These Legs Were Made For Fighting: Human Ancestors Had Short Legs For Combat

Science Daily ^ | 3-12-2007 | University Of Utah

[Salamander]

I'm 63 inches tall.
32 inches of that is leg.
What were my ancestors?
Tree frogs?

[a weird old rhyme my dad always said to me; "Poor Tom Toddy; all legs and no body"].....;))

[investigateworld]

LOL ! Luv those little guys

[Dustbunny]

I resent being told we are related to what that picture represents.

It may have been an ape that is related to apes.

How many pieces of bones did they recover in order to come up with that drawing?

[IncredibleHulk]

My son and his Uncle both do. You should see him in a fight - Black Belt.

[Fedora]

Yet Carrier says his research suggests short legs helped australopiths fight because "with short legs, your center of mass is closer to the ground. It's going to make you more stable so that you can't be knocked off your feet as easily. And with short legs, you have greater leverage as you grapple with your opponent."

A problem I see with this argument is that it only takes grappling into account (and even there it is debatable whether short legs are as big a determinant in grappling as the article implies). Apes don't fight exclusively by grappling. It is natural for them to swing their arms and sticks, which make reach and upper-body strength other factors in fighting. Serious gorilla fights are settled by biting. (And Tarzan used a knife as an equalizer of course, LOL.) But most gorilla fights don't get that serious: intimidation ends most fights before they begin, which is the purpose of the chest-thumping, etc. (" Because of their sharp canines and great strength, gorilla males are very dangerous opponents when they are in a fighting mood. Therefore, most differences of opinion are not resolved by fighting, but by displaying and other threat behaviour patterns, without anyone getting injured. Gorillas are famous for their display behaviour culminating in the chest beating and loud hooting. The chestbeat sounds especially impressive in silverback males. Severe aggression is very rare in stable gorilla groups, but when two groups meet, the leading silverbacks can sometimes engage in a fight to the death, mainly using their sharp canines to cause deep, gaping injuries.": http://www.berggorilla.org/english/faq/dvers/fragen/kampf.html) So IMO the real survival advantage here would be the ability to out-intimidate the opponent, not sheer grappling ability.

[bannie]

Short legged women with big butts. Works for me.

God Bless You.

I must admit that my own center of gravity is rather close to the ground. I've always attributed it to my German ancestors. :-)

[B-Chan]

5' 8", 240 lb. bump!

[B-Chan]

Magnae clunes mihi placent, nec possum de hac re mentiri,
quis enim, consortes mei, non fateatur,
cum puella incedit minore medio corpore
sub quo manifestus globus, inflammare animos.

De clunibus magnis amandis oratio: The immortal post

[SunkenCiv]

In addition, short legs have previously been attributed to arboreal ancestors. I regard this as speculation at best. :')

[Joe 6-pack]

"Ape-like human ancestors known as australopiths maintained short legs for 2 million years because a squat physique and stance helped the males fight over access to females, a University of Utah study concludes."

That seems like an odd conclusion to me...I usually dress to accent the length of my legs when trying to gain access to females...

[billygoatgruff]

Okay, sure. So what do the GEICO Cavemen have to say about this?

(too easy)

[Tijeras_Slim]

Wow look at those very tiny feet.

How could he fight for mates?

[Constitution Day]

LOL!!

[Busywhiskers]

Nothing worse than a pack of feral wiener dogs. They can strip the meat off of a carcase up to the top of the ankles within seconds.