Bipedalism Essay

Words: 745
Pages: 3
Open Document
Step 1:
One way to identify bipedalism is to look at the skull. Bipedalism is associated with increased skull size and increased brain capacity. Another way to identify bipedalism is to look at the pelvic size. Pelvic size can show whether an organism walked upright or on all fours.
One theory about why bipedalism arose is that primates were moving from a jungle environment to a more open savannah environment. In the savannah, it was more benificial to walk upright on two legs. You could see further, escape threats, and eventually carry tools. In the previous jungle environment, there was less of a need for walking upright.

Step 2: Bipedalism is walking upright on two legs. One way to identify this trait in the fossil record is by examining the foramen magnum, or the hole in the bottom of the skull through which the spinal cord …show more content…
In their previous woodland habitat brimming with trees, primates primarily traveled using trees and even lived in them-- there was not much of a need for bipedalism. The trait of two-legged locomotion became much more adaptive and advantageous in the savanna. Savanna’s are grassy plains usually scattered with shrubs and isolated trees. For one, bipedalism allowed primates to see much better across the long grasses of the savanna. Additionally, being able to see longer distances helped primates see threats and quickly escape them. And being able to walk on two legs meant having free hands. Primates would be able to carry items like food and weapons. Finally, bipedalism meant less exposure to solar radiation for primates. Conrad Kottak writes in Window of Humanity “studies with scale models of primates suggest that quadrupedalism exposes the body to 60 percent more solar radiation than does bipedalism.” (117). All in all, as primates transitioned to open savanna habitats, it became much more advantageous to walk upright on two
Show More

Related Documents: Bipedalism Essay

Bipedalism Compare And Contrast Essay

constraints of captivity. There is a glass wall between us and animals we share defining traits with. What organism defined the rift between humans and the monkeys behind the glass? I believe through evolution our upper hand has been defined by bipedalism and the extensive use of tools. Two traits that define us as “humans” and had some say in the gap between us and our close relatives who today reside in zoos. We must consider how these qualities made us less primitive to find out how we became…

Words 619 - Pages 3

Evolution: Human and Skull Shape Bipedalism Essay

smile, but it's not intimidating. Talking. Our mouth is a compromise between what can bite/chew and what can talk. The relationship between the evolution of bipedalism and skull shape Bipedalism allowed the easy carrying of tools, including the carrying of crude spears while hunting. Spears increased success while hunting. Bipedalism did too, with the development of "persistence hunting" in which the prey becomes heat-exhausted more quickly than the hunter. Increased success in hunting meant…

Words 430 - Pages 2

Determining Human Life

feature that was presented in the determination of becoming a human would be the term bipedalism. Bipedalism is a main staple in humans today. They show that we now walk on all fours at all times. With species gaining this ability we see that the foramen magnum is now being placed at the bottom of the skull, letting the spin go straight down the body. While the early Homo erectus show little signs of bipedalism they do have the foramen magnum moving closer to the bottom of the skull. This development…

Words 1242 - Pages 5

Homo Habilis: The Handy Man? Essay example

features of the leg and food bones indicate that habilis walked on two legs. These legs were relatively short, indicating proportions that were still closer to the proportions of an ape or early australopithecine. Another feature that indicates bipedalism in habilis is the location of the foramen magnum. Its placement in the center of the skull base implies that habilis indeed walked on two legs. Research indicates that Homo habilis lived primarily in a grassland environment where the climate…

Words 1154 - Pages 5