Year: 2022

MULTIPLE PATHS. "If correct, this would imply that there was more locomotor diversity in the fossil record than has been suggested, and raises questions over whether there was a single origin for bipedalism or not. At the very least, if bipedalism appeared only once in the hominin radiation and is therefore monophyletic, such evidence would suggest that there were multiple evolutionary pathways responding to that selection pressure." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0021-8782.2004.00296.x/full View in LinkedIn

COMPLEX STORY. "In light of the richness of recent findings in the hominin fossil record, it is important to ask the question of whether the evolution of bipedalism was a more complex affair than has previously been suggested." https://lnkd.in/eezgP6D View in LinkedIn

TRAVERSE ARCHES. "The transition to full-time terrestrial bipedality is a hallmark of human evolution. A key correlate of human bipedalism is the development of longitudinal and transverse arches of the foot that provide a rigid propulsive lever and critical shock absorption during striding bipedal gait." https://lnkd.in/eezgP6D View in LinkedIn

STRUCTURE INFORMS EVOLUTION. "The human foot is a specialized organ for leverage in bi-pedal locomotion. Its characteristic longitudinal arch conforms in its external contour and in its trabecular architecture to the direction of the movements of force in such leverage action, thereby demonstrating the process by which its form was evolved." http://jbjs.org/content/6/1/56.abstract View in LinkedIn

NOT A MODIFICATION. "The longitudinal arch is absolutely not a modification of the previous supinated posture of the arboreal foot, for had that posture been retained the outer border of the foot would have become hypertrophied as the weight-bearing portion, and the inner border would have become atrophied because it had been held in an unusable position." https://lnkd.in/eXEMMAm View in LinkedIn

PRE-ADAPTATION. "An affinity with other Primates, and particularly the great apes, is abundantly manifest and the unique human attributes are progressive modifications of functional complexes which were initially evolved for arboreal life; in this sense the arboreal foot was pre-adapted to the specialized structure required by terrestrial bipedal man." https://lnkd.in/eC74CRQ View in LinkedIn

SUBTLE CHANGES. "The human foot is manifestly different from that of other primates but apart from simple overt differences, such as the lack of divergence of the hallux its distinctions are subtle and have proved difficult to pinpoint." https://lnkd.in/eC74CRQ View in LinkedIn

"PROGRESSIVE NOTIONS of natural philosophy and theology were simmering in Victorian England when, in 1844, the scientific establishment was rocked by the anonymous publication of Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation (Chambers [1844]). This best-selling book presented, in a highly accessible format, then-radical ideas on cosmic and biological evolution." https://lnkd.in/e5Q9TsW View in LinkedIn

DARWIN ON VESTIGES. "Along with paleontological evidence from the fossil record and biogeographic evidence from species distributions, Darwin turned, naturally, to comparative anatomy, citing such well-known topics as homologous and analogous (convergent) features and similarities in skeletons and patterns of embryonic development. Darwin cited another prominent finding of comparative anatomy as an obvious line of evidence for evolution: vestigial features." http://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn

DEEP VESTIGIAL STRUCTURES. "Vestigial features of humans and other organisms are well known and have long been used as key evidence for evolution. Such features include not only anatomical structures but also physiological processes, biochemical reactions, and even behaviors." Not to mention transposons derived from ancient viruses that dominate genomes. http://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn