Re: First Family and AAT

Phil Nicholls (pnich@globalone.net)
Fri, 13 Oct 1995 19:15:05 GMT

clarke@longwood.cs.ucf.edu (Tom Clarke) graced us with the following
words:

><dfdr@mail.utexas.edu> writes:

>>In article <45cl7o$6hv@longwood.cs.ucf.edu> Tom Clarke,
>>clarke@longwood.cs.ucf.edu writes:
>>>To the best of anyone's knowledge, every tetrapod that ever transitioned
>>>from an arboreal to a terrestrial environment ultimately became a
>>>quadruped.

>>Incorrect. Macropodids are derived from arboreal marsupials.

>Neat. So when you come down from the trees you adopt strange
>modes of locomotion.

>But that brings us back to my question about macropodids.
>There are lots of hoppers down under, but only one biped in Africa.
>Why?

>The norm in Africa would seem to be knuckle walking, 3 to 1.

>Tom Clarke

There is PRESENTLY only one living species of biped in Africa. That
was not true in the past if you will check the fossil record. Between
2.5 and 2 million years ago there may have been as many as six
different species of biped in Africa.

Phil Nicholls pnich@globalone.net
"To ask a question you must first know most of the answer"
-Robert Sheckley