I've been a student of this subject since childhood, and I'm an old lady now and a retired primate caretaker. This is an excellent talk and it's great to see that interest in our human origins and what we are as a species has never died but progressed. Thank you.
We have learned so much in my lifetime. I remember one of my first crushes was with Dame Jane Goodall DBE after watching a documentary in school. Khaki shorts do it every time lol.
Agreed! I went from wanting to be a geologist and paleontologist in HS and college to wanting a career as an paleo-anthropologist. Sadly I achieved none of those goals, but I never lost my curiosity and desire to learn more about our origins. Fascinating stuff.
looking back, with all the revelations from discoveries, analyses with more advanced tech etc, it must have been quite an adventure....Im certain our ancient ancestors would be greatly proud of you. I hope that puts a smile on your face.
@@danidavis7912 one of the true benefits of the web is we can all learn although we may work in totally unrelated fields. People just need to be somewhat selective in the sources they learn from.
What I dislike about this video is that it has little to do with its thumbnail. I was specifically interested in a detailed explanation about how modern and very old footprints differ from each other. Instead of that I got a general outlook at human ancestry.
You seem a little old to be learning the, "don't judge a book by it's cover" lesson for the first time. Do you know the one about how expectations often lead to disappointment? Class dismissed.
It's worth noting that gorillas and chimpanzees knuckle-walk in different ways, indicating that they evolved 3-legged walking independently from each other and that it's not an ancestral trait. This is part of what's been leading more and more people to consider that some level of bipedalism may be the ancestral trait of apes and that we are the only ones who retained it.
I think the knuckle walking being different is indicative of an arboreal ancestor who would have been upright in the trees and may have walked on two legs to get from tree grouping to tree grouping. I think this is the most plausible explanation for the differences, which are very distinctive and obviously evolved independently. Gibbons walk on two legs regularly when they aren’t in the trees, you should look into them. I work with gorillas mostly but I like the gibbons a lot too, as well as the orangutans. I won’t work with the chimps because I like my face being attached to the front of my skull.
@@Thor-Orion Chimps are so sentient and PLAN ahead. there's been at least THrEE incidents in the Calgary Zoo where the chimps got the keys! the Zoo keeps firing the hapless low wage employee who made a mistake that day on procedure, and the chimp saw it, and made his move. Duh.
Also worth noting that sahelanthropus tchadensis was likely bipedal and lived extremely close to the human-chimp split suggesting that the common ancestor of Chimps and Humans was highly likely to be a biped.
What do you think about the possibility that they were just created that way I think it's important to note that we have a different number of chromosomes than these chimps and gorillas and monkeys I don't believe that we evolved from them and I honestly think that it is more believable that we were created by God to have a relationship with him we were special because we're not animals we were created in His image
How about humanoid bipeds, with modern human feet, having Scissors and possibly nailfiles to neatly trim their toenails, about 65 million years ago - the age ofvthe slate seam I had pallets of roofing slates from, with a lot of modern footprints in. It was really stunning to see them, and even more stunning that my feet fitted perfectly into both left and right footprint, almost as though they were moulded around my feet. Size 43 European. Seems we may have De evolved this past 65 million years or so ? 🤔
There is a book I have somewhere regarding tool use by animals. it is fairly common for animals to use tools but this book states that all the tool uses are opportunistic whereas humans are more future visionary regarding making tools from raw ingredients. Communication and learning just got stronger and stronger over time as we developed. By communication we made tools better over time.
It isn't just the tool usage that is incredible but how many generations of our evolutionary line have been slowly and painstakingly fighting to overcome the limitations of our physical biology and the natural world (although we are part of the natural world). It's humbling and sad that they never got to see what we have achieved from their humble beginnings. Also to imagine how puzzled and afraid they must have been to have limited intelligence (and I'll assume consciousness) trying to figure out the world they have been thrown into and the possibility that my consciousness could have instantiated at any point in the 3myr lineage. Damn, I'm grateful to live here and now when we have a good foundational understanding of our origins and our place in the universe.
I much appreciate your videos for how easy they're to understand. I'm from East Germany, and so, I was taught by teachers, who had actually studied Russian and had either studied English only as a minor subject without passion or only later had English as a further education, for the most of my school time. Just in the last 3 years, I got a teacher who only studied Russian to be allowed to study English. This is why I'm struggling with English, but some creators like you make it so easy that often when I wanna share it with other people, I stopped for a moment because I'm not sure if they understand it, too. Sometimes, I wanna share it with people who may not understand Englisch, and then, I realize I totally forgot it was English content. Sometimes, I wanna share it with English speaking people, and my first thought is that it would be dumb to share German content. So, try to imagine exactly what I saw and heard, and this is the point when I realize the magic. I remember the complete side, even the advertising at the borders. I remember the text, not in English but in German. I remember the voice in the video, even yours, but they don't speak English in my head, but German. So, I go back, and I am confused by realizing it never was on German. This is every time again when I stop thinking it only could be German because I didn't struggle to understand it, and start thinking I'm not that bad in English as I think. The problem is rather that I built up a barrier every time when I'm forced to speak or understand English because I wanna stay in my comfort zone. I really appreciate this because this is a source of motivation to practice English, which is something I completely missed in my entire school life. I'm on the one hand sad about to have missed so much over these years, but I'm much more happy about to enjoy another cool language and so much more interesting stuff now. So, thank you so much for your work! 🥹
Englisch kommt durchs benutzen, der Versuch ist der erste Schritt und so wie du/sie schreibst/schreiben funktioniert es doch hervorragend! Ich bin mit sicher das es immer besser wird, nicht aufgeben!
The fact that modern humans as a species have existed for more than 150,000 years really puts in perspective the timescale of the progress of evolution. The first civilizations only appeared a couple thousand years ago. For me it is fascinating to think about how we will at some point have become a new different species I don't understand why so many people got triggered because I said "a couple thousand years ago". I obviously did not mean just 2000 years (look at my damn username lol). So, for all the people that chose do ignore my point and focus on this, let me at least make it clear: The earliest civilization is thought to be Mesopotamia which is estimated to have formed in 5000BC so 7000 thousand years ago. Going back to my point, 7000 is not a lot compared to 150000 years!! (Pollock, Susan, and Pollock Susan. Ancient mesopotamia. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press, 1999.)
"Only a couple thousand years ago"? That's not correct. There's kobecla tepe. It dates 12,000. Intentionally buried. The 12,900 years ago cataclysm may have set humanity back and erased evidence of a global web of civilization.
Evidence now indicates a time as far back as 300k years ago if not more. In recent years many discoveries have destroyed all the previous believed ancestors of humans. At this time no legitimate anthropologist will say we evolved from any of the other hominids, interbreeding with them yes but not evolving from them.
A couple of thousand years ago? That would be the time of Jesus, soooooo......no. besides, the civilization timeline has been updated even from the previously believed estimate of 6,000 years ago Google Gobekli Tepi.
One small correction to an otherwise great video. 1. Darwin was not silent on the matter. In his book “The Descent of Man” Darwin discusses humans and NS. Evolution was not a new concept in Darwin’s time. In fact, his grandfather published on the topic. The revolutionary aspect presented by Darwin was the mechanism of NS.
0:36 "Gorillas have been taught to use sign language" yeah, unfortunately not actually. If you look at Koko's "speech" linguistically, they're not structured or complex, just simple words in usually no consistent word order. Most of the communication was a huge deal of interpretation by the researcher, not actual communication by sign language.
