A recent study suggests that human ancestors may have first began walking on two feet when they found a home in rockier terrain. The study, done by archaeologists at the University of York, challenges an earlier theory that states that hominins were forced to become bipedal when climate change reduced tree cover. Instead, the archaeologists believe that hominins were attracted to the shelter offered by rocky outcrops and rugged terrain in East and South Africa, and that their new habitat resulted in the development of bipedalism. This would also have left hands and arms free to develop greater dexterity. The ability to run could have developed as hominins ventured onto surrounding plains, and greater cognitive abilities could have developed as the varied terrain called for better communication and navigation.
NOS Themes:
- Scientific ideas are subject to change. The old theory about how upright walking developed may be rejected as a result of this new research.
- Science explains and predicts. This study may explain several aspects of human evolution.
- Science demands evidence. There is less evidence for the idea that climate change caused humans to walk on two feet.
This is really cool. I had never thought about how humans started walking on two feet. Another NOS them I would add to this is role of motivation and curiousity because the archaeologists were curious as to how humans began to walk on two feet.
ReplyDeleteThis article is very interesting! It is cool to learn about how we came to walking on two feet as we are one of very few species who do that. I am always amazed at the ways that scientists can figure out these kinds of mysteries.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed a similar article because like your blog, explained a more detailed reason on why our ancestors began to walk on 2 feet instead of one. It is a more convincing hypothesis than others.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.softpedia.com/news/When-Did-Our-Ancestors-Start-to-Walk-on-Two-Feet-79248.shtml