La 'hija' de Lucy trepaba a los árboles

El omóplato de Selam, la niña Australopithecus afarensis cuyos restos se encontraron en Etiopía hace 12 años, ha servido para concluir que su especie subía y bajaba de los árboles. Los afarensis son primates extintos que se consideran ancestros bípedos del hombre. Saber que también se suspendían de las ramas hace pensar a los científicos que su actividad arbórea los alejó de los humanos [...] Noticias SINC

Link 2: 3.3-Million-Year-Old Baby Shows Lucy's Species Hung Out in Trees
The advent of upright walkin g was a really big deal in human evolution. Scientists have posited that it allowed our ancestors to see above the savanna grass (the better to spot predators and prey), to carry tools and food and babies , to travel long distances more efficiently and to better strut their stuff for potential mates, among other possible perks. Indeed, bipedalism is one of the defining characteristics of our kind. Understandably, then, paleanthropologists are kind of obsessed with how our quadrupedal predecessors made the shift to two feet. Now a new study adds to the growing body of evidence that the transition did not happen overnight. [More]

Journal Reference:
D. J. Green, Z. Alemseged. Australopithecus afarensis Scapular Ontogeny, Function, and the Role of Climbing in Human Evolution. Science, 2012; 338 (6106): 514 DOI: 10.1126/science.1227123

Actualización 30-10-12. Audio. Ciencia al cubo - Niña de Dikika