Re: Fwd: Gliders to Fliers? (Was Re: Ruben Strikes Back)

[dbensen <dbensen@gotnet.net>]

>>I suspect that this, by itself, is why humans are bipedal, and *maybe*
kangaroos as well (there *are* tree kangaroos after all).  That is, I
suspect that this sort of tree-climbing decouples the limbs, and promotes a
tendency towards bipedal locomotion on the ground.  Flight, or even
gliding, is not really necessary to achieve this result.<<
NOOOOO!  Well, I don't know about tree kangaroos and the climbing hypothesis
makes sense, but humans did not become bipedal as an adaptation to arborality.
Humans became bipedal AFTER they descended from the trees.  According to Steven
Jay Gould ( I don't remember which article).  The mutation that lead to many
human characteristics (large head, straitened spine, etc.) were a mutation on a
gene that controlled ageing and also happened to alter leg development.
Serendipitously, the new bipedal stance of humans left the hands free to
manipulate things, and let humans rear up to gaze of the grassland (as Ray
Stanford would say, 'like scared bunnies').  To some extent, humans are 
neotonous
apes.