The traits that indicate that Au afarensis was adapted for bipedalism include angled femurs and the slightly divergent big toe with arched feet Smaller zygomatic arches in A, very Large in B, but small in A.
The East African fossils suggest a well-adapted bipedal gait because the arches in the foot had been developed but there were some differences in the ankle that imply that considerable flexibility was not highly possible. (Lewis et al., 2010) In 2011, a fossil discovered in Hadar showed that A. afarensis had arched feet and did indeed walk upright.
She was able to prove her locomotory gait by allowing scientists to thoroughly analyze her skeleton, and to investigate her species footprints and habitat which aided in drawing conclusions such as Lucy, Australopithecus afarensis were obligate bipedal, used a bit of both locomotion, tree climbing and walking.
The Evolution of Bipedalism in Lucy, the Australopithecus afarensis Essay. According to Lewis et al. (2010), bipedal locomotion is defined as ‘walking habitually on two feet, walking habitually on two legs is the single most distinctive feature of hominins.
The evolution of these species was due to the idea that African deserts did not allow for any plant growth such as trees; thus A. afarensis had to change their traveling style to bipedalism in order to travel to these areas. (BBC, 2011) Conclusion. Lucy has created much excitement in the paleoanthropology field.
Australopithecus afarensis have commonly been found in sites such as Hadar, Ethiopia and Laetoli, Tanzania. An Australopithecus afarensis fossil was discovered in Hadar, Ethiopia in 1974, by Donald Johanson. This fossil was scientifically known as Afar Locality (AL) 288-1 but would be commonly called Lucy. The significance of this fossil was that ...
(2010), bipedal locomotion is defined as ‘walking habitually on two feet, walking habitually on two legs is the single most distinctive feature of hominins. To this date, there have been many controversies on “to what extent was Lucy bipedal?” which has been supported through evidences such as, the analysis of Lucy’s skeleton particularly her femur, careful examinations of the footprints in Laetoli and surveying the habitat of A.afarensis over a period of time.
When Lucy’s skeletal remains were first discovered, many archaeologists worked hard to put together all forty seven bones, in order to understand the physical structure and to derive many unknown answers related to habitat, skills and diet.
The significance of this fossil was that it contained 40% of its skeleton thus it became one of the most complete individual to be discovered.
It also allowed scientists to make the conclusion that the foot is a human like form of locomotion, thus the debate about Lucy’s ability to walk upright could now be put to a rest. Habitat. The fossil remains of the species A.afarensis were found in parts of Africa that were rich in rain forests.
A group of scientists made a detailed study of a fossil that showed a fourth metatarsal foot bone of A.afarensis (Ward et al., 2011). The metatarsal bone was compared with the same bone in humans, gorillas and chimpanzees and it showed that it was in geometry far closer to humans than any other species.