Gutsick gibbon has mentioned in a few videos how there are "languages" that exist in other primates. I can't remember which one specifically, but there was an alarm call for danger, then another as a modifier for location. It's not as developed/massive as ours, but also doesn't need to be. And without a cultural context, apes using sign language may be using is differently than we would expect, but makes perfect sense to them. There's an island that doesn't differentiate between animals like most other places, it's either a sea creature or a land creature. Word order could imply emphasis. _I_ never said that. I never _said_ that. It's also difficult to know if they understand the word the same way we do. When you're teaching a dog "potty" but you say it when you are letting them out into the yard, you can't be sure they understand it as anything other than being let out into the yard.
@@catelynh1020 no doubt there are proto/almost languages in many animals, but they aren't Language in the way humans use them; long and complex, recursive, etc. Koko definitely learned some of the basic signs, but likely didn't understand what they meant-only that certain signs elicit certain responses from the researchers. She couldn't actually put them into use. Gutsick Gibbons is a PhD in Biological Anthropology, not Linguistics. Same issue as the original researchers that worked with Koko: they underestimate the complexity of human languages and interpret the sparse output into a language, when the output is not actually at that level
Exactly. The Gorilla named "Koko" was literally Aping-Back actions (signs) that it had learned would result in a reward for it (i.e.: food, attention), from it's handlers. The Gorilla had no "conscious" understanding of "communication" other than in the most base animal reciprocation of actions & signs.
Your content is a credit to UA-cam. Another great video! It explains why my German Shephard becomes more fatigued that me during our walks. I thought it was just due to her less-efficient way of cooling through paw pads, nose, and mouth.
Dogs are built to run, not walk. that's why some farmers shoot loose dogs on thier property, because dogs can literally run down deer. A dog can run deer to the point of exhaustion, then they kill the deer.
@@Sean2002FUdogs only run when theres a reason. Adults dont run when can walk and dont walk when they can lie down. 😅 I live in the countryside and there are lanes and areas where mine can safely be off the lead. They will run 10 or 20 feet to an interesting smell and then sniff for ages. Even when young their idea of exercise was moving from one smell to the next. Getting every molecule. The little terrier will run further if I get ahead but only to catch up. The larger terrier rarely runs at all. I get better exercise when I'm walking without them.
Im writing this before seeing the video but I just wanted to say I got giddy when I saw that you were doing one on the oldest footprints and what information you were going to dig up on those amazing prints. I'll come back and edit after I see the video... Always amazed at the info packed into a 15min video! I love all the reasons you gave for why we started standing up since those prints were made and how they were made over 3.5 million years ago!! I feel smarter than I was 15mins ago! ;) Thank you RS!
...SIGH... This video uncritically repeats the Rubric that the 'arch' found in the human foot evolved to serve as a "shock-absorber...since the foot is supporting So Much Of the body's weight."(t=10:30sec~10:40sec). 2nd claim first; when we're standing unaided (not holding- & leaning on a cane, etc.) 100% (NOT 'much') of our bodyweight is borne by the structures of our feet. As for the 'arch' claim, the animation showing central loading is deceptive; when stationary, our ankles joint to the heels BEHIND the 'arch' -- gaining ZERO 'shock absorption' from the arch. And arches are also present in the feet of apes - helping the foot curve-'round/conform to features grasped by the opposed big toe.
@@neclark08 What do you believe supports lifting you when you walk, run, and jump? They say, "[...] when you walk bipedally." They are not just talking about standing still... SIGH...
Agreed. I recall about ten years ago watching a National Geographic special on the tribes of the Amazon. They were following a small group of tribesmen as they snuck through the jungle hunting monkeys with poison darts. At one point the camera man panned down to their feet and I was shocked to see that they bore a striking resemblance to primate feet.
If you haven't already, look into barefoot shoes. After wearing barefoot shoes, I only wear conventional shoes to look stylish for special occasions. Otherwise, barefoot shoes are so much more comfortable.
Good video - only one very minor correction - the co-discoverer of Lucy was Donald "Johanson", not "Johnson" as stated in the narration. Minor yes, but names are important.
That, and the brief mention of gorillas being taught sign language has been shown to be dubious for multiple reasons. Always gotta try and correct misinformation, no matter how minor or widespread it is. 👍
Since we are here: when they say that there are several theories trying to explain why humans walk upright, it it wrong, there are several hypothesis. Theory is a proven hypothesis.
@@rafaelverolla7276 The predominant theory I was taught was that as the forests in parts of Africa started thinning and changing into grasslands, the primates had to come down from the trees and make their way across the open spaces to find other food sources. Those that could stand more fully erect above the tops of the tall grasses for longer periods of time were able to spot danger in the area from further away, thus giving more time to reach the safety of a tree and ultimately, more of a lifespan to pass on their genes. I don't recall the narrator mentioning that in this presentation.
Absolutely excellent video and breakdown of the topic. Never been so clear for me. Excellent plug too. Little correction though: thats a 200,000 year difference between those possible footstep dates. Not 20,000.
Kevin Hunt does work on ape positional behavioural choices, usually based on cultural practices related to carrying, display, or tool innovation. this can lead to huge differences in hip-leg growth, e.g.
I love your channel. So much work and dedication. You make sure to give as much information as possible, straight facts, and you dont mention any bs for click bait. Your videos are 100% related to the title unlike 99% of UA-camrs. I feel bad that I missed this when it was uploaded. Smh, I'm going to Nebula
I believe that we started walking probably because of tool use. As we became more dependent on tools we would need our hands free more often. It would also explain our brain growth. As our tools became more complex we had to be smarter.
This brain growth idea works in theory, but so does the reverse. It might have been we could only make more complex tools because our brains evolved first and the more complex tools followed after. Seeing as walking seemingly developed before bigger brains, this logic would conclude tool use had nothing to do with walking. I'm not saying you're wrong, it's just not exactly an uncontested slam-dunk theory.
In one book by the guy who studied Lucy his theory had to do with climate change. It got drier and few trees widely separated remained. So we were in savanna and forced to the ground to go from tree to tree or find food and water. Probably still slept in a tree if possible. Sounds plausible
@Gr Mo exactly. Bored_Hobby_Guy offers an opinion based on the fact that he can understand part of what someone told him. Then states his opinion as if he deserves a gold star for being sure he's right.
Although some of this info has been alluded for some time now, it was good to see it all put together in a linear way that most people (especially those in denial) can understand. Thx.
While it is true that Lucy was found in Ethiopia in 1974 by Tom Grey and Don Johanson. The photo that you show of the two men are actually Don Johanson and Tim White. Not Tom Grey. Tim White, of course, was the paleo anthropologist responsible for the discovery and description if Ardipithecus Ramidus, or "Ardi."
Yeah, it seems there are a few instances in this video where they are describing one thing and showing another. Not ideal when you're discussing a specific find, but you're showing a completely different species!
I recently saw the jaw (the only piece ever found) of a Homo heidelbergensis in Germany, it's amazing to look at something so human and know that it's technically a different and now extinct species. Crazy to think about.
very probable we where already bipedal before we even left the trees. gorilla's and chimps also likely evolved knuckle walking seperately as they do it differently to each other. and it happened after we diverged from them. plus gibbon's (the only extant lesser apes) are bipedal in the trees, and stay bipedal when on the ground. australopithicus was also bipedal and semi-arboreal.
