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Alex Molling

Anthropology 1020

Professor Potter

April 19, 2017

Research Paper

Hominid Evolution of Bipedalism and Larger Cranial Capacity

Humans are very unique beings with physical traits and characteristics unlike any other

creatures on this planet. Two of the principal characteristics that make humans unique are that

we are bipedal organisms and we have very large brains. These particular traits have come to be

from a long evolutionary process throughout millions of years of small physical changes

occurring within early hominids. Because of this today we can do many great things and build

magnificent creations. By closely observing the fossil record, we find the key changes of our

physical skeletal makeup that made these two unique characteristics possible in our ancestors

and learn why we are the way we are today.

Over the past several million years, hominids have evolved from Australopiths to Homo

erectus, onto Homo heidelbergensis, then to Neanderthals and finally to modern day humans

such as ourselves. Throughout these millions of years, we believe that for most of that time the

hominids were at least competent bipedal from about 5 million years ago with the Pre-

Australopiths such as Ardipithecus found in East Africa. Around 4 million years ago, we can see

through the fossil record that Australopiths had all the physical traits necessary for bipedal

locomotion and we have come to the conclusion that from then on the members of the hominid

line could get around on two feet. It wasnt until several million years later however that the

cranial capacity of hominids began growing and expanding to that of modern day humans.
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When observing fossils from early hominid evolution, we can see that the first bipedal

hominids had four main physical traits that allowed them to be bipedal and gave them great

advantages of survival. The first trait needed for this to occur is that the organism needs to have a

wide, broad, and short pelvis which lowers the center of gravity permitting the use of very little

muscle energy to maintain vertical posture, along with many other effects on the human body

allowing us to walk on only two legs (Grabowski, 1338). The second physical trait needed is for

the individual to have long legs with knees that angle inward and that can fully extend out which

brings the feet in line with the bodys center of gravity and creates stability while walking

(Wayman). The third trait necessary for bipedalism is that the individual needs to have arched

feet with their big toe in line with the long axis of the foot. The last physical characteristic

needed is that the foramen magnum must be centered in the bottom of the individuals skull. The

foramen magnum is the hole where the spinal cord enters the skull, this is important because it

allows the individual to look forward while walking or standing. The foramen magnum is angled

higher up on the skulls of quadrupedal primates due to the fact that their spines are not vertical

but are rather at an angle which allows them to look forward so they could have a comprehensive

view of their surroundings.

Now that we know hominids have been bipedal for quite some time, we can now take a

look at the more recent evolution of the increased size of the cranial capacity among our

ancestors. We begin to see human-like characteristics among members of Australopithecus

afarensis, who lived from 3.6-3 million years ago had an average brain capacity of 420 cubic

centimeters, which is much smaller than the average modern day human capacity of 1350-1400

cubic centimeters. The brain size slowly increased as the hominids evolved with Homo habilis

(2.5 million years ago) having an average brain size of 630 cubic centimeters, and Homo erectus
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(2 million years ago) with an average of 900 cubic centimeters. From then on we see increased

brain size among Homo heidelbergensis from 780,000-200,000 years ago with an average size of

1200 cubic centimeters and another increase in Neanderthals with an average of 1520 cubic

centimeters, which is larger than that of modern humans.

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Works Cited

Carrier, David R., "The Advantage of Standing up to Fight and the Evolution of Habitual
Bipedalism in Hominins." Plos ONE, vol. 6, no. 5, May 2011, pp. 1-9. EBSCOhost,
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0019630.

Grabowski, Mark W., et al. "Divergent Patterns of Integration and Reduced Constraint in the
Human Hip and the Origins of Bipedalism." Evolution, vol. 65, no. 5, May 2011, pp.
1336-1356. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01226.x.

Russo, Gabrielle A. and E. Christopher Kirk. "Another Look at the Foramen Magnum in Bipedal
Mammals." Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 105, Apr. 2017, pp. 24-40. EBSCOhost,
doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.01.018.

Wayman, Erin. "Becoming Human: The Evolution of Walking Upright." Smithsonian.com.

Smithsonian Institution, 06 Aug. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.