Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A New Model for the Origin of Bipedality

  • Published:
Human Evolution

Abstract

Scholars have long thought that bipedality evolved gradually in response to the opening of the savanna. Recently, both parts of this concept have come into question. A variety of benefits of bipedality have been posited as responsible, but a trait can not evolve unless a useful mutation appears. Perhaps we need to stop wondering about selective pressures and consider what kind of mutation might be involved in forming a bipedal pelvis. Work on the evolution of development has shown that there are segmental control genes, alterations in which have large effects. These include the hox genes, of which there are four sets in humans, referred to as the HOX A, B, C, and D sequences. Changes in their activation in embryogenesis alter the identity of vertebrae and limb structure. An alteration in the control region of certain of the distal HOX D genes may well be responsible for the sudden appearance of bipedality by moving the boundary between the lumbar and sacral vertebrae, and so moving the position of the pelvis and lower limb origin. Pongids usually have three lumbar vertebrae; early hominids, 6. Pongids also have 48 chromosomes while we have 46. HOX D is located on our 2nd chromosome, the one that is a fusion of two pongid chromosomes. If that fusion altered the onset of perhaps HOX D 10, so that it switched on a couple of segments later, then the sacrum would form further down the vertebral column and might be shorter. In this paper I look at the chromosomal location of HOX D and examine the likelihood that the fusion of two panid chromosomes could have given rise to alterations in its control resulting in the abrupt appearance of bipedality and accompanying changes in the limbs and in the chela in which the HOX sequences are reused.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Berge C (1998) Heterochronic processes in human evolution: an ontogenetic analysis of the hominid pelvis. Am J Phys Anthropol 105:441–459

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Berge C (2002) Peramorphic Processes in the Evolution of the Hominid Pelvis and Femur. In: Minugh-Purvis N, McNamara KJ (eds) Human Evolution through Developmental Change. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, pp 381–404

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bogen B (2003) The human pattern of growth and development in paleontological perspective. In: Thompson JL, Krovitz GE, Nelson AJ (eds) Patterns of Growth and Development in the Genus Homo. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 15–44

    Google Scholar 

  4. Brace CL (2000) Evolution in an Anthropological View. Alta Mira Press, Walnut Creek, CA

    Google Scholar 

  5. Brunet M, Guy F, Pilbeam D et al (2002) A new hominid from the Upper Miocene of Chad, Central Africa. Nature 418:145–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Burke AC, Nelson CE, Morgan BA, Tabin C (1995) Hox Genes and the evolution of vertebrate axial morphology. Development 121:333–346

    Google Scholar 

  7. Chiarelli B (1962) Comparative morphometric analysis of primate chromosomes. I. The chromosomes of anthropoid apes and man. Caryologia 15:99–121

    Google Scholar 

  8. The Chimpanzee Sequencing and Analysis Consortium (2005) Initial sequence of the chimpanzee genome and comparison with the human genome. Nature 437:69–87

    Google Scholar 

  9. Clark GA, Willermet CM (1997) Introduction. In: Clark GA, Willermet, CM (eds) Conceptual Issues in Modern Human Origins Research. Aldine de Gruyter, New York, pp 1–8

    Google Scholar 

  10. Cohn MJ, Bright PE (2000) Development of vertebrate limbs: insights into pattern, evolution and dysmorphogenesis. In: O'Higgins P, Chon M (eds) Development, Growth and Evolution, Implications for the Study of the Hominid Skeleton. Linnean Society Symposium Series no. 20. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 1–28

    Google Scholar 

  11. Cohn MJ, Patel K, Krumlauf R, Wilkinson DG, Clarke JDW, Tickle C (1997) Hox9 genes and vertebrate limb specification. Nature 387:97–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Davidson EH (2001) Genomic Regulatory Systems: Development and Evolution. Academic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  13. Dietrich S, Kessel M (1997) The vertebral column. In: Thorogood P (ed) Embryos, Genes and Birth Defects. Wiley, Chichester, pp 281–302

    Google Scholar 

  14. Duboule D (ed) (1994) Guidebook to the Homeobox Genes. Oxford University Press, Oxford

  15. Falk D (1991) Breech birth of the genus Homo: Why Bipedalism Preceded the Increase in Brain Size. In: Coppens Y, Senut B (eds) Origine(s) de la Bipedie chez les Hominides. Editions de Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, pp 259–266

    Google Scholar 

  16. Gilbert SF (1997) Developmental Biology, 5th edn. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA

    Google Scholar 

  17. Haile-Selassie Y et al (2001) Late Miocene Hominids from the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. Nature 412:178–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Hunt KD (1998) Ecological morphology of Australopithecus afarensis: traveling terrestrially, eating arboreally. In: Strasser E, Fleagle J, Rosenberger A, McHenry H (eds) Primate Locomotion: Recent Advances. Plenum Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  19. Innis JW (1997) Role of the HOX genes in human development. Curr Opin Pediatr 9:617–622

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. International Human Genome Sequencing Consortorium (2001) Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome. Nature 409:860–921

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Ishida H (1991) A strategy for long distance walking in the earliest hominoids: effect of posture on energy expenditure during bipedal walking. In: Coppens Y, Senut B (eds) Origine(s) de la Bipedie chez les Hominids. Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, pp 9–15

    Google Scholar 

  22. King M-C, Wilson AC (1975) Evolution at two levels in humans and chimpanzees. Science 188:107–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Kingdon J (2003) Lowly Origins: Where, When and Why Our Ancestors First Stood Up. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  24. Leaf D (1999) Review of pattern formation during development, Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology 62. Am J Human Biol 11:421–422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Leonard WR, Robertson ML (1997) Rethinking the energetics of bipedality. Curr Anthropol 38:304–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Le Gros-Clark WE (1947) The importance of the Australopithecini in the study of human evolution. Sci Prog 139:377–395

