On Our Own Two Feet

How old is bipedal walking? Let me tell you this, it is extremely old and it is much older than modern humans today. Bipedal walking is generally rare among primates, but especially among all species. The amazing part about bipedal walking on humans and our ancestors is that we find it easier to rest our heavy head on our two flat feat than to walk on all fours. We do this for a long period of time without falling. There are many differences between chimpanzees, modern humans, and Australopithecus's. One of them is that we have the flattest face while the chimpanzees sticks out the most, and Australopithecus's face shape is somewhere in between. The chimpanzees even have a small little snout, and the Australopithecus has a small snout, while we humans do not have any snout. Look at these images below to see the difference. Notice how the Australopithecus's face looks more similar to a chimpanzees than a modern day humans?

The human also has the largest brain case while the chimpanzees is the smallest. And once again the Australopithecus's is in the middle. When comparing these three species, the Australopithecus is usually in the middle, however it usually is a little close to a chimpanzees than a modern humans. The brain case of the Australopithecus is only a little larger than the chimpanzees. Also there is something in the brain called a Foramen Magnum which is a hole in the skull where the spinal cord connects the skull and spine. Looking at that you can tell how a species spine is.Obviously a humans is straight and chimpanzees bends. But the true question was, how was the Australopithecus's and how did we find out? Since in an archeological dig we found a skull of an Australopithecus we have access to the Foramen Magnum. Because of this we know that it was straight, so they were bipedal. However we also know that bipedalism started before the Australopithecus. Keep tuned onto my blog and you will find our more about early humans!!

Whitt, Stephen. "On Our Own Two Feet." Odyssey: Adventures in Science Oct. 2009: 26-28. Print.