Arched Foot Bone Confirms Ancestral Evolution Theory

Human Evolution

A recent archeological find in Ethiopia appears to help confirm an evolutionary theory relating to our distant ancestors. The significance of the find is the curved shape of the foot bone, which indicates an arched foot. The arch is an important part of how humans walk upright.

The bone, found at a dig site in the Ethiopian rift valley near the village of Hadar, appears to be about 3.2 million years old and is from the species Australopithecus afarensis. This is the same human-like species of the famous “Lucy” skeleton found in the same area in 1974. The species is the first groups of our early ancestors which stood upright and eventually led to modern man.

Researchers previously had found evidence that “Lucy’s” species may have been able to walk upright like modern humans, but the recent find tells them more. “Lucy” had the same curve in her spine, and a similar alignment of her hip and knee joints as modern humans, indicative of an upright species.

The newly discovered foot bone now tells scientists how often the species was upright. The bone is the fourth metatarsal which is a key bone for supporting a modern arch. The find appears to confirm that the species walked upright as a common activity, like humans today.