Upright human gait did not provide a major mechanical challenge for our ancestors

被引:157
作者
Maus, H. -M. [1 ]
Lipfert, S. W. [1 ]
Gross, M. [1 ]
Rummel, J. [1 ]
Seyfarth, A. [1 ]
机构
[1] Univ Jena, Lauflabor Locomot Lab, D-07743 Jena, Germany
关键词
LEGGED LOCOMOTION; METABOLIC COST; BENT-HIP; WALKING; EVOLUTION; DYNAMICS; POSTURE; MOTION; ERECT; MODEL;
D O I
10.1038/ncomms1073
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
Habitual bipedalism is considered as a major breakthrough in human evolution and is the defining feature of hominins. Upright posture is presumably less stable than quadrupedal posture, but when using external support, for example, toddlers assisted by their parents, postural stability becomes less critical. In this study, we show that humans seem to mimic such external support by creating a virtual pivot point (VPP) above their centre of mass. A highly reduced conceptual walking model based on this assumption reveals that such virtual support is sufficient for achieving and maintaining postural stability. The VPP is experimentally observed in walking humans and dogs and in running chickens, suggesting that it might be a convenient emergent behaviour of gait mechanics and not an intentional locomotion behaviour. Hence, it is likely that even the first hominis may have already applied the VPP, a mechanism that would have facilitated the development of habitual bipedalism.
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页数:6
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