BraxtonThompson

Anth1020
Researchpaper
Due:Oct,10th2015

BipedalismandBrainCapacity

Whendidourancestorsstarttoresemblemodernhumanslikeustoday?And
whatweresomeoftheindicatorsthatshowedwhenthischangefromknucklewalking,
totallstandingbipedalwalkingbegan.InthispaperIwillbediscussingThe
appearanceoflargebraincapacities,andbipedalisminthehominidline.Alsobe
discussinghowdifferentphysical,andbonetraitscanserveasindicatorsandcanshow
thisevolutionintolargebraincapacitiesandbipedalism.
Tobegin,whatisbipedalism?Itisaformoflocomotionthatisreallyonlyusedby
twospeciestoday.Humansandkangaroos,whilethetwousethembothvery
differently,theybothuseonlytwolegsastheirprimaryformofmovement.Facultative
bipedalismisaformthatisusedforsurvival,ratherthanbeingusedasaformof
movement.Forexampletheycouldstandontwolegstoavoidapredator,ortoreach
foodthatisinahighlocation.Manyanimalsusefacultativebipedalism,buthabitual
bipedalismismuchmoreuncommon.Thisisthetypeofbipedalismthathumansand
kangaroosuse.Wherebipedalwalkingistheirmainformoflocomotion.
Intermsofhumanevolution,manyseelargebraincapacitiesandbipedalism
kindofgoinghandinhand.Butinrealityonecamefirst.Largerbraincapacitieswasin
manywaysagatewayforbipedalismandcamebeforebipedalism.Australopithecines
wasoneofthefirsttoshowanincreaseofcranialcapacities.However,astherehas

alsobeenageneralincreaseinbodysizefromtheAustralopithecinestothepresent,
wemustcorrectcranialvolumerelativetothebodysize.
HumanEvolution,Barry
SinervoChapter20,1997.
Theyhavealargenumberofskullswhoseactionscan
speakveryloudlyonthismatter.Aswehadseeninclass,withourrecentproject
Hominidskullslab.Thislabdidaterrificjobatillustratingnotonlycranialcapacities,
butalsoopisthionindex,whichwentverywellwiththisresearchpaper.Andalsohelp
illustratehowcranialcapacitiesandtheforamenmagnumwenttogetherinshowing
whatcamefirst,thecapacitiesorbipedalism.
Onesignthatarchaeologistscanlookforinfossilsisthepelvicbones.Thereare
manyindicatorsthatcanshowwhethertheywerebipedalornot.onethingthattheycan
lookforonthepelvisistheIlium(topportionoftheinnominatebone)inhumansis
shorterandbroader.Itcurvesaroundthetrunk,whereasinapesitisflatagainstthe
backofthetrunk.AnotherbeingtheGreatersciaticnotch,Thisisverywideinapes,a
functionoftheirlong,tallilium.Inhumans,thenotchisactuallyanotch.Alsothe
Anteriorinferioriliacspine.Thisfeatureisprominentinthehomininpelvis,absentor
smallinapes.SacrumInhumans,thesacrumisbroadandshort,inapesitisnarrow
andlong,usuallyincorporating6ormoresacralvertebralbodies.
Bipedalityandthe
pelvis.JohnHawks.Oct31,2011
Theforamenmagnumisanotherindicatorthatcanshowwhetherornotthey
werebipedalornotandcanbeusedtohelpdeterminewhatcamefirst,braincapacity
orbipedalwalking.Theforamenmagnumisthewholeatthebottomoftheoftheskull
whichthespinepassesthrough.Thereasonthiscanbeusedtoshowwhetherthefossil

wasbipedaliswherethisholeislocated.Themoretowardsthecenteroftheskullthe
holeisthemorelikelytheyarebipedal.Andthefarthertheholeistowardsthebackof
theskullindicatesthatitisnotlikelybipedal.Thelocationcandeterminethisbecauseof
theangleinwhichthespinewouldenter.Inaknucklewalkinganimal,thespinewould
enteratalotmoreofanangle,andastraightupanddownspinewouldbettersupport
bipedalism.Iftheforamenmagnumindicatesthepositionofthespineinrelationtothe
head,andthereforewhetherthecreaturewasbipedalormovedaboutsomeotherway,
thenthepositionoftheopeningmightindicatewhenourancestorsdevelopedthe
upright,bipedalposturesooftentakentobethehallmarkofhumanity.
BrianSwitek.
Thewayyouwalkistiedtoaholeinyourhead.9/28/2015NationalGeographic.
Asbraincapacitiesincreased,sodidtheirabilityanddesiretousetools.Making
tools,usingtools,andstartingtousetheirhandsformoreusesthatwouldrelatetous
modernhumans.Bipedalismmayhavecameasadirectresultforthis.Inwalkingon
twolegsasidefromthefour,itfreesuptheirhandsformanymoreuses.Beingableto
multitaskinwaysthatwouldnothavebeenpossiblebefore.Thisisanotherreasonwhy
onecouldarguethatbraincapacitiescamefirst.
Overallthisresearchpaperdidagreatjobonhelpingmecriticallythinkaboutthe
manyfactorsthatledtobipedalisminourancestors.Itwasinterestingtoseehowsome
factorsthatmayhavepreviouslyseemedsmallorinsignificantpreviously,canactually
havesuchagreatbearingonourhistory.Itiscooltoseehowresourceful
anthropologistscanbeindeterminingthesethingsandinaway,turningnothinginto
something.Evenwhenthereisverylittletoworkwith.

Mypage:
http://bthomps17.weebly.com/
References
1.

BrianSwitek.Thewayyouwalkistiedtoaholeinyourhead.9/28/2015

NationalGeographic.
2.

Bipedalityandthepelvis.JohnHawks.Oct31,2011

3.

HumanEvolution,BarrySinervoChapter20,1997