When studying how humans evolved to walk on two feet, scientists have focused on comparing bones from the shoulders, pelvis, spine, and limbs of early humans. So how did humans evolve bipedalism?
It turns out, it may have had to do with the inner ears of our ancestors. A new study, published in The Innovation, suspects that the skulls of Lufengpithecus, a primitive ancestor to modern-day orangutans, may hold the key to bipedalism in the structure of their inner ears.
“It is from this broad ancestral locomotor repertoire that human bipedalism evolved,” said Terry Harrison, an anthropologist and study co-author in a statement.
The reconstructed inner ear of Lufengpithecus (Credit: Image courtesy of Yinan Zhang, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
Image courtesy of Yinan Zhang, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
The inner ear holds the vestibular system, which sends information ...
