Early humans started to walk upright in the trees.
Early humans started to walk upright in trees
It had been believed that the modern human race evolved to walk upright after our ancestors were forced to come down from trees and spend more time on land to find food but a new study disputes this and suggests early humans started to walk on two legs up in the trees beforehand.
A team from the University of Kent studied savanna chimpanzees in Tanzania for more than a year and discovered that the population spent more time upright while walking in the trees compared with walking on the ground.
The close relationship between chimps and humans shows that our ancestors were walking upright – which is also known as bipedalism.
Study author Alexander Piel said: "Many of the traditional hypotheses about why we're on two legs now stem from the advantages bipedalism afford our ancestor – for example seeing over tall grass or reduced sun exposure.
"However, the Issa chimpanzees did the opposite – more bipedalism in the trees.
"There are clear reasons why it's beneficial, like reaching for fruit on higher branches."