There is a better channel that dives DEEP into it and has been doing so for several years. History with Kayleigh. She is very exhaustive and not only shows one side but all sides including all dissenting arguments. Being hot educated and Dutch helps as well.
My readings into this subject indicate the ancestors of Australopithecus were most likely Shore-Based, in which case, they would have walked through shallow ponds / rivers, which in turn would have reduced the weight on their hips... which would have allowed them to walk upright for longer periods. Generations upon Generations of this behaviour would have pre-selected for more appropriate hips, to extend the amount of time walking upright in the water that was possible. This then would have translated to walking on dry land too. For example, Chimps can walk upright now, on dry land, but not for very long, since their hips are not designed for that; but when they walk through water, they can walk upright for a much longer time, before it starts to hurt. Trouble is they rarely walk through water, so there's no evolutionary pressure for their hips to change. If the ancestors of Australopithecus were indeed shore based, they may have been gathering mollusks for food, which would have provided them with more DHA-Omega3, which would have been another first step to increasing the brain size. With the Hips now evolved for better upright walking, the foot was now in a better position to start evolving for larger weight too, but also for fore-foot running. And when we started to do Persistent Hunts, the long distance running had the benefit of producing Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), which also would have had a positive influence on increasing our brain size. There's also the thinking that mushrooms additionally played a big role in creating new connections within the brain, i.e. the stoned ape hypothesis.
This was an excellent video. It goes interestingly beyond the scope of what you might think from the title - all in 17.8 minutes. I wonder if the remainder of the videos have already been released to UA-cam?
The energy saved by walking on 2 legs is minuscule but every calorie saved counts when it comes to survival. Consider just the energy exerted from the movement of leg muscles alone and then imagine having an extra pair of appendages constantly exerting energy to facilitate movement. While quadrupedal stability does save some energy it doesn’t beat bipedal locomotion.
Bipedalism can be much more efficient if done right. But it also has other advantages. It frees up your hands for tools and lets you see farther because your head is higher up.
On 2 legs you "fall" into your next step, this means gravity helps you. It is one of the reasons going uphill is so much harder than walking on the flat.
cause they didn't actually know ASL and it was all interpreted by the human, doing so to promote their belief. Gorilla sign language has been disproven unfortunately, or it could be scientifically verified if true.
Here is the biggest problem I have with the theories. According to science, a different species cannot interbreed, and have viable fertile offspring due to reproductive barriers that prevent gene flow. But Neanderthal DNA is in every one of us. There HAD to be viable fertile offspring for this interbreeding to occur. So any of these different “species” CANNOT by the very definition of a different species actually BE a different species… just a different “breed” or some differentiator greater than a different “race” where we are anatomically exactly the same. This includes denisovans… or any other ancient human lineage with distinct markers traceable in our modern homo sapien DNA…. So why are we calling them different species again?
So an eternal omnipotent omniscient supernatural universe spanning space wizard, without an origin, who finally got bored of floating in a dark vacuum, did not create us?
@@revolvermaster4939 Probably was raised to believe that an eternal omnipotent omniscient supernatural universe spanning space wizard, without an origin, who finally got bored of floating in a dark vacuum, created us, and found out that there are better explanations out there that actually make sense.
@@revolvermaster4939 I'm not bitter, I am not the person you said was bitter. I was just saying that people raised religious, only to find out that it's mostly just a big lie, can be bitter about it. Also see all the awful events done in the name of gods, that could make someone bitter too.
@@Skibbityboo0580 I’m aware of history and atrocities committed in the name of God. I’m also aware of the history of communism/Marxism/fascism, the complete lack of religion, and the hundreds of millions exterminated in the last 150 years because of a lack of religion.
As a member of the great apes, I am endlessly fascinated by all things primate. And that includes all of our ancestors. After all, they helped to make us what we are. I find it particularly interesting that bipedalism evolved before the bigger brain. We were taught the opposite when I was in high school. This is what I like about studying human evolution--always something new to earn.
You should really look into th3 whole gorillas learning sign language thing more, specifically koko, ita fairly obvious that she didn't really know at all.
2:15 I take umbrage at "feeling" being in this list. Wecould debate back and forth on the other things, but humans dotend to come out on top in those categories. But feeling? You cannot tell me other apes don't have deep and profound feelings on par with our own.
I have read a book that blew my mind: Who asked the First Question... So walking on 2 feet may be the start point, I really feel that the development of language and the capacity of making questions is what really differs us from other animals
This is true it is thought that knuckle walking evolved since our last common ancestor, and maybe twice separately between in gorillas and chimpanzees since they don't do it in the same way. Primates have climbed trees for millions of years though, but apes in general use bipedalism more than the other primates as the video shows despite also being arboreal. This could have arisen from having ancestors which were suspensory primates, who swing through the trees, changing our back and shoulder placement to sustain a more a more upright posture when swinging. Gibbons are a good present day example of this arboreal swinging and bipedalism since they get around mostly with swinging but also can run along on two legs.
yo real people, it would be absolutely incredible if your video titles would actually inform us of the content of your videos! oh wait, oopsie, my bad, nevermind, i thought i had some sort of preference or will over what i like to watch, but i just now realized that actually i am just a mindless content viewing machine and it doesn't really matter to me how time passes since really i am only waiting for that one moment after which the passage of time might escape my cognition entirely! haha!
Really good! Great scientific integrity. Pleasant and articulate speaking voice. Thanks. Watched the whole thing on Nebula. Really interesting stuff, indeed! Cheers from Denmark.
0:39 😅 🚩 already. There is no actual proof of them speaking with sign language. We know they can build small vocabulary with sign language but when it comes to building sentences and communicating it’s a huge flop so far. The perpetuation of this myth is based solely on edited footage with messages crafted by humans.
Human bipedalism in junction with foot shape is an evolved adaptation for multi use in varied and changing habitats. Effectively humans can walk, run, or climb trees with a foot shape that has changed very little since a million years ago.
As much as I appreciate the ray tracing used to render some of the visuals, I’m also the kind of person who can tell when more aliasing is needed even if the law of diminishing returns is working against you.
@@AEVMU Specifically? Whenever there’s a CG close-up, like around 7:15, the fine details like the surface of the brain seem to change with every frame. It’s most apparent on high-res displays at 4K resolution.
Get ready for the Young Earth Creationist yahoos to come screaming with, "aCkTcHeWaLLyY tHe oLdEsT fOoTpRiNtS aRe oNLy 6,000 yEaRs oLd aNd aRe bY diNoSAuR fOoTpRiNtS!!!"
Those were found in China and were much older than 6000 years and they are tracking dinosaur footprints. Very hard to find info on it. Only ran across it once and that was by accident and I think it is repressed information.
The idea that apes have been taught to communicate in sign language is highly suspect. The Soup Emporium channel has an eye-opening video on the subject that's well worth a watch and might shed some light on the subject
I thought the Gorilla sign language thing had been disproven, the researchers saw what they wanted to see and none of the apes ever displayed any more understanding of language than a dog asking for something or following commands.
one signlanguage teacher hypothocized that after kokos death, but he is an outlying opinion. other researchers say: "People often ask if gorillas are really using sign symbolically or are mimicking individual signs to “get rewards”. Our research shows that gorillas Koko and Michael have used American Sign Language (ASL) in sophisticated ways, with sign phrase lengths of over 8 signs, and consistent grammatical structure."
it was only the idiotic males who dismissed Koko - the male scientists tried to smear the female scientist who lived with Koko. They claimed she was making up what Koko was communicating. Just watch the Koko documentary and it's clear that Koko is communicating - memory, jokes, making up new phrases for meaning, etc.
