Bipedal locomotion – News, Research and Analysis – The Conversation

The reconstructed skeleton of Lucy, found in Hadar, Ethiopia, in 1974, and Grace Latimer, then age 4, daughter of a research team member. James St. John/Flickr

June 27, 2024

Lucy, discovered 50 years ago in Ethiopia, stood just 3.5 feet tall − but she still towers over our understanding of human origins

Denise Su, Arizona State University

A photo of Lucy’s reconstructed skeleton next to a live four-year-old girl shows how human Lucy was – and how small.

Three upright walkers, including Lucy (center) and two specimens of *Australopithecus sediba*, a human ancestor from South Africa dating back nearly 2 million years. Image compiled by Peter Schmid and courtesy of Lee R. Berger/Wikimedia Commons

November 1, 2021

When and how was walking invented?

Jan Simek, University of Tennessee

Walking has taken a very long time to develop, with evidence of bipedalism among early humans in Africa roughly 4.4 million years ago.

This skull, found in France, was among the first fossils to be recognized as belonging to our own species. DEA /G. Cigolini via Getty Images

April 5, 2021

How did humans evolve, and will we evolve more?

Evan Simons, University at Buffalo

Our biggest evolutionary advantages are an ability to walk on two legs and our big brains.

February 15, 2018

Footprint fossils suggest lizards have been running on two feet for 110m years

Peter Falkingham, Liverpool John Moores University

Bipedal movement has existed in modern reptiles for much longer than we previously knew.

Chimpanzees are wily enough to adapt in some ways when people encroach on their turf. Kimberley Hockings

May 7, 2015

Apes under pressure show their ingenuity – and hint at our own evolutionary past

Susana Carvalho, George Washington University and Kimberley Hockings, Oxford Brookes University

Apes and people are sharing habitat more than ever. As apes are pushed into novel situations, we can see how they adapt and maybe find clues into early human evolution.

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