Raichlen David A, Pontzer Herman
Human and Evolutionary Biology Section, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
Evol Anthropol. 2021 Jul;30(4):253-261. doi: 10.1002/evan.21911. Epub 2021 Aug 4.
Bipedal walking was one of the first key behavioral traits that defined the evolution of early hominins. While it is not possible to identify specific selection pressures underlying bipedal evolution, we can better understand how the adoption of bipedalism may have benefited our hominin ancestors. Here, we focus on how bipedalism relaxes constraints on nonhuman primate quadrupedal limb mechanics, providing key advantages during hominin evolution. Nonhuman primate quadrupedal kinematics, especially in our closest living relatives, the great apes, are dominated by highly flexed limb joints, often associated with high energy costs, and are constrained by the need to reduce loads on mobile, but less stable forelimb joints. Bipedal walking would have allowed greater hind limb joint extension, which is associated with reduced energy costs and increased endurance. We suggest that relaxing these constraints provided bipedal hominins important benefits associated with long distance foraging and mobility.
两足行走是定义早期人类进化的首批关键行为特征之一。虽然不可能确定两足进化背后的具体选择压力，但我们可以更好地理解两足行走的采用可能如何使我们的人类祖先受益。在这里，我们关注两足行走如何缓解对非人类灵长类动物四足肢体力学的限制，在人类进化过程中提供关键优势。非人类灵长类动物的四足运动学，尤其是在我们现存最近的亲属——大猩猩中，主要由高度弯曲的肢体关节主导，这通常与高能量消耗相关，并且受到减少对灵活但不太稳定的前肢关节负荷需求的限制。两足行走将允许更大程度的后肢关节伸展，这与降低能量消耗和增加耐力相关。我们认为，缓解这些限制为两足人类提供了与长距离觅食和移动相关的重要益处。