Using signs and speaking a sign language are two very different things. Sign language users who were involved with Koko usually quit because they realized the iffy pseudo schience that was going on. I recommend Soup Emporiums video on Koko.
@@johannao4849 maybe science is iffy and pseudo - hence our current abrupt global warming crisis with imminent biological annihilation. I've had friends who don't speak English get deeply offended at my bad Spanish - despite our ability to communicate in their language. haha. I'm sure Sign Language is the same. No one said Koko speaks "sign language." That would be silly.
This is simply the mechanism chosen by some producers to monetize their work. It is no different from streaming channels which offer a free month up front.
What about the swamp ape hypothes? Bipedalism as an adaptation to a semi aquatic environment explains a lot including the lack of fossils as well as buoyancy decreasing the weight of the torso over the legs
its not that its bad hypothesis, its just that there isnt any evidence to support it, and it is designed in a way that its not disprovable. i think we were bipedal while we were still on a trees.
Bipedalism in humans need no explanation. Take our most distant relative among the apes, put it on the ground, and see how it walks. You can find videos of this on UA-cam. Spoiler alert: It walks upright like humans. It does not knuckle walk like chimpanzees. We walk upright because we retain the gait of the common ancestor of all apes. We do not need a special theory to explain how bipedalism evolved. just pick a gibbon down from its tree, put it on the ground, and see what it does. We were bipedal before we came down from the trees. Rather, it is the other great apes that has evolved a new quadripedal gait.
3:273:43 What the hell is this map??? This looks like a 1940 map of Europe if you incorrectly show Poland as part of Germany. Germany didn't even exist in 1856...
The term fossil here is loosely used. Organic materal to become fossilised must go through a fossilising process by which the hydrocarbons are replaced with minerals. Persevered organic material like bones are not fossils just because they are old. For example, the turm fossil fuel is misplaced, coined by in the late 1800s at an international conference of mineralogists.
I had a consignment of natural slates from India, finest qualiry imagineable, and a lot of them had humanoid 3 dimensional footprints in them, Identical to the modern Human foot. my feet, size 43 european, or 8 and a half in other measures, fitted perfectly into both the left and right footprints. so fine, it must have been like waklking in talcum powder an inch to two inches deep. You could even tell thatvthe toenails were neatly trimmedvor manicured, and that there was no hair on the sides of the feet, each print had the triangular scuff mark behind the heel, that we get when strolling on damp sand at the beach. The Slate Seams these slates were cut from, apparently are aboutv65 million years old. The Slates were a nice silvery grey metallic colour, so the quarry should be easy to track down, andcthe number of footprints in three crates of slates were so numerous, they must be very common in that quarry. I showed them around local friends and neighbours , and left some at the local Museum with my business Card, but they never got back to me. Best Wishes. Bob in Wales. 👍
I've been a student of this subject since childhood, and I'm an old lady now and a retired primate caretaker. This is an excellent talk and it's great to see that interest in our human origins and what we are as a species has never died but progressed. Thank you.
We have learned so much in my lifetime. I remember one of my first crushes was with Dame Jane Goodall DBE after watching a documentary in school. Khaki shorts do it every time lol.
Agreed! I went from wanting to be a geologist and paleontologist in HS and college to wanting a career as an paleo-anthropologist. Sadly I achieved none of those goals, but I never lost my curiosity and desire to learn more about our origins. Fascinating stuff.
looking back, with all the revelations from discoveries, analyses with more advanced tech etc, it must have been quite an adventure....Im certain our ancient ancestors would be greatly proud of you. I hope that puts a smile on your face.
Oh sure, that's what they all say. Who isn't a primate caretaker? Just kidding.
@@danidavis7912 one of the true benefits of the web is we can all learn although we may work in totally unrelated fields.
People just need to be somewhat selective in the sources they learn from.
What I dislike about this video is that it has little to do with its thumbnail. I was specifically interested in a detailed explanation about how modern and very old footprints differ from each other. Instead of that I got a general outlook at human ancestry.
Yeah, I wanted to know why our ancestors appear to have flat feet. Lol
@@boardcertifiablesame
Agreed
You seem a little old to be learning the, "don't judge a book by it's cover" lesson for the first time. Do you know the one about how expectations often lead to disappointment? Class dismissed.
It's worth noting that gorillas and chimpanzees knuckle-walk in different ways, indicating that they evolved 3-legged walking independently from each other and that it's not an ancestral trait. This is part of what's been leading more and more people to consider that some level of bipedalism may be the ancestral trait of apes and that we are the only ones who retained it.
This is the best comment here...and yes they dirved from a form of us...even there monkey babies look more like us when born...
I think the knuckle walking being different is indicative of an arboreal ancestor who would have been upright in the trees and may have walked on two legs to get from tree grouping to tree grouping. I think this is the most plausible explanation for the differences, which are very distinctive and obviously evolved independently.
Gibbons walk on two legs regularly when they aren’t in the trees, you should look into them. I work with gorillas mostly but I like the gibbons a lot too, as well as the orangutans. I won’t work with the chimps because I like my face being attached to the front of my skull.
@@Thor-Orion Chimps are so sentient and PLAN ahead. there's been at least THrEE incidents in the Calgary Zoo where the chimps got the keys! the Zoo keeps firing the hapless low wage employee who made a mistake that day on procedure, and the chimp saw it, and made his move. Duh.
Also worth noting that sahelanthropus tchadensis was likely bipedal and lived extremely close to the human-chimp split suggesting that the common ancestor of Chimps and Humans was highly likely to be a biped.
What do you think about the possibility that they were just created that way I think it's important to note that we have a different number of chromosomes than these chimps and gorillas and monkeys I don't believe that we evolved from them and I honestly think that it is more believable that we were created by God to have a relationship with him we were special because we're not animals we were created in His image
9:36
"one small step for an ape, but a great step towards humanity"
-Neil Armstrongalis, 3 000 000 BC
The idea that Australopithecus was making tools over 3mil years ago is mind blowing!
I wouldn't doubt it if they had little huts an villages too.
How about humanoid bipeds, with modern human feet, having Scissors and possibly nailfiles to neatly trim their toenails, about 65 million years ago - the age ofvthe slate seam I had pallets of roofing slates from, with a lot of modern footprints in. It was really stunning to see them, and even more stunning that my feet fitted perfectly into both left and right footprint, almost as though they were moulded around my feet. Size 43 European. Seems we may have De evolved this past 65 million years or so ? 🤔
Bipedal walking began in trees with horizontal branches, been saying that since before Ardy,
There is a book I have somewhere regarding tool use by animals. it is fairly common for animals to use tools but this book states that all the tool uses are opportunistic whereas humans are more future visionary regarding making tools from raw ingredients. Communication and learning just got stronger and stronger over time as we developed. By communication we made tools better over time.
It isn't just the tool usage that is incredible but how many generations of our evolutionary line have been slowly and painstakingly fighting to overcome the limitations of our physical biology and the natural world (although we are part of the natural world). It's humbling and sad that they never got to see what we have achieved from their humble beginnings.
