Of course, there aren’t any videos of the first person to walk straight. What can scientists do to answer questions regarding how people moved during the past?
Fortunately, the form of bones as well as how they connect can reveal how the body moved in its time. Anthropologists can also find evidence in the earth which reveals how the ancient humans were walking.
In 1994 the first fossils of an unidentified hominin were discovered in Ethiopia. Anthropologists who discovered the remains referred to the latest discovery, a female adult person, Ardipithecus ramidus known as “Ardi.” Over the subsequent 10 years over 100 fossils belonging to Ardi’s species were discovered and dating them to be somewhere between 4.2 millions and 4.4 millions years of age.
When scientists looked into this collection of bones they discovered certain traits that suggested bipedalism. For instance, the foot was a bone structure that could allow the type of toe push-offs that we are now able to use, but which four-legged animals do not have.
The pelvic shape, the form of the bones, the way that the legs were positioned beneath the pelvis, and the way that the bones of the legs matched all suggest upright walking as well. It could be it is the reason that Ardi did not move exactly like we do, however bipedalism as a normal mode of moving seems to be a common feature of these fossils that date back at least 4.4 million years ago..
Anthropologists have previously discovered the almost 40 percent complete hominin skeleton who lived around 1 million years before Ardi and was also found located in Ethiopia. Because of its similarities to other fossils discovered in the eastern and southern regions of Africa the scientists named the fossil Australopithecus Afarensis that in Latin is “southern ape from the afar region.”
This female was hence they named it “Lucy” after a song by the Beatles which was popular in the era.
Numerous fossils from this speciesover 300 individuals joined the collection, and researchers today have a wealth of information concerning Lucy and her close relatives.
Lucy was born with a partial but well-preserved pelvis. It was the way anthropologists recognized that they were female. The pelvis and the upper leg bones were joined in a manner that indicated she was able to walk upright with two feet. The bones of feet were not preserved, however later discoveries of A. Afarensis have feet, and show bipedal walking, too.
Alongside fossil remains, scientists discovered another remarkable proof of how Lucy’s species moved through in the Laetoli area in Tanzania. In the midst of an ash layer of volcanic rock that dates back to 3.6 million years old, anthropologists discovered fossilized footprints within what was once a wet, spongy surface of volcanic ash.
The tracks run for more than 100 feet with 70 prints that show that there were at least three people standing upright on their two feet. Based on the assumed age the creators were probably Australopithecus Afarensis.
The tracks indicate that hominins were walking on two legs, however the walk appears to be different from the one we use today. However, Laetoli provides solid evidence of bipedalism 3.5 million years ago.
An animal whose body was similar to ours that we could say that it was walking as we do not first appear in Africa before 1.8 millennia ago. Homo erectus was the first animal to possess larger arms and longer legs which would have enabled it to run, walk and move around the earth’s landscapes the way we do now.
Homo erectus also had a brain that was larger than the bipedal hominins of earlier times and was able to create and use stone tools known as Acheulean tools. Anthropologists believe that Homo the erectus our closest cousin and an earlier member belonging to our Genus Homo.
So, as you observe, walking by humans was a long time to evolve. It was first observed in Africa over 4.4 millennia ago. This was which was long before the advent of tools.
Why did hominins walk up straight? Perhaps it was to better spot predators or to run more quickly or perhaps the surroundings changed and there were less trees to climb, as the earlier hominins were.
In any case, human beings and their ancestors started to walk early in their evolutionary journey. While bipedalism predates the invention of tools, a straight posture allowed hands to create and use tools. It eventually became an attribute of human beings like us.
