1.5 million years ago somebody "was here"
if that foot print could talk, what would it say?
[p class="first"]
The earliest footprints showing evidence of modern human foot anatomy and gait have been unearthed in Kenya. [/p]The 1.5-million-year-old footprints display signs of a pronounced arch and short, aligned toes, in contrast to older footprints. [/p]The size and spacing of the Kenyan markings - attributed to Homo erectus - reflect the height, weight, and walking style of modern humans. [/p]The findings have been published in the journal Science. [!-- E SF --][/p]The footprints are not the oldest belonging to a member of the human lineage. That title belongs to the 3.7 million-year-old
Australopithecus afarensis prints found in Laetoli, Tanzania, in 1978. [/p]Those prints, however, showed comparatively flat feet and a significantly higher angle between the big toe and the other toes, representative of a foot still adapted to grasping. [/p]Exactly how that more ape-like foot developed into its modern version has remained unclear. [/p]The fossil record is distinctly lacking in foot and hand bones, according to lead author Matthew Bennett of Bournemouth University, UK. [/p]"The reason is that carnivores like to eat hands and feet," Professor Bennett told BBC News. [/p]"Once the flesh is gone there's a lot of little bones that don't get preserved, so we know very little about the evolution of hands and feet on our ancestors."
[a href="vny!://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7913375.stm"]vny!://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7913375.stm[/a]
