bipedal locomotion

Examples of bipedal locomotion in the following topics:

• Pelvic Structure and Childbearing

  • The human pelvis has evolved to be narrow enough for efficient upright locomotion, while still being wide enough to facilitate childbirth.
  • These changes in the pelvis enable bipedal locomotion, or upright walking.
  • Since the pelvis is vital for both efficient locomotion and childbirth, natural selection has been forced to strike a compromise between a wide pelvis to facilitate birthing large-brained infants and having a narrow pelvis to increase locomotive efficiency.
  • Thus, the female pelvis has evolved to be as wide as possible, to make childbirth easier, without becoming so wide as to make bipedal locomotion too inefficient .
  • Male pelves are not constrained by the issue of childbirth, and thus are narrower and more optimal for bipedal locomotion.

• Comparison of Female and Male Pelves

  • The female pelvis has evolved to its maximum width for childbirth and the male pelvis has been optimized for bipedal locomotion.
  • A wide pelvis is beneficial for child birth, however a narrow pelvis is beneficial for locomotion when walking upright.
  • In contrast, human male pelves are not constrained by the need to give birth and therefore are optimized for bipedal locomotion.

• Overview of the Musculoskeletal System

  • The musculoskeletal system is an organ system enabling an organism to move, support itself, and maintain stability during locomotion.
  • However, it is the skeletal muscle that is involved in body locomotion.

• Stability and Range of Motion at Synovial Joints

  • This characteristic allows tendons to passively modulate forces during locomotion, thus providing additional stability with no active work.

• Divisions of the Skeletal System: Axial and Appendicular

  • Functionally, it is involved in locomotion (lower limbs and pelvic girdle) of the axial skeleton and manipulation of objects in the environment (upper limbs and pectoral girdle) .

• Types of Muscle Tissue

  • Their function is to produce locomotion that is voluntary in nature.

• Tarsals, Metatarsals, and Phalanges (The Foot)

  • While sharing a similar underlying structure with the hand, the foot is visibly and structurally different to account for its greater load-bearing and locomotive duties, and reduced fine movements.

• Embryonic Development of the Brain

  • Neurons migrating with this mode of locomotion are bipolar and attach the leading edge of the process to the pia.
  • They do not resemble the cells migrating by locomotion or somal translocation.

• Development of Joints

  • These epiphyses assist in transmitting the weight of the human body and are the regions of the bone which is under pressure during movement or locomotion; hence, their name.

• Overview of the Appendicular Skeleton

  • Functionally, the appendicular skeleton is involved in locomotion (lower limbs) and manipulation of objects in the environment (upper limbs).