Experiments and Variations in Bipedalism

This course will help you learn how fossils give us an insight into how the early members of our lineage walked bipedally. The four million years old bone of Australopithecus anamensis is the oldest undisputed evidence for bipedalism in our lineage. Similarly, Lucy’s, who was Australopithecus afarensis, fossil also helped scientists discover a lot about how bipedalism evolved over time. You will also explore bipedal variations in humans. From its earliest version to its modern form—how humans learned to walk, is an interesting story. Similarly how a human being learns to walk, from a toddler’s first footstep to an adult human being’s walk and its variations would also be discussed in this course. You will also understand that while bipedalism has its advantages, it has its adverse effects on humans too from a musculoskeletal point of view. Every module of this course has been created with the intention of a “hands-on” learner experience, where you can play around with and learn from 3D renditions of different human and animal fossils. Through these exercises, you will read the shapes found in bones in order to analyze and reconstruct how a species moved.

• Module 1: Variations in Bipedalism
• This module explores bipedal variations in humans and why different forms of bipedal walking may have evolved.
• Module 2: Benefits of Being Bipedal
• This module explores the benefits of bipedal locomotion. It also discusses how the early hominin species such as Homo erectus and Homo naledi used to walk.
• Module 3: Walking Variation
• This module provides an introduction to how children learn to walk and how that varies across cultures. This also talks about the difference between running and walking and the adaptations for running.
• Module 4: The Costs of Bipedalism
• This module explores the downsides of bipedalism and the anatomical trade-offs that result from our evolutionary history of upright walking.