    Google Scholar 

  27. Le Gros-Clark WE (1955a) The Fossil Evidence for the Study of Human Evolution. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  28. Le Gros-Clark WE (1955b) The os innominatum of the recent pongidae with special reference to that of the Australopithicinae. Am J Phys Anthropol 6:259–284

    Google Scholar 

  29. Lovejoy CO (1981) The origin of man. Science 284:301–305

    Google Scholar 

  30. Lovejoy CO, Cohn MJ, White TD (1999) Morphological analysis of mammalian limbs: a developmental perspective. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96:13247–13252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. McCollum MA (1999) The robust Australopithecene face: a morphogenetic perspective. Science 284:301–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. McGinnis W, Krumlauf R (1992) Homeobox genes and axial patterning. Cell 69:283–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Minugh-Purvis N (1988) Patterns of craniofacial growth and development in Upper Pleistocene hominids. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania

  34. Minugh-Purvis N (1998) The search for the earliest modern Europeans: a comparison of Krapina 1 and es-Skhul juveniles. In: Akazawa T, Aoki K, Bar-Yosef O (eds) Neanderthals and Modern Humans in Western Asia. Plenum, New York, pp 339–352

    Google Scholar 

  35. Minugh-Purvis N (2002) Heterochronic change in the neurocranium and the emergence of modern Humans. In: Minugh-Purvis N, McNamara KJ (eds) Human Evolution through Developmental Change. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, pp 479–498

    Google Scholar 

  36. Minugh-Purvis N, Radovcic J, Smith FH (2000) Krapina 1: a juvenile Neanderthal from the early Late Pleistocene of Croatia. Am J Phys Anthropol 111:393–424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Mortlock DP, Innis JW (1997) Mutation of HOX A13 in hand–foot–genital syndrome. Nat Genet 15:179–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Muragaki Y, Mundlos S, Upton J, Olsen BR (1996) Altered growth and branching patterns in synpolydactyly caused by mutations in HOXD13. Science 272:548–551

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Navarro A, Barton NH (2003) Chromosomal speciation and molecular divergence—accelerated evolution in rearranged chromosomes. Science 300:321–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Oakley KP (1975) Man the Tool Maker. British Museum (Natural History), London

    Google Scholar 

  41. Olson MV, Varki A (2003) Sequencing the chimpanzee genome: insights into human evolution and disease. Nat Rev Genet 4:20–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Raff R (1997) The Shape of Life. Genes, Development, and the Evolution of Animal Form. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  43. Richards G (1986) Freed hands or enslaved feet? A note on the behavioral implications of ground dwelling bipedalism. J Hum Evol 15:143–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Richmond BG, Begun DR, Strait DS (2001) Origin of human bipedalism: the knuckle-walking hypothesis revisited. Yearb Phys Anthropol 44:70–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Riesenberg LH, Livingston K (2003) Chromosomal speciation in primates. Science 300:267–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Ruddle FH, Bentley KL, Murtha MT, Risch N (1994) Gene loss and gain in the evolution of the vertebrates. Development 120S:155–161.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Sarfarazi M, Akarsu AN, Sayli BS (1995) Localization of the syndactyly type II (synpolydactyly) locus to 2q31 region and identification of tight linkage to HOX D 8 intragenetic marker. Hum Mol Genet 4:1453–1458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Sarich VM, Wilson AC (1967) Immunological time scale for hominid evolution. Science 158:1200–1203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Schultz AH (1969) The Life of Primates. Universe Books, New York

    Google Scholar 

  50. Schwartz JA (1999a) Homeobox genes, fossils, and the origin of species. Anat Rec (New Anat) 257:15–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Schwartz JA (1999b) Sudden Origins: Fossils, Genes and the Emergence of Species. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  52. Senut B, Pickford M, Gommery D et al (2001) First hominid from the Miocene (Lukeino Formation, Kenya). CR Acad Sci Ser IIa 332:137–144

    Google Scholar 

  53. Stine GJ (1989) The New Human Genetics. William C. Brown Publishers, Dubuque, IA

    Google Scholar 

  54. Stoneking M (2001) From the evolutionary past. Nature 409:821–822

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Thorogood P (1997) The head and face. In: Thorogood P (ed) Embryos, Genes and Birth Defects. Wiley, New York, pp 197–229

    Google Scholar 

  56. Tijo JH, Levan A (1956) The chromosome numbers of man. Hereditas 42:1–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Venter CJ, Adams MD, Myers EW, Li PW, Mural RJ, Sutton GG et al (2001) The human genome. Science 291:1304–1351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Wescott RW (1967) Hominid uprightness and primate display. Am Anthropol 69:78ff

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. White TD, Suwa G, Asfaw B (1994) Australopithecus [now Ardapithecus] ramidus, a new species of early hominid from Aramis, Ethiopia. Nature 371:306–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. Wilson AH, Bush GL, Case SM, King M-C (1975) Social structuring of mammalian populations and rate of chromosomal evolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci, USA 72:5061–5065

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Wilson AC, Sarich VM (1969) A molecular time scale for human evolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci, USA 69:1088–1093

    Article  Google Scholar 

  62. Yunis GJ, Prakash OM (1982) The origin of man: a chromosomal pictorial legacy. Science 215:1525–1530

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Anthropology Department, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, 47306, USA

    Evelyn J. Bowers

Authors
  1. Evelyn J. Bowers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Evelyn J. Bowers.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bowers, E.J. A New Model for the Origin of Bipedality. Human Evolution 21, 241–250 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11598-006-9021-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11598-006-9021-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation