Can Lucy's Inner Ear Tell us How She Walked?

Did Australopithecines walk upright? Some people claim that their inner ear would have prevented them from doing so. In this video, we take a deep dive into the inner ear and how it impacts the way we walk
#creation #evolution #humanevolution #australopithecus #bible
*Correction: Around 6:30 I said “body size” when I mean “body mass”, a related but distinct variable
Sources:
Alemseged, Z., et al. 2006. A juvenile early hominin skeleton from Dikika, Ethiopia. Nature, 443, pp. 296-301.
Beaudet, A., et al. 2019. The bony labyrinth of StW 573 (“Little Foot”): Implications for early hominin evolution and paleobiology. Journal of Human Evolution, 127, pp. 67-80.
Ekdale, E. 2016. Form and function of the mammalian inner ear. Journal of Anatomy, 228, pp. 324-337.
Graf, W., Vidal, P. 1996. Semicircular canal size and upright stance are not interrelated. Journal of Human Evolution, 30, pp. 175-181.
Malinzak, M. 2010. Experimental Analyses of the Relationship Between Semicircular Canal Morphology and Locomotor Head Rotations in Primates. Doctoral dissertation, Duke University.
Morimoto, N., et al. 2020. Variation of bony labyrinthine morphology in Mio−Plio−Pleistocene and modern anthropoids. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 173, pp. 276-292.
Spoor, F., Wood, B., Zonneveld, F. 1994. Implications of early hominid labyrinthine morphology for evolution of human bipedal locomotion. Nature, 369, pp. 645-648.
Spoor, F., et al. 2007. The primate semicircular canal system and locomotion. PNAS, 104 (26) 10808-10812.
Urcicuoli, A., et al. 2020. The evolution of the vestibular apparatus in apes and humans. eLife, 9:e51261.
Three-Dimensional Model of StW 573 Inner Ear:
Amelie Beaudet, Evolutionary Studies Institute, “Media 000068769: Inner Ear”, www.morphosource.org/concern/...

[@tamjammy4461]

Ta Peter. I've never really looked into studies on the inner ear before so particular thanks for providing some references. My initial thoughts on viewing this is that it would seem strange to me if people were claiming that the inner ear should outweigh the other evidence ( position of foramen magnum and post cranial adaptations) for bipedalism in Australopithecines. I do intend to look at the research over the next few days though , so perhaps I'll be surprised. Anyway, glad you've sparked my interest in it. Ta again.

[@bendawson346]

Fantastic video! You're a brilliant communicator of very interesting subjects.

[@NewCreationClips]

Thanks so much for watching, I'm glad you enjoyed.

[@CheriFields]

I got dizzy looking down with you! But I enjoyed the live footage elements a lot otherwise. I’d never thought about the differences between our inner ear and an apes. This was good to learn about even if it leaves things vague about origins.

[@NewCreationClips]

It was a little difficult trying to do the ropes course and hold the camera lol! Glad you learned something, thanks for watching.

[@garrettbrown775]

The scientific consensus is that Australopiths were bipedal. They literally couldn't have been quadrupedal.

[@NewCreationClips]

I agree, they were habitually bipedal

[@Mr.Hister]

Except there is no inner ear fossil so do some better research

[@NewCreationClips]

Well, the inner ear itself does not fossilize, but the cavity in the skull can tell us the shape of the structure. We do not have Lucy's inner ear, but we do have quite a few from other hominin fossils. You can check out 3D scans of Little Foot's inner ear on Morpohsource.

[@Mr.Hister]

@@NewCreationClips no the ear has three bones capable to fossilize … so get bent . Lucy didn’t have any of these . Stfu and stop spreading lies.

[@Mr.Hister]

@@NewCreationClips from the “lucy fossils” all which are partial and highly speculative and reconstructed many found miles apart .

[@shootingblueyes]

I want to see you get an education and then come back and react to your own videos.

[@NewCreationClips]

Well, good news for you! I am studying biology in college.