Ardi's

So with Ardi's well preserved skeleton for confirmation, it's starting to look very much like human ancestors have been bipedal for a very long time.

October 21st, 2009 m_francis 2009

Ardi's fragmented pelvis made reconstruction difficult.

Catch a Pithecus by the Toe 2010

The idea that hominins might have evolved smaller canine teeth at the same time they were developing the ability to walk on two legs has some important implications for Ardi's behavior, according to Lovejoy.

Catch a Pithecus by the Toe 2010

Ardi's apelike big toe could be used to grasp branches, but her rigid foot bones may mean she also walked on two legs.

Catch a Pithecus by the Toe 2010

"It is hard for me to actually find a lot of characteristics that are not chimpanzeelike," says David Begun, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Toronto and editor of the Journal of Human Evolution, who notes that while Ardi's teeth are different from chimpanzees, he doesn't see signs that she was adapted to walking on two feet.

Catch a Pithecus by the Toe 2010

Lovejoy's analysis also shows that the bones in Ardi's hands and wrists were not adapted to knuckle-walking, a style of movement common to gorillas and chimpanzees, and assumed to have been used by the species that was ancestral to apes and humans.

Catch a Pithecus by the Toe 2010

He was also involved in the analysis of Ardi's habitat and biology.

Catch a Pithecus by the Toe 2010

Ardi's apelike feet raise the question: Was she evolving toward walking on two legs?

Catch a Pithecus by the Toe 2010

Lovejoy points to several bones in Ardi's foot that he believes show it was becoming more like a modern foot, able to better withstand the pressures of bipedal movement.

Catch a Pithecus by the Toe 2010

There may not be a lot of data to support this conjecture, other than Ardi's small canines, but I suspect it will make the next Paleoanthropology Society meetings interesting.

Our Latest Ancestor? 2009