slyc_willie
Captain Crash
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2006
- Posts
- 17,732
3113 posted the thread a few days ago about Ardipithecus ramidus, a 4.4-million year old hominid. An even more distant ancestor than "Lucy" (Australopithecus afarensis), "Ardi" was a unique creature. Not ape, not human, not chimpanzee, this was a fully bipedal hominid with some interesting traits.
The show, "Discovering Ardi," premiered tonight, detailing a painstaking 15-year investigation that involved more than sixty scientists around the world. Their evidence is impressive, professional, and stupefying for the paleontological world. Like apes, Ardi possessed grasping feet, which was advantageous to climbing trees. But she also had small canines, which meant Ardi was less aggressive and not entirely dependent upon hunting game for food, nor for fighting others. Her hands were very much like ours, if a bit longer, but she was definitely not a knuckle-walker like chimps and apes.
Investigating fossil records from Ardi's surroundings revealed that she leaved in arboreal settings. this was a species that spent much time in the trees (to avoid predators), yet walked perfectly upright. That evidence shattered the traditional notions that primitive hominids became bipedal to be able to see over tall savanah grasslands.
So why would hominids learn to walk upright, if not to be taller? The answer is pretty simple: walking upright meant Ardi could carry more. Chimps and apes can't carry too much because the depend on using at least one hand when they walk. But a biped can load up its arms and bring back more foraging to the home.
Having to spend less time foraging or hunting meant females could spend more time with the young. And they could have more young.
Bipedal locomotion was therefore an evolutionary step toward creating more complicated social relationships, and, essentially, toward having more sex.
Very cool. This was an interesting program. If you have Discovery Channel, it will undoubtedly be on several more times over the following couple of weeks.
The show, "Discovering Ardi," premiered tonight, detailing a painstaking 15-year investigation that involved more than sixty scientists around the world. Their evidence is impressive, professional, and stupefying for the paleontological world. Like apes, Ardi possessed grasping feet, which was advantageous to climbing trees. But she also had small canines, which meant Ardi was less aggressive and not entirely dependent upon hunting game for food, nor for fighting others. Her hands were very much like ours, if a bit longer, but she was definitely not a knuckle-walker like chimps and apes.
Investigating fossil records from Ardi's surroundings revealed that she leaved in arboreal settings. this was a species that spent much time in the trees (to avoid predators), yet walked perfectly upright. That evidence shattered the traditional notions that primitive hominids became bipedal to be able to see over tall savanah grasslands.
So why would hominids learn to walk upright, if not to be taller? The answer is pretty simple: walking upright meant Ardi could carry more. Chimps and apes can't carry too much because the depend on using at least one hand when they walk. But a biped can load up its arms and bring back more foraging to the home.
Having to spend less time foraging or hunting meant females could spend more time with the young. And they could have more young.
Bipedal locomotion was therefore an evolutionary step toward creating more complicated social relationships, and, essentially, toward having more sex.
Very cool. This was an interesting program. If you have Discovery Channel, it will undoubtedly be on several more times over the following couple of weeks.
