipedalism. Paleoanthropology in the 1990’s [Online]. Available: http://www.geocities.com/archaeogeo/paleo/bipedalism.html [2000, October 25]. Leney, M. (2000, October 25). The Evolution of Bipedalism [Online]. Available: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~newc0607/reading/biped.html [2000, October 25]. Rodman, H., & McHenry, H. (2000, October 25). Theories on Why Human Bipedalism Arose [Online]. Available: http://anderson.cioe.com/~hamilton/page2.html [2000, October 25].
Bipedalism (our ability to walk on two legs), the uncommon size of our brains, symbolic language, and the ability to farm/hunt is what makes us different from the past era. (Christian 6-7) Pages 1-22 begins the era of foragers, also known as the “Paleolithic era” where they use stick and stone tools to survive across different climates around the globe. The era of foragers is the longest (250,000 years) and the hardest era to integrate evidence because of the time gap. Christian stated, “Historians have had a hard time integrating the era of foragers into their accounts of the past because most historians lack the research skills needed to study an area that generated no written evidence (2).
Chimpanzees make tools and use them to procure foods and for social exhibitions; they have refined hunting tactics requiring collaboration, influence and rank; they are status cognizant, calculating and capable of trickery; they can learn to use symbols and understand facets of human language including some interpersonal composition, concepts of number and numerical sequence and they are proficient in spontaneous preparation for a future state or event.
Until recently, the oldest fossil species to provide evidence for bipedalism was Australopithecus afarensis, of which the best example of is the 3.2 million year old skeleton called Lucy found in Hadar, Ethiopia. According to article 19: Sunset at the Savanna, in 1995 Meave Leakey of the national Museums of Kenya and her colleagues made public the discovery of and older hominid species Australopithecus anamensis (getting its name from the Turkana word for lake "anam" having been found near lake Turkana and the site of another ancient lake). Leakey's team found a tibia from this creature that is quite human like and emphatically bipedal, "in size and practically all details of the knee and ankle joints… (it) resembles the one from the fully bipedal A. afarensis". The site where the fossils were found was dated to 4.2-3.9 million years ago; making 4.2mya the oldest date at which we can say that bipedalism has been proven to have emerged. There are also many other more recent fossils which have evidenceof bipedalism: Australopithecus afr...
Like most species in the Homo genus, the Neanderthals were bipedal. Being bipedal isn’t the main reason as to why Neanderthals are the first humans but it is one of the most important ones. Neanderthals shared many bipedal characteristics that are similar to Homo sapiens but they had modifications that were adjusted to their
Australopithecus afarensis existed between 3.9 and 3.0 million years ago. The distinctive characteristics of A. afarensis were: a low forehead, a bony ridge over the eyes, a flat nose, no chin, more humanlike teeth, pelvis and leg bones resembled those of modern man. Females were smaller than males. Their sexual dimorphism was males:females; 1.5. A. afarensis was not as sexually dimorphic as gorillas, but more sexually dimorphic than humans or chimpanzees. A lot of scientists think that Australopithecus afarensis was partially adapted to climbing the trees, because the fingers and toe bones of the species were curved and longer than the ones of the modern human.
This theory posits that bipedalism occurred because of more efficient travel and multi-tasking. Analysis: It encompasses about all the below theories. Freeing of hands to tend babies, gather food and increased travel between clusters
Bipedalism is a form of locomotion that is on two feet and is the one factor that separates humans from other forms of hominoids. The first bipeds are believed to have lived in Africa between 5 and 8 million years ago. (Haviland et al. 2011, pg. 78). The evolution to bipedalism resulted in various anatomical changes. To be able to balance on two legs, the skull must be centered over the spinal column. As bipeds evolved, the foramen magnum, the opening at the base of skull for the spinal column, moved from the back of the skull to the center. The spinal column also evolved from a continuous curve to a spine with four concave and convex curves. (Haviland et al. 2011, pgs. 79, 80). Another change was the widening of the pelvis which gives a wider plateau for more balance when walking on two legs.
The early hominins of Africa were similar to other hominins in gross anatomical features, however, there were differences between the early hominins of Africa and other hominins, such as those found in Asia and other parts of the world as discovered in fossil remains. Not only were there some differences in the anatomical structures, there were also evidentiary differences in their culture and environmental factors in their lives, especially as the species evolved. Below, I will compare some of the differences of the early African hominins to other hominins as well as discuss how they might have lived day to day and show how the evidence supports these findings.