Also to imagine how puzzled and afraid they must have been to have limited intelligence (and I'll assume consciousness) trying to figure out the world they have been thrown into and the possibility that my consciousness could have instantiated at any point in the 3myr lineage. Damn, I'm grateful to live here and now when we have a good foundational understanding of our origins and our place in the universe.
I much appreciate your videos for how easy they're to understand. I'm from East Germany, and so, I was taught by teachers, who had actually studied Russian and had either studied English only as a minor subject without passion or only later had English as a further education, for the most of my school time. Just in the last 3 years, I got a teacher who only studied Russian to be allowed to study English. This is why I'm struggling with English, but some creators like you make it so easy that often when I wanna share it with other people, I stopped for a moment because I'm not sure if they understand it, too. Sometimes, I wanna share it with people who may not understand Englisch, and then, I realize I totally forgot it was English content. Sometimes, I wanna share it with English speaking people, and my first thought is that it would be dumb to share German content. So, try to imagine exactly what I saw and heard, and this is the point when I realize the magic. I remember the complete side, even the advertising at the borders. I remember the text, not in English but in German. I remember the voice in the video, even yours, but they don't speak English in my head, but German. So, I go back, and I am confused by realizing it never was on German. This is every time again when I stop thinking it only could be German because I didn't struggle to understand it, and start thinking I'm not that bad in English as I think. The problem is rather that I built up a barrier every time when I'm forced to speak or understand English because I wanna stay in my comfort zone. I really appreciate this because this is a source of motivation to practice English, which is something I completely missed in my entire school life. I'm on the one hand sad about to have missed so much over these years, but I'm much more happy about to enjoy another cool language and so much more interesting stuff now.
So, thank you so much for your work! 🥹
You’re doing great Alice!!!
you talk a bit too much
Englisch kommt durchs benutzen, der Versuch ist der erste Schritt und so wie du/sie schreibst/schreiben funktioniert es doch hervorragend! Ich bin mit sicher das es immer besser wird, nicht aufgeben!
@@rizkyadiyanto7922 tja 🤷♀️
Your English is very good. There are a few mistakes, but you will get there soon!
The shot of a gorilla punching a termite mound at 13:52 is amazing. Kudos to whomever captured that footage.
I wanna bet the termites came after them somehow for that.
@@ikawba00 My money is on the silverback.
The fact that modern humans as a species have existed for more than 150,000 years really puts in perspective the timescale of the progress of evolution. The first civilizations only appeared a couple thousand years ago. For me it is fascinating to think about how we will at some point have become a new different species
I don't understand why so many people got triggered because I said "a couple thousand years ago". I obviously did not mean just 2000 years (look at my damn username lol). So, for all the people that chose do ignore my point and focus on this, let me at least make it clear: The earliest civilization is thought to be Mesopotamia which is estimated to have formed in 5000BC so 7000 thousand years ago. Going back to my point, 7000 is not a lot compared to 150000 years!!
(Pollock, Susan, and Pollock Susan. Ancient mesopotamia. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press, 1999.)
"Only a couple thousand years ago"? That's not correct. There's kobecla tepe. It dates 12,000. Intentionally buried. The 12,900 years ago cataclysm may have set humanity back and erased evidence of a global web of civilization.
Evidence now indicates a time as far back as 300k years ago if not more. In recent years many discoveries have destroyed all the previous believed ancestors of humans. At this time no legitimate anthropologist will say we evolved from any of the other hominids, interbreeding with them yes but not evolving from them.
A couple of thousand years ago? That would be the time of Jesus, soooooo......no. besides, the civilization timeline has been updated even from the previously believed estimate of 6,000 years ago
Google Gobekli Tepi.
@@saratonnan I thought that was closer to 12,000 years?
@@saratonnan compared to 150,000 years, 6,000 years is just a couple of thousand.
One small correction to an otherwise great video. 1. Darwin was not silent on the matter. In his book “The Descent of Man” Darwin discusses humans and NS. Evolution was not a new concept in Darwin’s time. In fact, his grandfather published on the topic. The revolutionary aspect presented by Darwin was the mechanism of NS.
Glad you pointed all that out. ❤
Great video BUT very little on the footprints. So that was a disappointment.
Ok foot man
Biology is Beauty !!
Yes..Biology is not story like your Ramayanam and Mahabharatham..
Its true based on scientific evidence..
And therefore you are beauty
And amazing!
Shrek is love. Shrek is life.
0:36 "Gorillas have been taught to use sign language"
yeah, unfortunately not actually. If you look at Koko's "speech" linguistically, they're not structured or complex, just simple words in usually no consistent word order. Most of the communication was a huge deal of interpretation by the researcher, not actual communication by sign language.
Gutsick gibbon has mentioned in a few videos how there are "languages" that exist in other primates. I can't remember which one specifically, but there was an alarm call for danger, then another as a modifier for location.
It's not as developed/massive as ours, but also doesn't need to be. And without a cultural context, apes using sign language may be using is differently than we would expect, but makes perfect sense to them. There's an island that doesn't differentiate between animals like most other places, it's either a sea creature or a land creature.
Word order could imply emphasis. _I_ never said that. I never _said_ that.
It's also difficult to know if they understand the word the same way we do. When you're teaching a dog "potty" but you say it when you are letting them out into the yard, you can't be sure they understand it as anything other than being let out into the yard.
@@catelynh1020 no doubt there are proto/almost languages in many animals, but they aren't Language in the way humans use them; long and complex, recursive, etc.
Koko definitely learned some of the basic signs, but likely didn't understand what they meant-only that certain signs elicit certain responses from the researchers. She couldn't actually put them into use.
Gutsick Gibbons is a PhD in Biological Anthropology, not Linguistics. Same issue as the original researchers that worked with Koko: they underestimate the complexity of human languages and interpret the sparse output into a language, when the output is not actually at that level
Exactly.
Human arrogance.
Exactly. The Gorilla named "Koko" was literally Aping-Back actions (signs) that it had learned would result in a reward for it (i.e.: food, attention), from it's handlers. The Gorilla had no "conscious" understanding of "communication" other than in the most base animal reciprocation of actions & signs.
Your content is a credit to UA-cam. Another great video! It explains why my German Shephard becomes more fatigued that me during our walks. I thought it was just due to her less-efficient way of cooling through paw pads, nose, and mouth.
Dogs are built to run, not walk.
that's why some farmers shoot loose dogs on thier property, because dogs can literally run down deer. A dog can run deer to the point of exhaustion, then they kill the deer.
@@Sean2002FUdogs only run when theres a reason. Adults dont run when can walk and dont walk when they can lie down. 😅
I live in the countryside and there are lanes and areas where mine can safely be off the lead. They will run 10 or 20 feet to an interesting smell and then sniff for ages. Even when young their idea of exercise was moving from one smell to the next. Getting every molecule. The little terrier will run further if I get ahead but only to catch up. The larger terrier rarely runs at all.
I get better exercise when I'm walking without them.
These documentaries are amazing! I've already watched them on nebula, but they are so good I watched this again here on UA-cam. With ads and all!
Im writing this before seeing the video but I just wanted to say I got giddy when I saw that you were doing one on the oldest footprints and what information you were going to dig up on those amazing prints. I'll come back and edit after I see the video... Always amazed at the info packed into a 15min video! I love all the reasons you gave for why we started standing up since those prints were made and how they were made over 3.5 million years ago!! I feel smarter than I was 15mins ago! ;) Thank you RS!
uhhh ok
...SIGH...
