SCIENTIA.

Physiology

Aside from her height, Lucy is very similar to humans in the sense that her physiology is structured to have an upright gait like ours. This means that her hips and knees are molded to walk upright to accommodate changes in the natural environment: the decrease in forest biomes that lead to savannahs’ growth. However, Christ Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London begs to differ. He suggests that they moved to the ground due to the search for a wider variety in their diet, which allowed them to become more flexible when traveling around. Essentially, this new locomotion would be known as bipedalism, the action of two rear limbs to move. Lucy and another related species, known as Australopithecus africanus, were the first generation to adopt this new moving method. Bipedalism allows these apes to walk longer distances, encouraging them to explore more areas in their environment. 

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So What Came First, the Stride or the Mind?

This question can be answered. Australopithecus afarensis was one of the first species that adapted bipedalism, but it wasn’t until the next generation of apes with enough brain capacity to become ‘intelligent'. Homo habilis, who walked the earth approximately 2 million years ago, was the first to start making stone tools (Figure.3 represents the family tree, which shows the connection between these two species). These tools were categorized as mode one technology, including choppers, core tools, and flakers that acted as a basic hammer. This timeline of events proved that advancements in locomotion were favored over the increase in brain capacity to change their species for the better.