Bones of ape living 12m years ago point to genesis of upright walking

[Judi Lynn]

Bavarian fossils of likely common ancestor of humans and apes ‘put back start of bipedalism by millions of years’

Ian Sample Science editor

@iansample
Wed 6 Nov 2019 13.38 EST

The distinctive human habit of walking upright may have evolved millions of years earlier than thought, according to researchers who uncovered the remains of an ancient ape in southern Germany.

Excavations from the Hammerschmiede clay pit in Bavaria turned up fossilised bones belonging to a previously unknown baboon-sized ape that lived nearly 12m years ago, long before humans split from their modern-day cousins, the chimpanzees and bonobos.

Analysis of the bones shows that the animal, named Danuvius guggenmosi, had an unusual mix of anatomical features. While its long forearms, curved fingers and powerful, grasping thumbs were hallmarks of life spent dangling from branches, the hips, knees and feet were more human-like and better suited to walking upright, the scientists said.

“It was astonishing for us to realise during the process of research how similar certain bones were to humans, as opposed to great apes,” said Madelaine Böhme, who led the study at the University of Tübingen. The fossils, which include remains from two females, a male and a juvenile, were excavated between 2015 and 2018.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/nov/06/bones-of-ape-living-12m-years-point-to-genesis-of-upright-walking

[cstanleytech]

1. Might also simply be a case of convergent evolution.

Look at dolphins and ichthyosaurs as they both adapted to their environment and evolved streamlined forms that were very similar for swimming in the ocean so maybe these apes evolved it to adapt to their lifestyle at the time.

[wnylib]

2. Interesting point. If this anatomical similarity to human

bipedalism capability was the result of convergent evolution, then human ancestors would have to have been exposed to the same environmental conditions. Around the same time? That would still put the start of the development toward human bipedalism at a much earlier age.

Or, could some human ancestors from a later time period have been exposed to a similar environment by migration or by similar.changes to their environment without leaving their territory? That leaves a 9 million year gap in time between the traits in this article and the appearance of homo erectus. A big gap for.similar environmental influences producing convergent evolution.

But since this discovery shows ape traits and a tendency toward developing homo erectus traits, couldn't it be an evoutionary step toward homo erectus development?

[cstanleytech]

3. We might never know for sure as there are still large gaps in the fossil record.

[wnylib]

4. True. But we could examine what the environment was

like 12 mya for this new find and what it was like where the esrlist HE fossils have been found. Compare them for similarities that could lead toward bipedalism.

Environmental factors that would favor upright walking could be a loss of forest habitat when glaciation affected global and regional climates. Standing up in high grass gives a better view of predators and prey -- and favors an increase in height, too.

But there could be other factors -- faster running upright, a need for upper limbs and feet/hands to use tools, carry items, and.fight predators -- with weapons. The record as it stands.now has HH making tools (snd weapons) before HE comes on the scene with upright posture.

My guess is that this new discovery represents a transitional stage.between HH and HE earlier than previously believed.