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Bipedalism

About: Bipedalism is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 362 publications have been published within this topic receiving 18173 citations.


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Journal ArticleDOI
18 Nov 2004-Nature
TL;DR: Judged by several criteria, humans perform remarkably well at endurance running, thanks to a diverse array of features, many of which leave traces in the skeleton.
Abstract: Striding bipedalism is a key derived behaviour of hominids that possibly originated soon after the divergence of the chimpanzee and human lineages. Although bipedal gaits include walking and running, running is generally considered to have played no major role in human evolution because humans, like apes, are poor sprinters compared to most quadrupeds. Here we assess how well humans perform at sustained long-distance running, and review the physiological and anatomical bases of endurance running capabilities in humans and other mammals. Judged by several criteria, humans perform remarkably well at endurance running, thanks to a diverse array of features, many of which leave traces in the skeleton. The fossil evidence of these features suggests that endurance running is a derived capability of the genus Homo, originating about 2 million years ago, and may have been instrumental in the evolution of the human body form.

1,404 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that A. afarensis possessed anatomic characteristics that indicate a significant adaptation for movement in the trees, and it is speculated that earlier representatives of the A.Afarensis lineage will present not a combination of arboreal and bipedal traits, but rather the anatomy of a generalized ape.
Abstract: The postcranial skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis from the Hadar Formation, Ethiopia, and the footprints from the Laetoli Beds of northern Tanzania, are analyzed with the goal of determining (1) the extent to which this ancient hominid practiced forms of locomotion other than terrestrial bipedality, and (2) whether or not the terrestrial bipedalism of A. afarensis was notably different from that of modern humans. It is demonstrated that A. afarensis possessed anatomic characteristics that indicate a significant adaptation for movement in the trees. Other structural features point to a mode of terrestrial bipedality that involved less extension at the hip and knee than occurs in modern humans, and only limited transfer of weight onto the medial part of the ball of the foot, but such conclusions remain more tentative than that asserting substantive arboreality. A comparison of the specimens representing smaller individuals, presumably female, to those of larger individuals, presumably male, suggests sexual differences in locomotor behavior linked to marked size dimorphism. The males were probably less arboreal and engaged more frequently in terrestrial bipedalism. In our opinion, A. afarensis from Hadar is very close to what can be called a "missing link." We speculate that earlier representatives of the A. afarensis lineage will present not a combination of arboreal and bipedal traits, but rather the anatomy of a generalized ape.

820 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
02 Oct 2009-Science
TL;DR: Ardipithecus ramidus indicates that despite the genetic similarities of living humans and chimpanzees, the ancestor the authors last shared probably differed substantially from any extant African ape.
Abstract: Hominid fossils predating the emergence of Australopithecus have been sparse and fragmentary. The evolution of our lineage after the last common ancestor we shared with chimpanzees has therefore remained unclear. Ardipithecus ramidus, recovered in ecologically and temporally resolved contexts in Ethiopia's Afar Rift, now illuminates earlier hominid paleobiology and aspects of extant African ape evolution. More than 110 specimens recovered from 4.4-million-year-old sediments include a partial skeleton with much of the skull, hands, feet, limbs, and pelvis. This hominid combined arboreal palmigrade clambering and careful climbing with a form of terrestrial bipedality more primitive than that of Australopithecus. Ar. ramidus had a reduced canine/premolar complex and a little-derived cranial morphology and consumed a predominantly C3 plant-based diet (plants using the C3 photosynthetic pathway). Its ecological habitat appears to have been largely woodland-focused. Ar. ramidus lacks any characters typical of suspension, vertical climbing, or knuckle-walking. Ar. ramidus indicates that despite the genetic similarities of living humans and chimpanzees, the ancestor we last shared probably differed substantially from any extant African ape. Hominids and extant African apes have each become highly specialized through very different evolutionary pathways. This evidence also illuminates the origins of orthogrady, bipedality, ecology, diet, and social behavior in earliest Hominidae and helps to define the basal hominid adaptation, thereby accentuating the derived nature of Australopithecus.

588 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Consideration of the ecology at Hadar, in conjunction with modern primate models, supports the notion of arboredality in these earliest australopithecines and provides additional evidence on limb and pedal proportions and on the functional anatomy of the hip, knee and foot, indicating that the bipedality practiced at hadar differed from that of modern humans.
Abstract: Numerous studies of the locomotor skeleton of the Hadar hominids have revealed traits indicative of both arboreal climbing/suspension and terrestrial bipedalism. These earliest known hominids must have devoted part of their activities to feeding, sleeping and/or predator avoidance in trees, while also spending time on the ground where they moved bipedally. In this paper we offer new data on phalangeal length and curvature, moφhology of the tarsus and metatarsophalangeal joints, and body proportions that further strengthen the argument for arboreality in the Hadar hominids. We also provide additional evidence on limb and pedal proportions and on the functional anatomy of the hip, knee and foot, indicating that the bipedality practiced at Hadar differed from that of modern humans. Consideration of the ecology at Hadar, in conjunction with modern primate models, supports the notion of arboreality in these earliest australopithecines. We speculate that selection for terrestrial bipedality may have intensified through the Plio-Pleistocene as forests and woodland patches shrunk and the need arose to move increasingly longer distances on the ground. Only with Homo erectus might body size, culture and other factors have combined to ‘release’ hominids from their dependence on trees.

428 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results support the overall conclusion of Kimura et al. (1979) that peak vertical forces are relatively low on the primate forelimb, but also show some variation most probably related to locomotor mode.

339 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
20241
202354
2022119
202119
202011
201914