Recent research on the fossil ape Lufengpithecus’s inner ear structures offers new clues to the evolutionary steps towards human bipedalism, revealing the significant roles of the inner ear and climate change in this evolutionary journey. Reconstruction of the locomotor behavior and paleoenvironment of Lufengpithecus.
While scientists have long been intrigued by the question of how humans’ bipedal stance and movement evolved from a quadrupedal ancestor, neither past studies nor fossil records have permitted the reconstruction of a clear and definitive history of the early evolutionary stages that led to human bipedalism., offers important clues about the origins of bipedal locomotion courtesy of a novel method: analyzing its bony inner ear region using three-dimensional CT-scanning.
Most studies of the evolution of ape locomotion have focused on comparisons of the bones of the limbs, shoulders, pelvis, and spine and the way they are associated with the different types of locomotor behaviors seen in living apes and humans. However, the diversity of locomotor behaviors in living apes and the incompleteness of the fossil record have hampered the development of a clear picture of human bipedalism’s origins.