ABSTRACTS
Andrea Reitan and Carol Adams
One of the main foci of paleoanthropological research is the supposed evolution of bipedalism, dealing with two-legged locomotion. Evolutionists face the task of explaining all the anatomical particulars that God created for humans to walk and run in the unique way that we do. Numerous studies have compared the human bipedal gait to that of extant apes, all under the assumption that humans and apes evolved from a common ancestor. Australopithecus afarensis is currently represented by some of the most complete skeletal remains among extinct apes and ape-like remains, making it the favorite for studying the evolution of bipedalism. A few three-dimensional muscle reconstruction models have been published in this regard. Some recent studies acknowledge that A. afarensis would have walked with a gait different from humans but still assume obligate bipedalism. This study explains how the lower extremity muscle and ligament attachments work with the osseous (bony) morphology to produce the human gait and contrasts this with the anatomy of extant apes and the available data for A. afarensis, with the goal of inferring the extinct hominin’s mode of locomotion. This introduction includes foundational anatomical terms, explains the gait cycle, and then focuses on the pelvis. The second part will focus on the leg and knee, and the third and final part will focus on the foot. It is concluded that the gait of A. afarensis closely resembled that of modern apes, not humans. These results confront the assumption of human evolution that pervades this field and conforms to the Biblical model of created kinds