Australopithecus???

Question

Does anybody know if australopithecus walked in 2 or 4 legs??

Answer 1

It didn't walk, it swung. It was a tree dweller.

Answer 2

We have bipedal foot printo from leotli.  They were indeed bipedial but not obligated!

Answer 3

Well, check your body, do you have four legs, or 2 arms and 2 legs?

Do chimps and gorillas have 4 legs, or 2 arms and 2 legs?

Australopithecus is in-between us, and chimps & gorillas, so then it must have also had 2 arms and 2 legs!

Answer 4

2 legs

(humanlike)

Answer 5

it might've been a tree dweller BUT even tree 'people' had to land on ground sooner or later so my guess would be both - depending on flight or fight!  she/he had capabilities of both. oh and by the way, so does modern man. think not? watch a toddler!

Answer 6

It was BIPEDAL thats was finding "Lucy"  ( Australopithicus sphmmmm africanus...i forgot which species!) was so important! It was really the first real evidence that a homonid walked on 2 legs.....we have now found many other species and now there are other genera that came prior to Australopithicus that also walked.....hmmm S....something and another genera too.....they are several million years prior to Australopithicus but appeared to have been bipedal.

Answer 7

Two legs.

Humans are part of the hominid family. They are both part of and descended from them. The process of this development is called evolution. In brief this means that new species develop and expand as they are better at dealing with their environment then others. See http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/evo...  for a discussion of the process.

The first bipedal hominids (walking on two feet) is dated to 4 million years ago. The first known bipedal hominids were the Australopithecus. ("Southern Ape") There are several known types and the exact lineage is still being argued. The known family tree (what's called "the hominid gang') is:

Australopithecus afarenis "Southern Ape of Afar" This is the species "Lucy" belongs to.  Brain size is about 410cc, they stood between 3 and 4 feet and weighed about 65 pounds. They went extinct about 2.5 million years ago.

Australopithecus africanus "Southern Ape of Africa" Probably evolved from Australopithecus afarenis and lived 3 to 1 million years ago. Brain size was about the same as a gorilla's and they stood between 3 and 4 feet tall. Weight was about 45 to 90 pounds.

Australopithecus robustis "Robust Southern Ape" This species is larger then Australopithecus africanus , 4 feet 11 inches and 5 feet 7 inches, and weighed 110-154 pounds. Brain size is put at 500cc. This group lived 2.5 million to 1.5 million years ago. There is argument that robustis was the male of the afarenis or africanus species.

Australopithecus boisei "Bosie Southern Ape" boisei is named after one Charles Boise and supporter of fossil hunts. The original name was Zinjanthropus "East Africa man" The species lived 2.5 to 1 million years ago. Height was between 5 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 10 inches. Weight was between 132 and 176 pounds. Brain size was about 500cc.  boisei is nicknamed "Nutcracker man" due to its large jaw and massive grinding teeth. However, examination has shown that it could chew no harder then us and it's diet seems to have primarily been of leaves.

The teeth provide a good indication about the food eaten. Basically animals that graze, eating mainly plants have more wear on the teeth and the wear pattern is distinctive. Those that mix meant in with the plants have less wear. Generally Australopithecus seems to have eaten a mixture of plant and animal but some species such as Australopithecus boisei were grazers. The "why" this is important? Animals that graze and weigh about 70 pounds like the Australopithecus boisei would have to spend 6 hours a day to get enough nutrition. Animals that switch to meat eating would spend only 2 hours a day. The change to being a predator is also important due to what's called the Eltonian pyramid. It shows that the more grazing an animal does the more food and the greater population is possible. As one moves higher on the pyramid, the less potential food is available and survival depends on having a greater range of smaller population. Australopithecus becoming a predator meant that they would spread out more.

The list of Australopithecus types and how they interacted is in constant flux. That's due to the number of new finds and new techniques in examination of the remains.