Early Humans May Have Learned to Walk While Still in The Treetops, New Study Suggests

Humans are thought to have developed bipedalism as they moved away from the woods to take advantage of open spaces.

The evolution of bipedalism may have begun while still moving about the branches of trees, according to a study.

Researchers have wondered if a change in habitat drove our ancestors towards bipedalism or if they evolved the ability to walk on two feet to find food in the open grassland.

The idea that hominins came down from the trees and walked upright on the ground is one of the many theories for the evolution of bipedalism.

Our data doesn't support that

Researchers can deduce how early hominins moved by using evidence in bone structures. The bones can't say how an environment may have influenced movement or how a means of movement may have changed the scene.

Chimpanzees are our nearest living relatives. Understanding how their behavior varies in relation to habitat provides an exciting new insight into the ecology of bipedalism.

This is the first test in a living ape of the hypothesis that wooded, savanna habitats were catalysts for bipedalism.

The study documented the behavior of wild Chimpanzees in the west of the country. The habitat where early hominins once lived is similar to the Issa Valley.

Chimpanzees living in the same habitats as our earliest human ancestors give scientists an opportunity to investigate the ecology of bipedalism. Chimpanzees living in dense forest areas of Africa were compared with the movements and postures of the Issa Valleychimps.

The researchers found that the behavior of the Issa Valley Chimpanzees was similar to that of forest-dwelling Chimpanzees in other areas of Africa. They spent the same amount of time in trees as the chimp's.

13 adults, 6 females and 7 males, were observed by researchers for differences in the groups of Chimpanzees. Over the course of 15 months, almost 2,850 observations of climbing, walking, and hanging activity were made. Every 2 minutes, they collected data.

The location of the Chimp was recorded for each observation.

The majority of the bipedalism events were in trees when the Chimpanzees were looking for food. The authors note that much of the evolutionary pressure for bipedalism is associated with ground-based activity.

The evolution of bipedalism was not a result of the retreat of forests in the Pliocene era, according to the study.

The search for food- producing trees is a likely driver of this trait.

We don't know if our own ancestors behaved the same way, and how a shuffle along the branches developed into a walk across the savannah.

When the time came to leave the trees, our ancestors may have been prepared.

The research has been published in a journal.