Summary of "Combining prehension and Propulsion: The Foot of Ardipithecus ramidus"

The goal of this article is to distinguish how modern humans feet are very different from modern African ape feet. Looking at the foot of Ardipithecus Ramidus gives us insight into where this change first started occurring and what makes human feet so unique. Our feet did not evolve from one similar to modern African apes like we once believed. Apes feet are specialized for supporting large bodies and climbing whereas humans feet do no need these specializations. The foot of Ar. ramidus contains a bone called os peroneum which is a big key in our understanding of the foot. This bone is related to the grasping of the big toe keeping the foot rigid until needing to be grasped. This bone happens to be present in old world monkeys and gibbons not usually in modern apes. Apes do not need to have their feet rigid because they do not do leaping so instead their feet are much like their hands with effective grasping techniques. The Ar. ramidus shows us that our last common ancestor with apes did not have any of these changes to the feet but instead was able to upright walk and have the grasping big toe. Human feet have evolved in a completely different direction than ape feet. Our more rigid feet are a lot better for upright walking and running!!!