Why we walk on two legs?


	Why we walk on two legs?

syncopath

9-22-2008 6:05 PM

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9-23-2008 5:34 AM

abailart

Its coz were bipeds innit.

9-23-2008 2:18 PM

estevan

It would also really hurt our hands, hell my feet hurt as it is!!

9-26-2008 5:57 AM

nobelprize4peace

An even older theory has it that we became bipeds because it would allow us to see further away, thus allowing us to detect predators earlier. I was taught that when i was a kid in the eighties. Now it really sounds silly compared to that new theory !

9-26-2008 6:11 AM

abailart

Overdetermination (one effect from a range of different 'causes', each sufficient) is common in evolution.

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/89b32586-7502-47fd-a475-bc7072738546/FA31506E-0618-499E-9359-9CACF90623D1/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-truth-about-why-we-walk-on-two-legs-it-saves-energy-457562.html" href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-truth-about-why-we-walk-on-two-legs-it-saves-energy-457562.html" style="font-size: 11px;">www.independent.co.uk</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-truth-about-why-we-walk-on-two-legs-it-saves-energy-457562.html"><H1>The truth about why we walk on two legs: it saves energy</H1></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-truth-about-why-we-walk-on-two-legs-it-saves-energy-457562.html">  Scientists compared the amount of energy expended by humans and chimps when   walking on a treadmill and found that a two-legged gait is about 75 per cent   less costly compared with walking on all fours.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-truth-about-why-we-walk-on-two-legs-it-saves-energy-457562.html">  The study suggests that it all comes down to energy expenditure and how   costly it is to move around in terms of the food required.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-truth-about-why-we-walk-on-two-legs-it-saves-energy-457562.html">  Explaining why humans went from a four-legged gait to a two-legged, upright   posture has proven to be one of the most difficult and contentious issues in   evolution.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-truth-about-why-we-walk-on-two-legs-it-saves-energy-457562.html">Rival theories</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-truth-about-why-we-walk-on-two-legs-it-saves-energy-457562.html">  * Tree walking: A recent theory suggests that our tree-living ancestors   walked upright on branches, using their arms for balance.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-truth-about-why-we-walk-on-two-legs-it-saves-energy-457562.html">  * A cooling effect: Another idea is that it was cooler to walk upright in   savannah grasslands because by doing so there was less surface area of the   body exposed to the Sun.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-truth-about-why-we-walk-on-two-legs-it-saves-energy-457562.html">  * Wading in water:</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-truth-about-why-we-walk-on-two-legs-it-saves-energy-457562.html">Modern-day chimps often adopt a two-legged   gait when walking through water.</blockquote><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; 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