The researchers analyzed the fossilized footprints of ancient people.
Scientists said that the first representatives of the genus Homo had the same gait and manner of walking, as well as their modern descendants. In the study, scientists examined the fossilized remains of ancient humans that have been discovered in Kenya, according to a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports.
The first ancestors of modern man, Homo erectus, appeared in the East and southern Africa about 1.8 – 2 million years ago. To date, scientists had no evidence that they moved in the same way as modern people and not combined the manner of motion of the Australopithecus and the genus Homo.
Now, researchers have analyzed samples of sedimentary rock that was formed 1.5 million years ago and which left traces of adult representatives of Homo erectus. The researchers were able to discover hundreds of tracks 20 different people, which allowed them not only to establish the peculiarities of their gait, but also to reveal some details of their social lives and define their size and mass. In particular, the traces indicated that the group included both males and females, indicating the absence of same-sex harems in the community of Homo erectus.
The mass of these ancient people was about 49 pounds. Previously, archaeologists have discovered a previously unknown species of ancient human. Found, the species called Homo naledi – the word “star” in the local language Sesotho. The brain of Homo naledi was the size of a large orange, they had a slim body, the shoulders similar to the shoulders of modern apes, and feet that resemble the structure of the foot of modern man. The rise of Homo naledi was about 150 centimeters and a weight of approximately 45 kgs.
