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Yet another theory as to why humans walk upright …

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/iStockphoto/Nick Biemans

From “Humans Began Walking Upright to Carry Scarce Resources, Chimp Study Suggests”

ScienceDaily (Mar. 23, 2012), we learn,

The team of researchers from the U.S., England, Japan and Portugal investigated the behavior of modern-day chimpanzees as they competed for food resources, in an effort to understand what ecological settings would lead a large ape — one that resembles the 6 million-year old ancestor we shared in common with living chimpanzees — to walk on two legs.

“These chimpanzees provide a model of the ecological conditions under which our earliest ancestors might have begun walking on two legs,” said Dr. Richmond, an author of the study and associate professor of anthropology at GW’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. “Something as simple as carrying — an activity we engage in every day — may have, under the right conditions, led to upright walking and set our ancestors on a path apart from other apes that ultimately led to the origin of our kind.”

Studies showed that chimps would walk on their hind legs in order to carry valued food objects. But if after six million years, chimps have never got the idea that freeing one’s hands is generally a good idea, we can be pretty sure that something more is at work here.

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Comments
Right on . they have had time enough by evolutionary geology timelines. Would standing upright make them smarter ? Is that the origin of our brains.? They are just animals and don't need to stand. We are made in Gods image and standing is desirable for everything. By the way they say standing is why female humans uniquely have pain in childbirth. Other reasons too. apes don't have birthing pains like all female animals. YEC of coarse has a witness of the real reason women have pain at childbirth.Robert Byers
March 24, 2012
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Fascinating Turrell, by remarkable coincidence I was mulling over this possibility yesterday after reading something in the Qu'ran! That book has jumped to the front of my must-read queue, thanks for highlighting it.Chris Doyle
March 24, 2012
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You can't walk upright if your vertebrae don't allow it.The vertebrae and pelvis have to change a lot!! See Aaron Filler's book with changes in vertebrae 15+ million years ago. We came first, apes will not imitate: http://www.amazon.com/The-Upright-Ape-Origin-Species/dp/1564149331/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332543248&sr=1-2turell
March 23, 2012
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