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The story of bipedalism begins with our oldest upright walking human relatives

A big difference between humans and other apes is the ability to stride easily around on two feet, with our bodies vertical. Now, a new analysis of some fossil bones shows that adaptations for bipedal walking may go back 7 million years in the human family tree.

NPR’s Nell Greenfieldboyce reports.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2026 WBUR

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