Bipedalism
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Answer to Question 1
According to expert advice, as suggested by Johanson, human bipedalism demonstrates a tremendous evolutionary innovation, which at its initial stage looks not probable. For instance, the researcher asserts that unlike their quadrupedal ancestors, the bipedal primates look clumsy, have a slow pace, and highly unstable as well as being prone to both injuries and falls. However, despite these attributes, several hypotheses attempt to explain why how bipedalism happened or occurred. While all of them try to justify why a man becomes a bipedal primate, I find the theory of attraction of mates as more plausible than the rest. The implication is that the hypothesis of attracting mates combines the other two hypotheses about feeding and looking for food. According to the theory, males who walked through bipedalism had considerable advantages in getting food and even carrying it to their females and offspring back in their dwellings (NOVA, 2006). The hypothesis asserts that the ability to bring more food made these males more attractive to females, which led to having more desire for sex and intimacy. As such, these males were mainly responsible for the survival of their partners as well as offspring resulting in the next generations and transfer of better traits to them.
Due to bipedalism, these males arranged nutritious food for their families and also protected them from any dangerous intrusion. These males became efficient breadwinners who ensured that their loved ones had enough to eat. Their capability to offer food was critical for the reproduction and development of better genes for future generations (NOVA, 2006). They expanded their territorial power and moved into savannah from forests. Imperatively, bipedalism is a valuable feature that led to apparatus formation enlargement of brains and intelligence, leading to better organisms in the world.
Answer to Question 2
There is a possibility of testing any of the bipedalism evolution through the use of animal-focused research. In such studies, one may include primates, for example, through the use of primates like chimpanzees as research subjects where they can be subjected to such environments that resemble the ancient surroundings. This approach has shown considerable value as Chimpanzee studies (Pan troglodytes) and Bonobo (Pan paniscus) was carried out to understand the evolution of hominid bipedalism. According to these studies, introducing food to these primates stimulated their ability to work on twos. Therefore, the findings suggest seeking food was a significant motivation for the evolution from quadrupedalism to bipedalism. The need to collect more food and provide nutritious ingredients increased the ability of early primates to walk on twos as opposed to fours. With more food, males could attract females and increase their desire for sex and more offspring.
Answer to Question 3
As Johanson (2006) observed, bipedalism provided many advantages to the early primates that included increased rates of survival due to more food and protection from the males. These primates could forage far and wide to get food for their families. However, bipedalism presented new problems to humans or disadvantages that include suffering from a hernia, severe back pains, and fallen arches. However, it is essential to note that it remains the one step in humanity‘s past that enables us to make tools, enlarge our brains, and improve our intelligence.
More research reveals that the evolution of human locomotion through bipedalism is responsible for a common spinal disease. The study posits that the relative fast evolution of the human capability to walk on two limbs may have created a significant effect on the health of modern human beings (Plomp et al., 2015). Accordingly, the research proposes that the reason for human being afflicted regularly by the spinal disease compared to non-human primates emanates from the strained positioned on the spine due to bipedal movement. Through a study by researchers on the vertebrae of different primates that included orangutans, chimpanzees, and human, the increased susceptibility of people to spinal disease arises from the shape of their vertebrae that is different as a result of locomotion. The study reveals that the existence of vertical disc herniation was different in people compared to other primates (Plomp et al., 2015). The implication of the findings is that while bipedalism allowed man to increase his forage for food and attract mates as proposed by different hypotheses, it also created negative effects. Humans also lost the grasping ability that they had before the evolution.
References
Johanson, D. (2006). What the Evidence Suggests. Retrieved from
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/allfours/bipe-johanson.html
NOVA (2006). Origins of Bipedalism. Retrieved from
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/allfours/bipe-nf.html
Plomp, K. A., Vioardottir, U. S., Weston, D. A., Dobney, K., & Collard, M. (2015). The
ancestral shape hypothesis: an evolutionary explanation for the occurrence of intervertebral disc herniation in humans. BMC Evolutionary Biology, Vol.15, No.68.