I was lurking on
Theology Web when I found
this interesting item.
By studying orangutans, it is possible that bipedalism may have evolved from a totally arboreal ancestor as a method of dealing with thin branches that would bend under the individual's weight. From the BBC article:
quote:
Professor Crompton explained that orangutans walking upright on springy branches act much like athletes running on springy tracks - they use extended postures of knee and hip to give them straighter legs.
The researchers point out that some of the earliest fossil human ancestors combined lower limbs that were adapted for upright walking with an upper body that seems suited to climbing trees.
Interesting:
quote:
They believe that knuckle-walking evolved only recently as a way of getting around the forest floor.
So, upright walking may be the primitive trait among the human-chimp-gorilla clade and knuckle-walking may be the derived trait.
In the end, this may not be the answer to how and why humans came to be bipedal, but it is an interesting idea.
Actually, if their god makes better pancakes, I'm totally switching sides. --
Charley the Australopithecine
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