Bipedalism is a form of locomotion that is on two feet and is the one factor that separates humans from other forms of hominoids. The first bipeds are believed to have lived in Africa between 5 and 8 million years ago. (Haviland et al. 2011, pg. 78). The evolution to bipedalism resulted in various anatomical changes. To be able to balance on two legs, the skull must be centered over the spinal column. As bipeds evolved, the foramen magnum, the opening at the base of skull for the spinal column, moved from the back of the skull to the center. The spinal column
The Savannah Theory, formulated by Raymond Dart in 1925, also proposes this same split but in a different way. (Morgan, 1995) According to the Savannah Theory, the split occurred by the ape primates staying among the trees, while the hominids evolved into today’s humans by relocating into the grasslands of Africa, learning to walk upright to view the horizon in search of food and predators. In 1995 the theory was stated as failed, due to the discovery by Marc Verhaegen, that the African Savannah did not exist until after human’s evolution adaptation of bipedalism. (Westrup, 2002) Also, today’s humans don’t correctly relate physically with the animals of the Savannah, but very similar to many aquatic organisms. Most mammals of hot, dry climate don’t need a lot of water to survive, giving them a high resistance...
By being able to walk further distances, brought them to a diverse new diet and that enables their brains to get bigger. Bipedal animals usually walk greater distances because less energy is needed with their longer strides. The stones stools show evidence of abstract thinking and it shows the early hominins adapting and using their environment to survive which is a skill that we as modern humans have surpassed. Based on the pictures that were displayed in class, the stone stools had a purpose and it was made with a certain style that they had to have some sort of procedure behind it which show signs of culture. There were some stools that had no purpose, these stools were created just for aesthetics because it did not benefit them in anyways. There was also a burial picture that was shown in class. The picture was very interesting because it showed that these early hominins believe in some sort of after life or the importance of preserving the dead which is shocking and sort of unbelievable that they thought of burial so early in human
The evolution of man is constantly in question. While we are reasonably sure that modern humans and primates are both related to the same common ancestor, there is constant debate over what initially caused the two species to split into early hominids and apes. According to some, our longest and most popular theory on the division of man and ape is profoundly wrong. However, those same individuals usually offer an equally controversial theory as a substitute, one that is almost impossible to scientifically test or prove. Both the Savanna Theory and the Aquatic Ape Theory offer solutions to how and why humans evolved into bipedal toolmakers. But with enough questioning, each loses its accountability to rhetorical science.
1.9 million years ago, Homo Habilis of East Africa had evolved into an entirely new species known as Homo erectus. Homo erectus directly translates to "Upright man" and for good reason. One of largest anatomical advancements of Homo erectus was their arm and leg bones which were very similar in shape and proportions to that of modern day humans. "Their legs would have made Homo erectus efficient long distance runners like modern humans."(Dennis). Along with their longer more developed legs, Homo erectus's leg were also hairless which allowed them to evaporate sweat and thus be more efficient at not overheating. This advantage allowed Homo erectus to chase down four legged mammals to the point of heat exhaustion and thus drastically increase the efficiency their hunting tactics. Another change in the legs of Homo erectus was their slightly more narrow pelvises. This forced the size of a child’s head to be smaller at birth and undergo most of its development during childhood. (Dennis)
By 2.5 million years ago, a new human evolutionary trend had begun. The change to a upright bipedal posture, and existing flexibility at the shoulder, arms, and hands allowed hominids to carry and manipulate objects much more readily. Early hominids began to manipulate the physical world, inventing solutions to the problems of human existence. Instead of foraging, as do most primates, on a more or less individualistic basis for food sources, early hominids invented stone tools with which they could slay larger animals. This began a switch from scavenging to hunting as the main means by which meat was acquired.
The members of the Homo genus possess a combination of unique features that distinguish them from other related species. At the time that each respective species was alive, they were able to walk upright on two legs, use their large brains for the benefit of their species, and could thrive in many geographically and climatically diverse areas of the world. One of the most mysterious quandaries in science is how the lineage of the Homo genus became so different from their primate relatives. Bipedalism, brain size, and location diversity all have a common link that may explain this difference – dietary evolution allowed humans to adapt to their surroundings, and in turn, become a more advanced species. The Homo diet evolved in relation to food availability and nutritional necessity. With the ability to maintain a proper diet, the species of the Homo genus were able to flourish and advance toward the development of modern Homo sapiens.