This week’s articles were fascinating for me to learn about. I was shocked to see how much information scientists have acquired in their studies regarding when specific traits of ours began to arise in the early, non-human primates. It is mind-blowing to me that archaeologists and anthropologists are able to date back as far as millions of years ago- especially considering numbers that high are almost unfathomable. I was most intrigued by two traits of early hominids: the evolution of teeth and the rise of bipedalism. I never really grasped the fact that our ancestors did not always walk on two feet or focus their chewing/grinding on their back teeth. The information pointed out that early hominids used their front canines to dig into their foods and mash it up for consumption. Also, I read that walking on two feet didn’t occur until millions of years after hominids first starting existing!

It was incredibly interesting to see how far back studies, in terms of teeth function and eating, can go! These facts stuck out to me a lot because it reveals to scientists more than just the shape of our teeth and mouths. The study displays more opportunities to see how our other eating mechanisms came into play, such as slower chewing, or how we began to utilize our hands to create smaller bites. This information also plays a role in the evolution of thumbs, smaller canine teeth, and later using utensils to eat. Tracking this evolutionary process tells us a lot about specific points in time that signify turning points or significant advancements in our behavior. It also helps connect us to certain species of early hominids and allows us to see who we are most similar to behaviorally and physically.

Personally, the most shocking fact of the early hominids trait of bipedalism was how long it ago it arose. Given that a few million years is considered recent in Earth-life time, I always assumed that humans created the characteristic of walking on two feet. The articles mentioned that many different types of hominids spent time on two feet, although their coordination obviously was not as advanced. Studying this has helped scientists paint a better picture of how the environment also looked millions of years ago, while also giving them a better idea of how non-human species functioned. I learned that bipedalism evolved from environment and climate changes and made hunting, and living in general, significantly easier for those species. It allowed for more convenient means of transportation in forested environments and assisted in climbing trees. The articles mentioned that scientists are confident that the early coordination was awkward and probably uncomfortable for long periods of time, which relates to humans now who suffer joint pain as well. Regardless, it is crazy to see how far bipedalism has come since then.

In conclusion, this week’s lessons fascinated me. I was blown away by how similar today’s humans are to early hominids. Although we have obvious advancements over millions of years, our physical fundamentals are still very much the same.