Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi all,
Vanilla are planning an update to the site on April 24th (next Wednesday). It is a major PHP8 update which is expected to boost performance across the site. The site will be down from 7pm and it is expected to take about an hour to complete. We appreciate your patience during the update.
Thanks all.

Lucy Walked Upright

Options
  • 11-02-2011 2:38pm
    #1
    Galvasean
    Registered Users Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭


    I thought this was common knowledge. More evidence in the can I suppose.
    An arched fossilized foot bone found in Ethiopia shows that human ancestors walked upright 3.2 million years ago and were no longer tree dwellers, said a study Thursday in the journal Science.

    The bone belongs to a cohort of the famed hominid Lucy, whose species Australopithecus afarensis roamed eastern Africa, and is the first evidence to address the question of how they got around.

    "This fourth metatarsal is the only one known of A. afarensis and is a key piece of evidence for the early evolution of the uniquely human way of walking," said study co-author William Kimbel of Arizona State

    Read all about it here.

    foot-bone-278x225.jpg
    Tagged:


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    Rubecula
    Registered Users Posts: 8,551 ✭✭✭Rubecula


    Yes I saw this on the TV, just a bit more evidence I think.


  • Options
    #3
    Wibbs
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,071 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    IIRC Ardi was at it before this, though less evolved. The only issue I have is how do they know it's one of Lucy's species? Ok it may date from roughly the same time, but there were often more than one hominid knocking around in them days. It's seems unusual today just having one.

    Though another loopy theory of mine is that there were far fewer different species of hominid than the books currently describe. I strongly suspect a few "species" are examples of sexual dimorphism or maturity or even an individuals differences in the same species. The small scale of the finds and even individual researchers wishing to discover a new species makes this very likely IMHO.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



  • Options
    #4
    Rubecula
    Registered Users Posts: 8,551 ✭✭✭Rubecula


    Wibbs wrote: »
    IIRC Ardi was at it before this, though less evolved. The only issue I have is how do they know it's one of Lucy's species? Ok it may date from roughly the same time, but there were often more than one hominid knocking around in them days. It's seems unusual today just having one.

    Though another loopy theory of mine is that there were far fewer different species of hominid than the books currently describe. I strongly suspect a few "species" are examples of sexual dimorphism or maturity or even an individuals differences in the same species. The small scale of the finds and even individual researchers wishing to discover a new species makes this very likely IMHO.

    I think you may be right, (I don't know) about the number of hominid species, although I think this for different reasons. I suspect some of those hominds were in fact ape species that went extinct. If we have ancestors and relatives that became extinct, surely other ape species also had similar ancestry.


Advertisement