The First Hominins and the Origins of Bipedalism

Molecular and paleontological evidence now point to the last common ancestor between chimpanzees and modern humans living between five and seven million years ago. Any species considered to be more closely related to humans than chimpanzees we call hominins. Traditionally, early hominins have been conspicuous by their absence in the fossil record, but discoveries in the last 20 years have finally provided us with a number of very important finds. We currently have three described genera, Ardipithecus, Orrorin and Sahelanthropus, of which Ardipithecus is extremely well represented by cranial, dental, and postcranial remains. All three genera are argued to be hominins based on reduced canine size and an increased capacity for bipedal locomotion. The evolutionary relationships between these taxa and both earlier hominoids and later hominins are somewhat disputed, but this is to be expected for any species thought to be close to the root of the hominin lineage.