Humans evolved because of Bipedalism and it is discussed in this blog, and it will also let you know how it started and how humans evolved with it. After reading this blog, you will understand Why does Bipedalism matter? How has it changed us? And what were we then vs. now?
Introduction to Bipedalism in Humans
Bipedalism _ You may not notice this stuff. Still, it is generally very cool to have two legs for walking rather than four legs.
Bipedalism’s ability makes us capable of standing on two legs. Not just standing is the cool part of this ability because even a cheetah can stand, but Cheetah is not a bipedal as he has four legs. But the benefit of having this bipedal strength inside us is that we keep our spine straight even while walking.
How it started?
Seven million years ago, Our early ancestors were walking on the trees, and they were using all four legs, yeah four legs, two hands, and two legs. But you can say this now, at that time, they had these two legs instead of hands. This Bipedalism evolved inside them, making them use their front two legs as the hands.
This was seven million years ago; we were not precisely the evolved apes. That is why we ate fruits of the high trees, but now it is the intellectual advancement in us that allows us to go into the supermarket to buy fruits. Now we don’t need to climb trees. However, you can climb if you seek adventure.
But it was five million years ago, we started walking on two legs and started using our hands.
Humans – Why does Bipedalism matter?
Walking was a crucial part, but it also provided us with some other benefits.
We can sit upright. You must have seen Cows, buffalos, and horses sitting. They sit by using the support of their arms.
But you can sit on the chair, sit inside the F1 car, and do Scooba diving and gliding because of Bipedalism.
This ability provided us another crucial factor, “The Balance.”
When we walk, we have a good balance distribution of Neck and arms because our spine and pelvis are in the proper position.
How has it changed us?
The shape of the limb and pelvis maintains the knee and feet directly under the body’s center of gravity, which is why we can climb the steps. We can maintain our balance on one foot.
When we walk, we push off the ground. This happened because of the modifications that evolution provided us from time to time.
Then vs. now comparison in Humans
You must be curious about how we were at the beginning and how different we are now. In the aspects of Bipedalism, we hanged from walking on four legs to walking on two legs. This also helped our ancestors hunt efficiently and travel in vast distance regions.
The species that still survived are most likely because they learned how to travel long distances. Our ancestors had sensible tours and travel plans for their migration.
Spear, axe, and some other long-range weapons, we could use them because we have that distribution of balance all over our body because of the spine. That is why while throwing a spear, we Keep our feet about shoulder-length apart. Knees in the slightly bent position. And another arm to keep us steady.
The T-stance of our body allows us to do that, don’t worry about the T-stance word. It is just a martial arts stance.
Importance
You must have seen the image of Evolutionary man and how evolution happened. But now, focus on the spines of that image. That is Bipedalism. That is where our civilization got its boon, and we evolved. Many changes happened in us, like how our tail went missing, but we don’t need the tail now because we can only balance ourselves perfectly on two legs.
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- The Amazing History of Neanderthals and Sapiens you need to know.
- Fundamentals of Neanderthals you need to know
- Fundamentals of The different Species of the Human Beings
- Bipedalism Evolution: When we Humans started walking
- Primates and Humans – Fundamentals and Primates Characteristics
