Visualization of a Juvenile Australopithecus afarensis Specimen: Implications for Functional Foot Anatomy

Abstract

Since it was named in 1978, analyses of Australopithecus afarensis have culminated in several dominant theories on how humans acquired many of their unique adaptations. Because bipedal locomotion is one of the earliest characteristics of human functional anatomy to appear in the fossil record, its associated anatomy in early hominins has significant implications for human evolution (Stern, 2000). The skeleton and overall morphological characteristics of the foot in Australopithecus afarensis provide important clues about the origins of upright bipedal locomotion.