Posted on 05/26/2013 8:51:35 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
A study suggests that rocky landscapes in East and South Africa could have pushed our apelike ancestors toward bipedalism.
Being four-legged has its perks. As a quadruped, your center of gravity is lower, there's less wind resistance when you're running, and, best of all, you can use your hind foot to scratch your ear.
All of this raises a big question: What were our apelike ancestors thinking when they started walking upright?
A prevailing hypothesis is that they were prompted by climate change. As African forests declined due to temperature fluctuations some 2.5 million years ago, the hypothesis goes, our australopithecine ancestors descended from the trees and ventured out into the open savanna, an environment thought to be friendlier for those standing on two feet.
The savanna hypothesis has its critics, however. There is some evidence that bipedal primates evolved before the biggest temperature swings kicked in, that some australopithecines ancestors lived in forests, and that they were adapted to both tree-climbing and upright walking.
Now a new study suggests that walking on two legs was a result of geology, not climate. In a study published in this month's issue of the archaeological journal Antiquity, a team of archaeologists makes the case that our forebears' transition to bipedalism was prompted by volcanoes and shifting tectonic plates in East and South Africa, which produced rocky outcroppings and steep gorges...
This development would have conferred benefits that extend far beyond locomotion. Walking on two legs frees up the hands, allowing for the use of tools and, eventually, bigger brains. And the complex landscape could have made our ancestors smarter, says Dr. Winder.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
You are mistaken.
When they say "tools", in journalistic terminology they mean "AK-47s". Evolution is a two step process: 1) something mutates, 2) something else must die. Now what made all those very intelligent human competitors die off? It wasn't climate change.
Correct. It must be a hopeless, empty thing to believe you're descended from apes, rather than specially made in the image of God, above the animals, as a being to keep Him company.
:-)
They use the words “suggest” and “could.” These are your typical disclaimers when what they’re trying to explain is so bogus and illogical that no one would believe it unless they use these words.
Evolution is a dead theory walking. Evolosers are generally immune to logic but they are not immune to ridicule and, at some point, the facade is going to crumble.
A key piece of the puzzle always overlooked is how the spine attaches to the head in apes and man are very different. An upright ape would be looking at the sky.
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I did not know that. Interesting. I always learn so much from FReepers.
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