Ancient walking gets weirder: Fossils from two human ancestors suggest diversity in gait, stance

Science News ^ | Monday, April 16th, 2012 | Bruce Bower

[SunkenCiv]

A new analysis of 1.5-million-year-old fossil footprints uncovered at Kenya's Ileret site suggests that they were made by a human ancestor with a gait different than that of modern humans.Courtesy of Matthew Bennett/Bournemouth Univ.

[SunkenCiv]

• Ancient Foot Suggests How Man Gave Up Treehouses

  03/31/2012 11:33:41 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 39 replies

  LiveScience ·
  · Wednesday, March 28, 2012 ·
  · Charles Choi

  Ancient foot bones from a recently discovered pre-human species, which had opposable big toes like a gorilla's, could shed light on how the ancestors of humanity came to walk upright, researchers say. Humans dominate the planet partly because walking upright frees their hands for tool use. Among the earliest known relatives of humanity to walk upright was Australopithecus afarensis, the species including the famed "Lucy." This hominin is a leading candidate for direct ancestor of the human lineage, living about 2.9 million to 3.8 million years ago in East Africa. Although Lucy and her kin were bipedal, there is debate...

[SunkenCiv]

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[King Moonracer]

Is that why the Kenyan POTUS swishes when he walks.

[Olog-hai]

They keep looking in Africa, don’t they. As far as possible from where the Bible says it all happened, yes?

Funny how if it walks like a duck et cetera it’s a duck, but if it walks like a gorilla, it ain’t a gorilla but a “human ancestor” . . . ?

[almcbean]

Maybe it was the Ministry of Silly Walks.

[Pollster1]

It's also why the honorable gay gentleman from Idaho has such a wide stance.

[SunkenCiv]

Africa isn’t “as far as possible from where the Bible says it all happened”.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

[SunkenCiv]

Maybe it was the Ministry of Silly Walks.

Hey, aren't they all a little silly, walks or not?

[SunkenCiv]

;’)

[GeronL]

The Homo had a wide stance??

[Oratam]

[bunkerhill7]

Footprints belong to an early member of the Zumba Tribe.

[Gay State Conservative]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIFUm70n0fU

[dog breath]

“Cause she knew what she was doing
She taught me how to walk this way
She told me to
Walk this way, talk this way”

Early Aerosmith fans?

[SunkenCiv]

Steve Tyler probably remembers them.

[Inyo-Mono]

My thoughts too.

[married21]

Maybe early Marx Brothers fans?

[NativeSon]

Cue the crazy “it’s aliens” dude!