"Humans were born to run." This is what two researchers from the USA say, who claim that it was the development of the human running ability that shaped our bodies to their current form
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Humans were born to run, and it is assumed that they evolved from large ape-like creatures to their current form, due to the need to cross large areas and compete with other animals for food resources. That's what scientists said last night. From tendons and ligaments in the legs, to feet that act like springs, to skull features that prevent overheating and a pronounced hip pelvis that stabilizes the skeleton, the human body is anatomically designed for running.
"We do it because we are good at it. We enjoy it and we have all kinds of unique characteristics that allow us to run well," said Daniel Lieberman, professor of anthropology at Harvard University. "There are all kinds of characteristics in the human body that are essential for running."
Lieberman and Dennis Bramble, a professor of biology at the University of Utah, studied over 24 characteristics that improve human running ability. Their research is published in the science journal Nature. The two researchers believe that modern humans evolved from their ape-like ancestors about two million years ago in response to the need to hunt and gather over larger areas.
However, the development of features that allowed humans to run involved a kind of trade-off - the loss of features that were useful for climbing trees. "We are very sure that the natural selection for running - which came at the expense of the historical ability to climb trees - was decisive in the development of the human body as we know it," Bramble said in a statement.
The buttocks also play an important role
The accepted theory is that running was a byproduct of walking on two legs, which developed in an ancestor of the human race, Homo australopithecus at least 4.5 million years ago. However, Learman and Bramble argue that it will take several million years for the structure adapted to running to evolve, so the ability to walk cannot explain the transition.
"There were 2.5 to three million years of walking on two without a human form being achieved, so why would walking change the hominid (human-like) body?" Bramble said. "We say walking won't do it, but running will," he added. Both scientists believe that if natural selection had not encouraged the running abilities of humans, the human race would have continued to resemble apes.
Among the characteristics that distinguish humans from apes and make them good runners are the long legs, which allow for longer steps, shorter arms that allow the upper body to balance the lower part during running, and larger back discs, which improve the body's shock absorption. Another important distinguishing feature is the enlarged buttocks of humans. "Have you ever looked at a great ape?" Bramble asked and added: "They don't have bottoms at all." Humans lean forward when running and the enlarged glute "prevents you from falling on your nose every time your foot touches the ground", Bramble clarified the importance of the maligned organ.
For news at the BBC
They know evolution - the rise of man
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