Umberger awarded $594k to study evolution of human locomotion

Brian Umberger, assistant professor of Kinesiology, has received a five-year, $593,504 National Science Foundation grant to study morphological and energetic factors in the evolution of human locomotion.

Habitual upright bipedalism — walking exclusively on two straight legs — is one of the key evolutionary adaptations that sets modern humans apart from other primates like chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. In the project, Umberger will use detailed computer simulation models of modern humans, chimpanzees, and extinct human ancestors to better understand the energetic consequences of specific evolutionary adaptations in the structure of the bones and muscles in the legs. This should lead to a better understanding of the transition from four-legged to two-legged locomotion in early human ancestors.

Umberger is collaborating with researchers from Stony Brook University in New York on the study.

October 6, 2009.

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