On Evolution and Development of Human Gait

Human bipedal locomotion is a very complex behavior. The evolution of upright posture and obligate bipedal gait—a central event in the evolution of humankind—took several millions of years and its incentives are still (and surely will be in the future) a subject of scientific debate. Some of the evolutionary milestones are still recognizable in the development of mature gait in toddlers. To provide an overview on evolution and development of human gait, this chapter starts off with a short description of modern human gait modalities—walking, running, and, (arguably) skipping. The broad topic of evolution of human locomotion is first approached by a comparison of the musculoskeletal anatomy of the humans and extant apes. The positive and negative aspects of bipedalism are then tackled, followed by an overview of existing theories on human evolution and theories on evolution of human bipedalism. The chapter finishes off by describing the development of mature gait in toddlers, an amazing chapter in human life in which we could argue that ‘ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny’—the development of the species is reflected in the development of a single person.