This video uncritically repeats the Rubric that the 'arch' found in the human foot evolved to serve as a "shock-absorber...since the foot is supporting So Much Of the body's weight."(t=10:30sec~10:40sec).
2nd claim first; when we're standing unaided (not holding- & leaning on a cane, etc.) 100% (NOT 'much') of our bodyweight is borne by the structures of our feet.
As for the 'arch' claim, the animation showing central loading is deceptive; when stationary, our ankles joint to the heels BEHIND the 'arch' -- gaining ZERO 'shock absorption' from the arch.
And arches are also present in the feet of apes - helping the foot curve-'round/conform to features grasped by the opposed big toe.
@@neclark08 What do you believe supports lifting you when you walk, run, and jump? They say, "[...] when you walk bipedally." They are not just talking about standing still... SIGH...
I laughed too even before I watched it.
I’ve seen adults in the Amazon area who have almost never worn shoes, and their feet look much different from my North American feet.
Agreed. I recall about ten years ago watching a National Geographic special on the tribes of the Amazon. They were following a small group of tribesmen as they snuck through the jungle hunting monkeys with poison darts. At one point the camera man panned down to their feet and I was shocked to see that they bore a striking resemblance to primate feet.
If you haven't already, look into barefoot shoes. After wearing barefoot shoes, I only wear conventional shoes to look stylish for special occasions. Otherwise, barefoot shoes are so much more comfortable.
Good video - only one very minor correction - the co-discoverer of Lucy was Donald "Johanson", not "Johnson" as stated in the narration. Minor yes, but names are important.
That, and the brief mention of gorillas being taught sign language has been shown to be dubious for multiple reasons.
Always gotta try and correct misinformation, no matter how minor or widespread it is. 👍
Since we are here: when they say that there are several theories trying to explain why humans walk upright, it it wrong, there are several hypothesis. Theory is a proven hypothesis.
@@rafaelverolla7276 The predominant theory I was taught was that as the forests in parts of Africa started thinning and changing into grasslands, the primates had to come down from the trees and make their way across the open spaces to find other food sources. Those that could stand more fully erect above the tops of the tall grasses for longer periods of time were able to spot danger in the area from further away, thus giving more time to reach the safety of a tree and ultimately, more of a lifespan to pass on their genes.
I don't recall the narrator mentioning that in this presentation.
a bit less 'nitpicky' is @ 9:52 she indicates that footprints are not fossils -
footprints are TRACE FOSSILS
She does it again @ 10:54
the March of Progress graphic @ 13:27 is mostly double plus ungood
This definitely checks out. A lot of what causes foot pain for me is the way that my foot distributes weight very poorly
plantar facitious, perhaps?
Nah it's those Counter Terrorist boots they'e bad for your feet
You should walk barefoot once in a while...
that really helps...
@@Fantastic_Mr_Fox lmfao
@@1Pararegiment probably. I’m on my feet a lot between work and everything
Absolutely excellent video and breakdown of the topic. Never been so clear for me. Excellent plug too.
Little correction though: thats a 200,000 year difference between those possible footstep dates. Not 20,000.
Thanks for the high quality content as always. Great channel, goals for me tbh.
Kevin Hunt does work on ape positional behavioural choices, usually based on cultural practices related to carrying, display, or tool innovation. this can lead to huge differences in hip-leg growth, e.g.
Evolution is such a fascinating and beautiful subject. The incremental improvement over time is just amazing to watch unfold.
Insanely well documented. It should be presented at school as a lecture
Bro! Seriously....!!!!
This channel is the best!
Thank you so much to everyone involved in the production of this video/channel!
You guys rock 🙏🙏🙏
Learning about our origins and how we progressed is so humbling yet so inspiring. I wonder how future evolved humans will look like and be capable of
Well natrual evolution is probably going to take a back seat to gene editing
Tall and slender? Or like the humans from Wall-e? 😂
Why is nobody talking about the visuals in this video? They are absolutely stunning in how everything transitions.
Ah yes, the original feet pics.
Homo Fetishismus
I love your channel. So much work and dedication. You make sure to give as much information as possible, straight facts, and you dont mention any bs for click bait. Your videos are 100% related to the title unlike 99% of UA-camrs.
I feel bad that I missed this when it was uploaded. Smh, I'm going to Nebula
I believe that we started walking probably because of tool use. As we became more dependent on tools we would need our hands free more often. It would also explain our brain growth. As our tools became more complex we had to be smarter.
This brain growth idea works in theory, but so does the reverse. It might have been we could only make more complex tools because our brains evolved first and the more complex tools followed after. Seeing as walking seemingly developed before bigger brains, this logic would conclude tool use had nothing to do with walking. I'm not saying you're wrong, it's just not exactly an uncontested slam-dunk theory.
Lucy had a body that made her male companions walk upright
But Ardiphitecus fossil says the other way
In one book by the guy who studied Lucy his theory had to do with climate change. It got drier and few trees widely separated remained. So we were in savanna and forced to the ground to go from tree to tree or find food and water. Probably still slept in a tree if possible. Sounds plausible
@Gr Mo exactly. Bored_Hobby_Guy offers an opinion based on the fact that he can understand part of what someone told him. Then states his opinion as if he deserves a gold star for being sure he's right.
Interesting choice of map for Germany at 3:25 😅
Exactly my thoughts
I had to go back and double check
It's a map made for our sister production on Real Engineering called "Battle of Britain". Good eye but it's an Easter egg!
@@moboxgraphics Great idea, but you shouldn't have done so for Germany, because of its relatively recent history.
Although some of this info has been alluded for some time now, it was good to see it all put together in a linear way that most people (especially those in denial) can understand. Thx.
While it is true that Lucy was found in Ethiopia in 1974 by Tom Grey and Don Johanson. The photo that you show of the two men are actually Don Johanson and Tim White. Not Tom Grey. Tim White, of course, was the paleo anthropologist responsible for the discovery and description if Ardipithecus Ramidus, or "Ardi."
Yeah, it seems there are a few instances in this video where they are describing one thing and showing another. Not ideal when you're discussing a specific find, but you're showing a completely different species!
The history of our ancestors is fascinating.We are a species that was shaped to change the environment around us.
Greetings from Brazil!
Evidence is mounting that this wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
10:03 Does anyone else notice the adult had a limp? It looks like the right leg has a shorter stride. Maybe an injury on the left leg.
A small oddity at 3:25. The map of Germany shown is a World War 2 period map. It shows Germany after the annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia.
I recently saw the jaw (the only piece ever found) of a Homo heidelbergensis in Germany, it's amazing to look at something so human and know that it's technically a different and now extinct species. Crazy to think about.
Excellent presentation of this subject, and beautifully made video:)
0:36 this statement requires a huge asterisk
Could you do a story/essay on heat resistant snails that live around volcanos, sometime.
13:46 BOMBASTIC SIDE EYE
very probable we where already bipedal before we even left the trees. gorilla's and chimps also likely evolved knuckle walking seperately as they do it differently to each other. and it happened after we diverged from them. plus gibbon's (the only extant lesser apes) are bipedal in the trees, and stay bipedal when on the ground. australopithicus was also bipedal and semi-arboreal.
