Neanderthals: They weren't really into distance running. According to research by David Raichlen in the Journal of Human Evolution, they were more the power walking type: The shape of a Homo sapiens heel compared to that of a Neanderthal would have allowed our ancestors to be much more efficient runners over long distances. Raichlen stated with living humans, studying them as they ran on treadmills.
By looking at MRI scans of their ankles, he found that the distance between a point on the heel bone just below the ankle bone, and the back of the heel bone where the Achilles tendon attaches, was proportional to the runner's efficiency. The shorter this distance, the greater is the force applied to stretch the tendon - and the more energy is stored in it. This means that people with shorter distances are more efficient runners, using less energy to run for longer. [New ...
