Scientists first took up the study of the internal structure of the calcaneus our distant ancestor - Australopithecus African. It turned out that the bone is close to the bone gorillas than to the seemingly our closest relative - the chimpanzee.
Information about this discovery published in Journal of Human Evolution magazine. The bone was found on the territory of the monument "Cradle of Mankind", which is in the South African Republic. It was found that in terms of structural strength and joint mobility, Australopithecus calcaneus closer to the same bones of gorillas. This discovery was unexpected to scientists, because in terms of the external anatomy of the bones, the similarity observed with the chimpanzee bones.
The similarity with the human gorilla got even more.
As pointed out by anthropologists, the internal structure of the bone indicates greater than inborn traits, and formed in the course of life properties. According to these scientists, it is a testament to the lifestyle that led the australopithecines and gorillas. If chimps spent most of their time on the tree branches than on the ground, the gorillas and the australopithecines preferred terrestrial life.
African australopithecines - our ancestors.
Last year, scientists discovered that the last ancestor that was common both for people and for the monkeys had more in common with chimpanzees and gorillas than with people, as indicated by the evolution of the blade. The changes that have occurred to its shape, Australopithecus gave the opportunity to deal with the stone tools, and this happened even before they finally moved from the trees to the ground. Evolution blades are also allowed to throw sticks and stones quickly and accurately, which became an important stage in human evolution.
As much as it may sound funny, but the ability to throw stones, sticks and spears was a big breakthrough in the history of mankind than the development of astronautics.