Bipedal Apes

As a result of evolutionary changes some of the quadruped apes evolved bipedalism, simpler said they used only two legs to walk. However, as archaeologists discover bones and skeletons they analyze them to find out their age and whether or not the owners were bipedal. There are many ways by which a biped can be identified from a skeleton. One of them is by looking at the spinal curvature. For example bipeds have specific curvature that makes walking easier as the weight of the body is not falling only on one spot and so the pressure to the spine is not so great. Compared to quadrupeds' spinal curvature which resembles semicircle, bipeds spinal curvature is more like a S shape. Another way of distinguishing bipeds is by their feet and more accurately by their toes and arch. For bipeds, the arch gives extra stability and the toes function to push the body forward. The two groups have different toes as the bipeds big toe has different location as a result of its cylinder shape, which gives extra surface area and allowing the toes to be last touching the ground during walking. Another characteristics is that bipeds have different femur, or more accurately its angle. This give bipeds the freedom to stay on one leg while walking without falling. The fourth way of discovering is by looking at the pelvis. For bipeds the pelvis is bigger and lower corresponding to the bigger hip joints, and also the needed space while giving birth. Bipedalism is important as it brought three very important positive adaptations. One of them is the access to food. Bipeds could reach higher while on their feet. Also they could gather different kind of foods and exploit them. Another thing was saving energy. Quadrupeds using four feet used a lot more energy to move as they had to use bigger part of their body. The third thing was that they were able to see in the distance. Being taller with front vision allowed them to see danger or food from far away, giving them more time to react depending on the situation. By staying upright, less skin in being exposed and they could travel greater distances and track their food. These are some very important quality that allow bipeds to evolve even more.

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