Yea we need more fossils but if you know Sahelanthropus, Orrorin etc. it’s probable that our common ancestor was bipedal and living in trees
I am obsessed with human evolution content so now I will finally try Nebula 😁
There is a better channel that dives DEEP into it and has been doing so for several years. History with Kayleigh. She is very exhaustive and not only shows one side but all sides including all dissenting arguments. Being hot educated and Dutch helps as well.
The evidence is more important today than it has been in a long time thank you for a wonderful presentation
Miracles have always been what suppressed human thoughts
My readings into this subject indicate the ancestors of Australopithecus were most likely Shore-Based, in which case, they would have walked through shallow ponds / rivers, which in turn would have reduced the weight on their hips... which would have allowed them to walk upright for longer periods. Generations upon Generations of this behaviour would have pre-selected for more appropriate hips, to extend the amount of time walking upright in the water that was possible. This then would have translated to walking on dry land too. For example, Chimps can walk upright now, on dry land, but not for very long, since their hips are not designed for that; but when they walk through water, they can walk upright for a much longer time, before it starts to hurt. Trouble is they rarely walk through water, so there's no evolutionary pressure for their hips to change. If the ancestors of Australopithecus were indeed shore based, they may have been gathering mollusks for food, which would have provided them with more DHA-Omega3, which would have been another first step to increasing the brain size. With the Hips now evolved for better upright walking, the foot was now in a better position to start evolving for larger weight too, but also for fore-foot running. And when we started to do Persistent Hunts, the long distance running had the benefit of producing Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), which also would have had a positive influence on increasing our brain size. There's also the thinking that mushrooms additionally played a big role in creating new connections within the brain, i.e. the stoned ape hypothesis.
Love these videos and especially the awesome renders
This was an excellent video. It goes interestingly beyond the scope of what you might think from the title - all in 17.8 minutes. I wonder if the remainder of the videos have already been released to UA-cam?
This is a wonderful doc. Great job
huh... how does being bipedal lead to less energy expenditure? i would've thought that supporting a body on 4 legs is more stable, more passive
I believe the basic idea is that it takes less energy to move two legs than four. I'd imagine it's a more complex answer though.
The energy saved by walking on 2 legs is minuscule but every calorie saved counts when it comes to survival. Consider just the energy exerted from the movement of leg muscles alone and then imagine having an extra pair of appendages constantly exerting energy to facilitate movement. While quadrupedal stability does save some energy it doesn’t beat bipedal locomotion.
Bipedalism can be much more efficient if done right. But it also has other advantages. It frees up your hands for tools and lets you see farther because your head is higher up.
@@skippy9214 Extedned sight seems one of the first and principal reason to me, then only the others. Even animals will stand up to see more.
On 2 legs you "fall" into your next step, this means gravity helps you. It is one of the reasons going uphill is so much harder than walking on the flat.
Quality content! Keep up the good work
Biology is beauty !!
Footprints, the og footpics and I'm here for it
Not only Koko, but Washoe, the chimp taught ASL, would also lie and make spontaneous sign combos to describe new things.
cause they didn't actually know ASL and it was all interpreted by the human, doing so to promote their belief. Gorilla sign language has been disproven unfortunately, or it could be scientifically verified if true.
Foot print info starts @9:50
THANK YOU
This turned out to be click bait
Here is the biggest problem I have with the theories.
According to science, a different species cannot interbreed, and have viable fertile offspring due to reproductive barriers that prevent gene flow.
But Neanderthal DNA is in every one of us. There HAD to be viable fertile offspring for this interbreeding to occur. So any of these different “species” CANNOT by the very definition of a different species actually BE a different species… just a different “breed” or some differentiator greater than a different “race” where we are anatomically exactly the same. This includes denisovans… or any other ancient human lineage with distinct markers traceable in our modern homo sapien DNA….
So why are we calling them different species again?
Great content, as usual. Keep it up.
This girl always makes the BEST videos.
So an eternal omnipotent omniscient supernatural universe spanning space wizard, without an origin, who finally got bored of floating in a dark vacuum, did not create us?
Why so bitter?
@@revolvermaster4939 Probably was raised to believe that an eternal omnipotent omniscient supernatural universe spanning space wizard, without an origin, who finally got bored of floating in a dark vacuum, created us, and found out that there are better explanations out there that actually make sense.
@@Skibbityboo0580 I was raised in a completely secular household. Your bitterness paints you as a God hater as opposed to an atheist.
@@revolvermaster4939 I'm not bitter, I am not the person you said was bitter. I was just saying that people raised religious, only to find out that it's mostly just a big lie, can be bitter about it. Also see all the awful events done in the name of gods, that could make someone bitter too.
@@Skibbityboo0580 I’m aware of history and atrocities committed in the name of God. I’m also aware of the history of communism/Marxism/fascism, the complete lack of religion, and the hundreds of millions exterminated in the last 150 years because of a lack of religion.
Donald Johnson..? No, he was the co-star of Miami Vice, alongside Philipp Michael Thomas.
You're looking for Donald Johanson, he's the paleontologist.
As a member of the great apes, I am endlessly fascinated by all things primate. And that includes all of our ancestors. After all, they helped to make us what we are. I find it particularly interesting that bipedalism evolved before the bigger brain. We were taught the opposite when I was in high school. This is what I like about studying human evolution--always something new to earn.
Terrific video!! Many thanks!
Congratulations on being the most subscribed to female presenter on nebula. Good shit!
New sub here! Great video and excellent narration.
Awesome video as always, thank you for your time.
To bad it is filled with now debunked information. The only good thing is the footprints everything else is pushing a narrative not science.
That was really interesting. I definitely to need to finish this series.
You should really look into th3 whole gorillas learning sign language thing more, specifically koko, ita fairly obvious that she didn't really know at all.
The video and editing are superb
2:15 I take umbrage at "feeling" being in this list. Wecould debate back and forth on the other things, but humans dotend to come out on top in those categories. But feeling? You cannot tell me other apes don't have deep and profound feelings on par with our own.
That foot could have been wrapped
I have read a book that blew my mind: Who asked the First Question... So walking on 2 feet may be the start point, I really feel that the development of language and the capacity of making questions is what really differs us from other animals
Knowing Abigail Thorn is an important feature of nebula is the best argument against using nebula.
We are not an offshoot of apes: we are apes.
ur channel is so informative n well written
If walking up right goes so far back doesn't that mean knuckle walking and climbing trees could have evolved after?
yes
no because monkeys and other apes were here for a lot longer than 6 million years
This is true it is thought that knuckle walking evolved since our last common ancestor, and maybe twice separately between in gorillas and chimpanzees since they don't do it in the same way. Primates have climbed trees for millions of years though, but apes in general use bipedalism more than the other primates as the video shows despite also being arboreal. This could have arisen from having ancestors which were suspensory primates, who swing through the trees, changing our back and shoulder placement to sustain a more a more upright posture when swinging. Gibbons are a good present day example of this arboreal swinging and bipedalism since they get around mostly with swinging but also can run along on two legs.
Stefan Milo (I think his name is spelled like that) has a video on that exact theory. I happen to be of the belief that bipedalism came first.
