bipedalism

[ bahy-ped-l-iz-uhm ]

noun

1. the condition of being two-footed or of using two feet for standing and walking.

Word History and Origins

Origin of bipedalism¹

First recorded in 1905–10; bipedal + -ism

Example Sentences

He posited that humans evolved through natural selection, and that the first thing to develop was bipedalism; in other words, standing upright preceded brain development.

From New York Times

The ancestors of the Lufengpithecus did not move anything like this — their locomotion was more analogous to what we see today among gibbons in Asia — and humans developed their bipedalism afterward.

From Salon

"Our study points to a three-step evolution of human bipedalism," adds Terry Harrison, a New York University anthropologist and one of the paper's co-authors.

From Science Daily

In each chapter, we encounter what she calls an Eve, the earliest known creature that exhibited a certain trait, from live birth to bipedalism, from perception to menopause.

From Salon

The human lineage, through a succession of species, subsequently acquired key characteristics such as bipedalism, longer limbs and a larger brain.

From Reuters