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Philip Tobias, Savanna Theory & bipedalism
pete (VINCENT@REG.TRIUMF.CA)
16 Oct 1995 11:48:39 GMT
Interesting for a number of reasons with respect to various aat
threads going on here, Philip Tobias, author of the recent Science
article on `little foot', was interviewed on CBC radio for their
weekly science show, Quirks & Quarks. The most interesting single
sentence he spoke, re our discussions here, I will try to paraphrase,
as accurately as I can remember. He said, it is an exciting time in
the development of paleoanthropology, as over the last five or six
years, the prevailing wisdom has been deposed. The theory that
bipedalism arose as an adaptation, in response to our ancestor's
move out onto the savannah, has been shown to be incorrect, and
we must now seek a new mechanism to explain bipedalism.
Note, please that he used the phrase `savannah theory of bipedalism'
at a couple of points in the discussion. And in response to the
question `Then how did bipedalism evolve?', he replied
`That's the sixty four dollar question.'
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vincent@triumf.ca <== faster % Pete Vincent
vincent@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca % Disclaimer: all I know I
% learned from reading Usenet.
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