human walking

Did walking on 2 feet begin with shuffle?

harminka — Fri, 30 May 2008 07:39:04 -0500

University Somewhere in the murky past, between four and seven million years ago, a hungry common ancestor of today’s primates, including humans, did something novel. While temporarily standing on its rear feet to reach a piece of fruit, this protohominid spotted another juicy morsel in a nearby shrub and began shuffling toward it instead of dropping on all fours, crawling to the shrub and standing again.

Early parents didn't stand for weighty kids

harminka — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:05:07 -0500

Scientists investigating the reasons why early humans – the so-called hominins – began walking upright say it’s unlikely that the need to carry children was a factor, as has previously been suggested.

Researchers needed to discover how we walk

seher — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:12:59 -0600

Researchers at the University of Dundee are looking for volunteers to help them discover how we walk!

Was ability to run early man's Achilles heel?

harminka — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 02:18:27 -0500

The earliest humans almost certainly walked upright on two legs but may have struggled to run at even half the speed of modern man, new research suggests.

Independent brain networks control human walking

harminka — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 01:02:32 -0500

In a study published in the August issue of Nature Neuroscience, researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland found that there are separate adaptable networks controlling each leg and there are also separate networks controlling leg movements, e.g., forward or backward walking.

Why Humans Walk on Two Legs

harminka — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 00:28:16 -0500

A team of anthropologists that studied chimpanzees trained to use treadmills has gathered new evidence suggesting that our earliest apelike ancestors started walking on two legs because it required less energy than getting around on all fours.