Special issue: Australopithecus sediba --- Computer Animation of the Walking Mechanics of Australopithecus sediba

Abstract

Bipedal locomotion is one of the defining features of hominins—the lineage consisting of human ancestors and extinct relatives. Fossilized bones of the foot, leg, and pelvis, together with preserved footprints, demonstrate that the early hominin genus Australopithecus was an obligate biped. However, recent fossil discoveries indicate that there was bipedal diversity in Australopithecus, with different species walking in biomechanically distinct ways. One such hominin, Australopithecus sediba—a nearly 2 million-year-old species discovered in South Africa in 2008—possessed anatomies of the foot, ankle, knee, and pelvis that are consistent with a hyperpronatory gait. Though this hypothesis was published in 2013, it has remained a difficult bipedal motion to visualize and com-municate to colleagues and the general public alike. Using a 3D surface scan of the partial skeleton of Au. sedibaas a template and rigging the model in Autodesk Maya, a digital animation of the proposed walking mechanics in this ancient human relative is presented here. It is partially from this visualized form of walking that predictions can be generated to continue to test the hyperpronation hypothesis. This special issue is guest-edited by Jeremy M. DeSilva (Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College) and Scott A. Williams (Department of Anthropology, New York University). This is article #9 of 9.