Best video I’ve seen! Even the graphics are excellent!
yo real people, it would be absolutely incredible if your video titles would actually inform us of the content of your videos! oh wait, oopsie, my bad, nevermind, i thought i had some sort of preference or will over what i like to watch, but i just now realized that actually i am just a mindless content viewing machine and it doesn't really matter to me how time passes since really i am only waiting for that one moment after which the passage of time might escape my cognition entirely! haha!
Really good! Great scientific integrity. Pleasant and articulate speaking voice. Thanks. Watched the whole thing on Nebula. Really interesting stuff, indeed! Cheers from Denmark.
0:39 😅 🚩 already. There is no actual proof of them speaking with sign language. We know they can build small vocabulary with sign language but when it comes to building sentences and communicating it’s a huge flop so far. The perpetuation of this myth is based solely on edited footage with messages crafted by humans.
I'd say using sign language to communicate specific words counts as....using sign language though, nah?
We don't even know that they communicate specific words, it could all be clever Hans effect or bias on the researchers
Human bipedalism in junction with foot shape is an evolved adaptation for multi use in varied and changing habitats. Effectively humans can walk, run, or climb trees with a foot shape that has changed very little since a million years ago.
As much as I appreciate the ray tracing used to render some of the visuals, I’m also the kind of person who can tell when more aliasing is needed even if the law of diminishing returns is working against you.
What are you talking about? Specifically
@@AEVMU Specifically? Whenever there’s a CG close-up, like around 7:15, the fine details like the surface of the brain seem to change with every frame. It’s most apparent on high-res displays at 4K resolution.
..we started walking upright so we could see the food..that freed the hands..
Get ready for the Young Earth Creationist yahoos to come screaming with, "aCkTcHeWaLLyY tHe oLdEsT fOoTpRiNtS aRe oNLy 6,000 yEaRs oLd aNd aRe bY diNoSAuR fOoTpRiNtS!!!"
It's bad out there in these comments, stay safe lol
Those were found in China and were much older than 6000 years and they are tracking dinosaur footprints. Very hard to find info on it. Only ran across it once and that was by accident and I think it is repressed information.
The idea that apes have been taught to communicate in sign language is highly suspect. The Soup Emporium channel has an eye-opening video on the subject that's well worth a watch and might shed some light on the subject
To my knowledge not a single gorilla has ever ACTUALLY learned sign language. weird fact to get wrong.
You are incorrect. Google it.
@@saratonnan You too, google it.
It was mentioned in a recent video on this channel "The Insane Biology of: The Gorilla" at 13:26. Link: ua-cam.com/video/LXnCCq6dkm8/v-deo.html
@@saratonnan dont say koko, because that whole study has been discredited
Thank you for another great episode
imagine if bipedalism (and eventually intelligence) evolved closer to orangutans instead of chimps
1:52 Not my local one, the manager tore down my tent and called the police.
I thought the Gorilla sign language thing had been disproven, the researchers saw what they wanted to see and none of the apes ever displayed any more understanding of language than a dog asking for something or following commands.
one signlanguage teacher hypothocized that after kokos death, but he is an outlying opinion. other researchers say: "People often ask if gorillas are really using sign symbolically or are mimicking individual signs to “get rewards”. Our research shows that gorillas Koko and Michael have used American Sign Language (ASL) in sophisticated ways, with sign phrase lengths of over 8 signs, and consistent grammatical structure."
it was only the idiotic males who dismissed Koko - the male scientists tried to smear the female scientist who lived with Koko. They claimed she was making up what Koko was communicating. Just watch the Koko documentary and it's clear that Koko is communicating - memory, jokes, making up new phrases for meaning, etc.
@@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885 Never let a different opinion interfere with misandry and the feminist narrative.
Using signs and speaking a sign language are two very different things. Sign language users who were involved with Koko usually quit because they realized the iffy pseudo schience that was going on. I recommend Soup Emporiums video on Koko.
@@johannao4849 maybe science is iffy and pseudo - hence our current abrupt global warming crisis with imminent biological annihilation. I've had friends who don't speak English get deeply offended at my bad Spanish - despite our ability to communicate in their language. haha. I'm sure Sign Language is the same. No one said Koko speaks "sign language." That would be silly.
Extremely sad that rest of the episodes are on nebula only. I feel betrayed after watching this episode.
This is simply the mechanism chosen by some producers to monetize their work. It is no different from streaming channels which offer a free month up front.
People need to eat.
What about the swamp ape hypothes? Bipedalism as an adaptation to a semi aquatic environment explains a lot including the lack of fossils as well as buoyancy decreasing the weight of the torso over the legs
its not that its bad hypothesis, its just that there isnt any evidence to support it, and it is designed in a way that its not disprovable.
i think we were bipedal while we were still on a trees.
Bipedalism in humans need no explanation. Take our most distant relative among the apes, put it on the ground, and see how it walks. You can find videos of this on UA-cam. Spoiler alert: It walks upright like humans. It does not knuckle walk like chimpanzees. We walk upright because we retain the gait of the common ancestor of all apes. We do not need a special theory to explain how bipedalism evolved. just pick a gibbon down from its tree, put it on the ground, and see what it does. We were bipedal before we came down from the trees. Rather, it is the other great apes that has evolved a new quadripedal gait.
3:27 3:43 What the hell is this map??? This looks like a 1940 map of Europe if you incorrectly show Poland as part of Germany. Germany didn't even exist in 1856...
It's a map made for our sister production on Real Engineering called "Battle of Britain". Good eye but it's an Easter egg!
@@moboxgraphics Oh I see, that makes sense.
Looked like he was wearing flip flops.
👣
The term fossil here is loosely used. Organic materal to become fossilised must go through a fossilising process by which the hydrocarbons are replaced with minerals. Persevered organic material like bones are not fossils just because they are old. For example, the turm fossil fuel is misplaced, coined by in the late 1800s at an international conference of mineralogists.
Interesting comment. I hadn't thought about how strange the phrase "fossil fuels" is - it's not like they're made out of fossils.
Takes 10 minutes to get to anything about the footprints.
I had a consignment of natural slates from India, finest qualiry imagineable, and a lot of them had humanoid 3 dimensional footprints in them, Identical to the modern Human foot. my feet, size 43 european, or 8 and a half in other measures, fitted perfectly into both the left and right footprints. so fine, it must have been like waklking in talcum powder an inch to two inches deep. You could even tell thatvthe toenails were neatly trimmedvor manicured, and that there was no hair on the sides of the feet, each print had the triangular scuff mark behind the heel, that we get when strolling on damp sand at the beach. The Slate Seams these slates were cut from, apparently are aboutv65 million years old. The Slates were a nice silvery grey metallic colour, so the quarry should be easy to track down, andcthe number of footprints in three crates of slates were so numerous, they must be very common in that quarry. I showed them around local friends and neighbours , and left some at the local Museum with my business Card, but they never got back to me. Best Wishes. Bob in Wales. 👍
3:27 My goodness… you can’t say 1856 and then show a map from 1939…
Records probly didn’t start coming out until early 1900s.
It's a mao made for our sister production on Real Engineering called "Battle of Britain". Good eye but it's an Easter egg!
Thanks for this excellent video.
I just want to say that the whole sign language learning of gorillas might not be true.
you peel bananas from the top down,
I peel from the bottom up.
*WE ARE NOT THE SAME.*
To me, this and religion can’t coexist
Not all religions are as stupid as you assume.
@@evaisthisiaeclaire6365maybe, but all religions are poison.
Religion simply isn’t real