About 3.6 million years ago
Walking upright
Footprints pressed into volcanic ash in Tanzania show a human-like stride, long before our own genus appeared.
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What the evidence shows
- The Laetoli footprints in Tanzania, about 3.6 million years old, are the earliest direct evidence of hominins walking on two legs.
- Experiments comparing them with modern footprints suggest their makers walked with extended, human-like legs rather than the bent-knee gait of apes.
What is uncertain
- Why walking upright evolved is not settled. Saving energy was probably one important pressure.
- The prints are usually attributed to Australopithecus afarensis, but footprints do not name their maker.
Sources
What it supports: Experiments suggesting that the makers of the 3.6-million-year-old Laetoli footprints walked with extended, human-like legs. Why walking upright evolved is not settled.
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