Long before birth, molecular signals orchestrate the asymmetrical development of the human pelvis. This unique process, absent in other primates, reveals how evolution programmed the conditions for our upright posture from the embryonic stage.
Harvard scientists have made a surprising discovery about the evolution of the ilium bone, which enables humans to walk on two legs. In human embryos that share the same gene network as mice, this bone develops in a completely different way than expected.
The scientific journal Nature and researchers Terence Capellini and Gayani Serevitathne were responsible for discovering the processes of change in the bone structure of the pelvis.
The pelvis is key to our bipedalism, according to the study. These adaptations explain how early hominids learned to walk upright.
The pelvis, more than any other part of our body, has undergone radical changes over millions of years. All to enable us to walk on two legs.
Recent studies have identified embryonic transformations that consolidated upright walking, but also affected other less well-known aspects of human anatomy.
Genetics, anatomy, and tissue formation data reveal how the human pelvis acquired its unique shape among other primates, allowing our ancestors to begin walking on two legs.
The human pelvis was formed through unique embryonic and genetic changes: growth plates and delayed ossification that allowed for wide hips and the balance necessary for upright walking, according to a Harvard study.
A study reveals how modifications in the embryonic ilium allowed early hominids to walk upright, optimize energy, and promote safer births.
A study published in Nature reveals the key role of the ilium, as well as the changes in its development and genetics that made it possible to walk on two legs.
