Why is bipedality considered as the turning point in human evolution?

Question

What factors triggered the development of bipedality on early humans?

Answer 1

It left the hands free to do other things, like make tools.  I think it was triggered when Africa dried out, causing tree-dwelling apes to adapt to the plains when the jungles retreated.

Answer 2

"These creatures, these A. afarensis creatures, were basically bipedal apes. They walked around as we do, no question about that, they were bipedal and this is very obvious in all the bones of the lower limb, but they had tiny little brains hardly larger than those of the chimpanzee. They had many features of apes in their teeth and in other aspects of their skulls and even some features of apes still in their bodies including very long arms and finger bones that tended to be relatively curved, which would mean that the hand or grasp was curved. It probably means--curled is perhaps a better term--it probably means they were still spending a lot of time in trees. In fact, the environmental information that we have suggests that in fact they preferred areas where there was grassland which they were foraging in but where they could also either find food or refuge in trees. So they were combining bipedalism with the continued ape-like dependence on tree climbing."  - It seems to me that they were going between the ground and trees alot and the upright position made for a quick jump back up a tree.

Answer 3

Since habitual bipedalism is not present among other primates, but is found in many ancient hominins, it is considered among the earliest derived traits that our ancestors had that separated them from the other apes.

Answer 4

Once human ancestors were bipedal, their hands were free to evolve into the precision manipulative toolkits we have today.

Answer 5

According to the theory of evolution, the early hominids got their bipedalism from some kind of adoptation

Answer 6

It was believed to be the thing that separated us from other animals.  Fossils like Lucy, and Robustus  demonstrated to many that increasing brain size is a better "turning point".

It isn't really known why the first hominids became bipedal.  Walking in water, carrying things in the arms, reducing exposure to the sun, increasing the distance you can see and efficiency in walking long distances have all been suggested.

Answer 7

One theory about the origins of bipedality  is that it allowed such creatures to see farther and, thus, made it easier for them to avoid predators.