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What, in evolutionary terms, propelled us to become human? According to Craig Stanford, codirector of the Jane Goodall Primate Research Center, the answer lies not in our forebears' big brains or their facility with language but in their ability to walk on two feet. The pivotal role of bipedalism in our development prompts a dramatic reappraisal of the common belief that millions of years ago some apes moved to the African savanna and evolved into runty hominids, who eventually metamorphosed into us. Newly found remnants of two-legged "proto-humans" show that our ancestry is much richer and more convoluted than that. Could it be that the iconic fossil Lucy is not one of our direct forebears? Might our evolutionary "tree" have more than one trunk? And do we really stand on the top rung of an evolutionary ladder of excellence? With his novel research and interpretations, Stanford offers a fresh, galvanizing take on what made us human.

Bipedalism. --- Human evolution.

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Our ability to walk on two legs is not only a characteristic human trait but one of the things that made us human in the first place. Once our ancestors could walk on two legs, they began to do many of the things that apes cannot do: cross wide open spaces, manipulate complex tools, communicate with new signal systems, and light fires. Titled after the last two words of Darwin's 'Descent of Man' and written by a leading scholar of human evolution, 'Lowly Origin' is the first book to explain the sources and consequences of bipedalism to a broad audience. Along the way, it accounts for recent fossil discoveries that show us a still incomplete but much bushier family tree than most of us learned about in school.Jonathan Kingdon uses the very latest findings from ecology, biogeography, and paleontology to build a new and up-to-date account of how four-legged apes became two-legged hominins. He describes what it took to get up onto two legs as well as the protracted consequences of that step--some of which led straight to modern humans and others to very different bipeds. This allows him to make sense of recently unearthed evidence suggesting that no fewer than twenty species of humans and hominins have lived and become extinct. Following the evolution of two-legged creatures from our earliest lowly forebears to the present, Kingdon concludes with future options for the last surviving biped.A major new narrative of human evolution, 'Lowly Origin' is the best available account of what it meant--and what it means--to walk on two feet.

Fossil hominids. --- Bipedalism --- Human beings --- Human evolution. --- Homme fossile --- Bipédie --- Homme --- Origin. --- Origines --- Evolution --- Bipédie

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Ethnology --- Religion. --- Anthropologie sociale et culturelle --- Religion --- Religious aspects. --- Aspect religieux --- theoretical essays --- religion --- bipedalism --- emotion --- research --- sectarian movements --- alcohol --- the sacred --- visual media

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Primate locomotion has typically been studied from two points of view. Laboratory-based researchers have focused on aspects like biomechanics and energetics, whereas field-based researchers have focused on (locomotor) behaviour and ecology. Primate Locomotion: Linking Field and Laboratory Research brings together both aspects of primate locomotion studies. Communication between both groups is necessary to identify the specific needs and start up achievable and successful research projects in the field. This volume brings together biomechanists, ecologists, and field-based researchers, who combine both disciplines, and whose contributions facilitate lasting cooperation between the mentioned disciplines and stimulate innovative research in Primatology. The book will be valuable for primatologists, paleo-anthropologists, biomechanists and field biologists, as well as students. About the Editors: Dr. Kristiaan D'Aout is Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Belgium. Dr. D'Aout is also Research Associate for the Locomorph Project and Coordinator of Biodynamics Research at the Centre for Research and Conservation at the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Belguim. Evie E. Vereecke is part of the Primate Evolution and Morphology Group, School for Biomedical Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK; and Laboratory for Functional Morphology, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Belgium.

Ethnology. Cultural anthropology --- Evolution. Phylogeny --- General embryology. Developmental biology --- Animal physiology. Animal biophysics --- Zoomorphology. Zooanatomy --- morfologie --- embryologie (geneeskunde) --- Europees recht --- zoölogie --- primaten --- Bipedalism --- Primates --- 591.1 --- Quadrumana --- Mammals --- Bipedal locomotion --- Bipedal posture --- Bipedal walking --- Bipedality --- Bipedalization --- Posture, Bipedal --- Upright walking --- Walking, Bipedal --- Walking, Upright --- Human beings --- Locomotion --- 591.1 Animal physiology --- Animal physiology --- Attitude and movement

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The model-based investigation of motions of anthropomorphic systems is an important interdisciplinary research topic involving specialists from many fields such as Robotics, Biomechanics, Physiology, Orthopedics, Psychology, Neurosciences, Sports, Computer Graphics and Applied Mathematics. This book presents a study of basic locomotion forms such as walking and running is of particular interest due to the high demand on dynamic coordination, actuator efficiency and balance control. Mathematical models and numerical simulation and optimization techniques are explained, in combination with experimental data, which can help to better understand the basic underlying mechanisms of these motions and to improve them. Example topics treated in this book are Modeling techniques for anthropomorphic bipedal walking systems Optimized walking motions for different objective functions Identification of objective functions from measurements Simulation and optimization approaches for humanoid robots Biologically inspired control algorithms for bipedal walking Generation and deformation of natural walking in computer graphics Imitation of human motions on humanoids Emotional body language during walking Simulation of biologically inspired actuators for bipedal walking machines Modeling and simulation techniques for the development of prostheses Functional electrical stimulation of walking.

Bipedalism -- Mathematical models. --- Bipedalism -- Simulation methods. --- Robots -- Motion -- Mathematical models. --- Robots -- Motion -- Simulation methods. --- Robots --- Bipedalism --- Electrical & Computer Engineering --- Engineering & Applied Sciences --- Electrical Engineering --- Mathematical models --- Motion --- Simulation methods --- Mathematical models. --- Simulation methods. --- Bipedal locomotion --- Bipedal posture --- Bipedal walking --- Bipedality --- Bipedalization --- Posture, Bipedal --- Upright walking --- Walking, Bipedal --- Walking, Upright --- Automata --- Automatons --- Engineering. --- Artificial intelligence. --- Systems biology. --- Biomathematics. --- Biophysics. --- Biological physics. --- Robotics. --- Automation. --- Electrical engineering. --- Electrical Engineering. --- Robotics and Automation. --- Artificial Intelligence (incl. Robotics). --- Systems Biology. --- Biophysics and Biological Physics. --- Physiological, Cellular and Medical Topics. --- Electric engineering --- Engineering --- Automatic factories --- Automatic production --- Computer control --- Engineering cybernetics --- Factories --- Industrial engineering --- Mechanization --- Assembly-line methods --- Automatic control --- Automatic machinery --- CAD/CAM systems --- Robotics --- Automation --- Machine theory --- Biological physics --- Biology --- Medical sciences --- Physics --- Mathematics --- Computational biology --- Bioinformatics --- Biological systems --- Molecular biology --- AI (Artificial intelligence) --- Artificial thinking --- Electronic brains --- Intellectronics --- Intelligence, Artificial --- Intelligent machines --- Machine intelligence --- Thinking, Artificial --- Bionics --- Cognitive science --- Digital computer simulation --- Electronic data processing --- Logic machines --- Self-organizing systems --- Fifth generation computers --- Neural computers --- Construction --- Industrial arts --- Technology --- Human beings --- Locomotion --- Manipulators (Mechanism) --- Mecha (Vehicles) --- Attitude and movement --- Computer engineering. --- Biological models. --- Physiology --- Artificial Intelligence. --- Biological and Medical Physics, Biophysics. --- Mathematics. --- Models, Biological --- Animal physiology --- Animals --- Anatomy --- Computers --- Design and construction