PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Walking on all fours is not backward evolution, study shows

Anthropology study shows quadrupedal humans are not products of 'devolution'

Walking on all fours is not backward evolution, study shows
2014-07-16
(Press-News.org) VIDEO: This video is a sample of UTS walking patterns.
Click here for more information.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Contradicting earlier claims, "The Family That Walks on All Fours," a group of quadrupedal humans made famous by a 2006 BBC documentary, have simply adapted to their inability to walk upright and do not represent an example of backward evolution, according to new research by Liza Shapiro, an anthropologist at The University of Texas at Austin.

Five siblings in the family, who live in a remote corner of Turkey, walk exclusively on their hands and feet. Since they were discovered in 2005, scientists have debated the nature of their disability, with speculation they represent a backward stage of evolution.

Shapiro's study, published online this month in PLOS One, shows that contrary to previous claims, people with the family members' condition, called Uner Tan Syndrome (UTS), do not walk in the diagonal pattern characteristic of nonhuman primates such as apes and monkeys.

According to a theory developed by Uner Tan of Cukurova University in Turkey, people with UTS are a human model for reverse evolution, or "devolution," offering new insights into the human transition from four-legged to two-legged walking.

Previous research countering this view has proposed that the quadrupedalism associated with UTS is simply an adaptive response to the impaired ability to walk bipedally in individuals with a genetic mutation, but this is the first study that disproves claims that this form of walking resembles that of nonhuman primates.

The study's co-authors are Jesse Young of Northeast Ohio Medical University; David Raichlen of the University of Arizona; and Whitney Cole, Scott Robinson and Karen Adolph of New York University.

As part of the study, the researchers analyzed 518 quadrupedal walking strides from several videos of people with various forms of UTS, including footage from the BBC2 documentary of the five Turkish siblings, "The Family That Walks on All Fours." They compared these walking strides to previous studies of the walking patterns of healthy adults who were asked to move around a laboratory on all fours.

According to the findings, nearly all human subjects (in 98 percent of the total strides) walked in lateral sequences, meaning they placed a foot down and then a hand on the same side and then moved in the same sequence on the other side. Apes and other nonhuman primates, however, walk in a diagonal sequence, in which they put down a foot on one side and then a hand on the other side, continuing that pattern as they move along.

"Although it's unusual that humans with UTS habitually walk on four limbs, this form of quadrupedalism resembles that of healthy adults and is thus not at all unexpected," Shapiro says. "As we have shown, quadrupedalism in healthy adults or those with a physical disability can be explained using biomechanical principles rather than evolutionary assumptions."

The study also shows that Tan and his colleagues appeared to have misidentified the walking patterns among people with UTS as primate-like by confusing diagonal sequence with diagonal couplets. Sequence refers to the order in which the limbs touch the ground, while couplets (independent of sequence) indicate the timing of movement between pairs of limbs.

People with UTS more frequently use diagonal couplets than lateral couplets, but the sequence associated with the couplets is almost exclusively lateral.

"Each type of couplet has biomechanical advantages, with lateral couplets serving to avoid limb interference, and diagonal couplets providing stability," Shapiro says. "The use of diagonal couplets in adult humans walking quadrupedally can thus be explained on the basis of biomechanical considerations, not reverse evolution."

INFORMATION: END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Walking on all fours is not backward evolution, study shows Walking on all fours is not backward evolution, study shows 2

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New study links dredging to diseased corals

2014-07-16
In a world-first study published today, researchers say dredging activity near coral reefs can increase the frequency of diseases affecting corals. "At dredging sites, we found more than twice as much coral disease than at our control sites," says the lead author of the study, Joe Pollock, a PhD candidate from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) at James Cook University (JCU) and the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). "Corals require both light and food to survive," Pollock explains. "And unfortunately, dredging impacts corals ...

Tooth plaque provides unique insights into our prehistoric ancestors' diet

2014-07-16
This news release is available in French. This news release is available in French. This news release is available in French. An international team of researchers has found new evidence that our prehistoric ancestors had a detailed understanding of plants long before the development of agriculture. By extracting chemical compounds and microfossils from dental calculus (calcified dental plaque) from ancient teeth, the researchers were able to provide an entirely new perspective on our ancestors' diets. Their research suggests that purple nut sedge (Cyperus ...

Tooth plaque provides insight into our prehistoric ancestors' diet

Tooth plaque provides insight into our prehistoric ancestors diet
2014-07-16
A new study may provide evidence that our prehistoric ancestors understood plant consumption and processing long before the development of agriculture, according to a study published July 16, 2014 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Stephen Buckley from University of York and colleagues. Evidence of plant consumption before the adoption of agriculture is difficult to find; such evidence is meaningful for understanding how much prehistoric people knew about the ecology and potential therapeutic properties of plants. Scientists in this study extracted and analyzed chemical ...

The 'obesity paradox': Cardiovascular mortality lowest among overweight patients

2014-07-16
Rochester, MN, July 16, 2014 – High body mass index (BMI) is associated with multiple cardiovascular diseases. However, emerging data suggest that there is an "obesity paradox," that being overweight may actually protect patients from cardiovascular mortality. Investigators have now confirmed that the risk of total mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and myocardial infarction is highest among underweight patients, while cardiovascular mortality is lowest among overweight patients, according to two reports published today in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Currently more than ...

