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Hi! I'm Delaney Edwards and I am very excited about what this class has in store!

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The obturator externus groove and bipedality

There are several indicators of bipedality in modern humans and their ancestors, some of which are not easily noticed or known by those who are not experts in the field.  The obturator externus groove is one of these features. This groove is located on the back of the femoral neck and serves as an attachment area for the obturator externus tendon, which runs from the back of the thigh to the front of the pelvis. The o bturator externus serves as a flexor and external rotator of the thigh, shortening the distance between the pelvis and the femur, which helps to steady the hip joint.  In bipeds, this tendon creates a groove by applying pressure to the back of the femoral neck as a result of frequent full extension of the femur. As pressure is placed onto the neck of the femur, the bone remodels itself to accommodate the tendon.  Apes are naturally knucklewalkers but sometimes use bipedal locomotion. Even so, there is little to no pressure produced on the femur from this t...
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If humans evolved from chimps, why are there still chimps?

If humans evolved from chimps, then why are there still chimps? Many people think that this is a dumb question, but it is not, it is actually very valid. This is a question that science has not yet come up with a concrete answer for.  The first thing we must address is the fact that we did not actually evolve from chimpanzees. Humans and chimpanzees both evolved from a common ancestor, so instead of chimps being the "mothers" of humankind so to speak, they are more like cousins to humans. We are closely related, yes, but we have actually been on separate evolutionary paths for around six million years, give or take. Unfortunately, we do not have much information at all on our common ancestor, as fossils have yet to be found. Hopefully, this will change and we will be able to put a face to our ancestor, but for now, we must work with the fossils of early hominids as well as chimpanzee and human DNA.  Although we did not evolve from chimps, the question still remains: why did w...
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Understanding Ardipithecus ramidus

The analysis of Ardipithecus ramidus has produced a plethora of new information about the lifestyle of early hominids. For example, scientists have noticed that the anatomy of Ardipithecus ramidus  suggests that the last common ancestors of humans and African apes were not as similar to chimpanzees as most people have previously thought. In the paper, Ardipithecus ramidus and the Paleobiology of Early Hominids, White et al. state that "most aspects of the craniofacial structure of Sahelanthropus/Ardipithecus are probably close to the African ape and hominid ancestral state." We also know that Ardipithecus was most likely an omnivore. The dentition shows no strong signs of "ripe-fruit frugivory, folivory-herbivory, or feeding on hard objects...wear patterns suggest that its diet was not particularly abrasive but may have included some hard foods." This nutritional pattern can also indicate what type of locomotion was most commonly used, as some foods are more commonl...
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