Bipedalism in humans may have come from foraging in treetops, research suggests

Guardian (UK) ^ | Wednesday, 14 Dec 2022 | Nicola Davis

[SunkenCiv]

The ancestors of humans may have begun moving on two legs to forage for food among the treetops in open habitat, researchers have suggested, contradicting the idea that the behaviour arose as an adaptation to spending more time on the ground.

The origins of bipedalism in hominins around 7m years ago has long been thought to be linked to a shift in environment, when dense forests began to give way to more open woodland and grassland habitats. In such conditions, it has been argued, our ancestors would have spent more time on the ground than in the trees, and been able to move more efficiently on two legs.

But now researchers studying chimpanzees in Tanzania say that trait may have different origins...

Writing in the journal Science Advances, the researchers report how they spent 15 months studying 13 chimpanzees living in Issa Valley in western Tanzania, an environment similar to that experienced by our ancient ancestors.

The results reveal that these chimpanzees spent a greater proportion of their time on the ground, and in movement, when in an open environment of woodland and grasses than in densely forested parts of the same area.

However, even in the open environment, the proportion of time the chimpanzees spent on the ground was similar to that previously recorded for other populations of the apes living in densely forested areas, including Gombe and Mahale...

The team says that while the study cannot prove that our human ancestors showed the same patterns of bipedal behaviour, it calls into question common assumptions of how humans ended up walking on two legs, and suggests that trees continued to play a role in our evolutionary story even as the environment shifted.<

[SunkenCiv]

• Wild chimpanzee behavior suggests that a savanna-mosaic habitat did not support the emergence of hominin terrestrial bipedalism | Rhianna C. Drummond-Clarke, Tracy L. Kivell, Lauren Sarringhaus, Fiona A. Stewart , Tatyana Humle, and Alex K. Piel | Science Advances | 14 Dec 2022 | Vol 8, Issue 50

[WeaslesRippedMyFlesh]

No way! I thought it was from playing the bass pedals on church organs.

[Gay State Conservative]

IOW...”bipedalism” is racist.

[Paladin2]

Climate Change.

What doesn’t it cause?

[Fireone]

This is going to be a fun thread!

[SunkenCiv]

Looks like one of last night's topics vanished.

The other GGG topics added since the previous digest ping, chrono sort:

• Ancient Tools Provide Earliest Evidence of Rice Harvesting [12/16/2022]
• Mysterious ancient humans may have given people of Papua New Guinea an immune advantage [12/16/2022]
• Archaeologists discover Bronze Age monument in Turku [Finland] [12/16/2022]
• 2,200-year-old Greek sling bullet discovered in Israel [12/16/2022]
• 4,000-year-old 'shaman' burial near Stonehenge has a golden secret [12/16/2022]
• Unlocking the organic residues preserved in the corrosion from the Pewsey Hoard vessels [12/16/2022]
• 5,000-year-old 'bog body' found in Denmark may be a human sacrifice victim [12/16/2022]
• Rare Half-Shekel Coin from the Great Revolt Found in Jerusalem's Ophel Excavations [12/15/2022]
• Meluhha: the Indus Civilization and Its Contacts with Mesopotamia [12/15/2022]
• Ancient grammatical puzzle solved after 2,500 years by PhD student [12/15/2022]
• Imperialism? The West didn't colonize. It civilized [12/13/2022]
• The Mystery Of The 9,000 Year Old Village Hidden Under The Sea | The Mystery Of Atlit-Yam [12/11/2022]
• The Real Story Behind the 17th-Century 'Tulip Mania' Financial Crash [12/11/2022]
• Philadelphia mayor 'disappointed' court ordered removal of box covering Christopher Columbus statue [12/10/2022]
• 1,600-year-old rare gold coin found by school pupils alongside the Sanhedrin Trail in the Galilee [12/10/2022]
• 'Highway of ancient world': Part of an 1,800-year-old Roman road found in Galilee [12/10/2022]

[aMorePerfectUnion]

”Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.”

[Jim W N]

Bipedalism.

[seowulf]

Maybe humans are just smarter than chimps.

On the other hand, I expect to see democrats to start walking on all fours any time now.

[Russ]

My BS meter just shot through the roof.

[Russ]

My BS meter just shot through the roof.

[seowulf]

I am Heteropedal and Hertero Sapiens.

[gundog]

Climate change. I knew it.

[one guy in new jersey]

Has “Evolution” from lower to higher order organisms not been smashed to smithereens as the baseless theory that it is and has always been, now that the true miraculous complexity of genes/RNA/DNA is finally starting to sink in (and sink Darwin)?

Mathematically speaking, statistically speaking, probabilistically speaking, the theory has no ground to stand on.

[2nd Amendment]

I expect the next democratic convention to require quadripedalism for attendees

[alstewartfan]

Are there ANY rubbish theories that a Darwinist will not believe?

[alstewartfan]

There would be a double digit improvement in average attendee IQ if such becomes a requirement.

[alstewartfan]

So, you like women who have feet. I get it, I think! lol

[P.O.E.]

I would have guessed due to the invention of roller skates

[seowulf]

So, you like women who have feet. I get it, I think! lol

Well, of course. I don't want to carry them.