Brain of world's first known predators discovered

Brain of worlds first known predators discovered
2014-07-16
An international team of paleontologists has identified the exquisitely preserved brain in the fossil of one of the world's first known predators that lived in the Lower Cambrian, about 520 million years ago. The discovery revealed a brain that is surprisingly simple and less complex than those known from fossils of some of the animal's prey. The find for the first time identifies the fossilized brain of what are considered the top predators of their time, a group of animals known as anomalocaridids, which translates to "abnormal shrimp." Long extinct, these fierce-looking ...

One injection stops diabetes in its tracks

One injection stops diabetes in its tracks
2014-07-16
VIDEO: Salk scientists explain the implications of their latest finding and how the treatment reverses symptoms of type 2 diabetes in mice without side effects. Click here for more information. LA JOLLA—In mice with diet-induced diabetes—the equivalent of type 2 diabetes in humans—a single injection of the protein FGF1 is enough to restore blood sugar levels to a healthy range for more than two days. The discovery by Salk scientists, published today in the journal Nature, could ...

Study: Climate-cooling arctic lakes soak up greenhouse gases

Study: Climate-cooling arctic lakes soak up greenhouse gases
2014-07-16
New University of Alaska Fairbanks research indicates that arctic thermokarst lakes stabilize climate change by storing more greenhouse gases than they emit into the atmosphere. Countering a widely-held view that thawing permafrost accelerates atmospheric warming, a study published this week in the scientific journal Nature suggests arctic thermokarst lakes are 'net climate coolers' when observed over longer, millennial, time scales. "Until now, we've only thought of thermokarst lakes as positive contributors to climate warming," says lead researcher Katey Walter Anthony, ...

Scientists find way to trap, kill malaria parasite

Scientists find way to trap, kill malaria parasite
2014-07-16
Scientists may be able to entomb the malaria parasite in a prison of its own making, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report July 16 in Nature. As it invades a red blood cell, the malaria parasite takes part of the host cell's membrane to build a protective compartment. To grow properly, steal nourishment and dump waste, the parasite then starts a series of major renovations that transform the red blood cell into a suitable home. But the new research reveals the proteins that make these renovations must pass through a single pore ...

Asteroid Vesta to reshape theories of planet formation

Asteroid Vesta to reshape theories of planet formation
2014-07-16
EPFL researchers have a better understanding of the asteroid Vesta and its internal structure, thanks to numerical simulations and data from the space mission Dawn. Their findings, published today in Nature, question contemporary models of rocky planet formation, including that of Earth. With its 500 km diameter, the asteroid Vesta is one of the largest known planet embryos. It came into existence at the same time as the Solar System. Spurring scientific interest, NASA sent the Dawn spacecraft into Vesta's orbit for one year between July 2011 and July 2012. Data gathered ...

NASA sees Typhoon Rammasun exit the Philippines

NASA sees Typhoon Rammasun exit the Philippines
2014-07-16
Typhoon Rammasun passed through the central Philippines overnight and NASA satellite imagery showed that the storm's center moved into the South China Sea. NASA's TRMM satellite showed the soaking rains that Rammasun brought to the Philippines as it tracked from east to west. Before Rammasun made landfall, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite passed over the storm and measured cloud heights and rainfall rates. On July 14, 2014 at 18:19 UTC (2:19 p.m. EDT), TRMM spotted powerful, high thunderstorms reaching heights of almost 17km (10.5 miles). Rain ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Study unravels another piece of the puzzle in how cancer cells may be targeted by the immune system

Long-sought structure of powerful anticancer natural product solved by integrated approach

World’s oldest lizard wins fossil fight

Simple secret to living a longer life

Same plant, different tactic: Habitat determines response to climate

Drinking plenty of water may actually be good for you

Men at high risk of cardiovascular disease face brain health decline 10 years earlier than women

Irregular sleep-wake cycle linked to heightened risk of major cardiovascular events

Depression can cause period pain, new study suggests

Wistar Institute scientists identify important factor in neural development

New imaging platform developed by Rice researchers revolutionizes 3D visualization of cellular structures

To catch financial rats, a better mousetrap

Mapping the world's climate danger zones

Emory heart team implants new blood-pumping device for first time in U.S.

Congenital heart defects caused by problems with placenta

Schlechter named Cancer Moonshot Scholar

Two-way water transfers can ensure reliability, save money for urban and agricultural users during drought in Western U.S., new study shows

New issue of advances in dental research explores the role of women in dental, clinical, and translational research

Team unlocks new insights on pulsar signals

Great apes visually track subject-object relationships like humans do

Recovery of testing for heart disease risk factors post-COVID remains patchy

Final data and undiscovered images from NASA’s NEOWISE

Nucleoporin93: A silent protector in vascular health

Can we avert the looming food crisis of climate change?

Alcohol use and antiobesity medication treatment

Study reveals cause of common cancer immunotherapy side effect

New era in amphibian biology

Harbor service, VAST Data provide boost for NCSA systems

New prognostic model enhances survival prediction in liver failure

China focuses on improving air quality via the coordinated control of fine particles and ozone

[Press-News.org] Walking on all fours is not backward evolution, study shows
Anthropology study shows quadrupedal humans are not products of 'devolution'