The Benefits of Bipedalism

The Benefits of Bipedalism

The ability of using your legs for moving around is what is called bipedalism. Hence, all organisms that are said to be bipedal can stand on the feet and easily move around. Aside from humans, there are other bipedal creatures in the world such as ostriches. In general, bipedalism is believed to offer much more benefits, particularly when compared with quadruped creatures. Learn the top benefits of bipedalism here below.

1. Better diet

With the ability of standing upright, bipedalism offers a wide variety of choices with regards to the diet. For instance, humans are able to select the most appropriate and healthy food from stores as they are bipedal. In addition, a healthier food choice leads to much healthier offspring. The healthy diet that bipedal creatures get increases their potential of healthy development and living long lives.

2. Evade predators

All creatures that use two legs for moving around have the ability of standing upright. This usually enhances the view of the surrounding environment, since they can easily see far distances. Hence, such creatures are able to identify any threat from afar, and this allows them to plan the appropriate course of action.

3. Increases survival potential

Since bipedalism allows creatures to stand and easily view their surrounding environment, they are capable of locating food quickly. They can also transport the acquired food using their hands or forelimbs over long distance. The same action is very challenging for any quadruped animal. Hence, bipedalism results in an increased survival potential.

4. Free forelimbs

Besides using forelimbs for carrying food, bipedalism also allows the creatures to use these forelimbs for numerous other functions. In primates, forelimbs are largely used for burrowing, in birds for flying and in other animals for manipulating their surroundings. In humans, forelimbs assist in handling of tools properly.

Nevertheless, there are issues that come up in bipedalism. The main issues are back problems that are caused by lifting of heavy things and also fatigue because of carrying the whole body weight on two feet.

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