Ardipithecus: Discovering Ardi: How Ardi Walked
Clues from Ardi's pelvis indicate she walked upright on two legs, not on four like chimpanzees.
Want to learn more about Ardi? Explore her world in the
Ardipithecus Handbook!
Discovering Ardi (22:29)
See how the scientists excavated Ardi and studied the bones.
(13:58)
Members of the Middle Awash research team who found "Ardi" share their insights about fieldwork, fossils and the study of hominid evolution.
(09:28)
Evolutionary biologist Owen Lovejoy provides deeper insights into how Ardipithecus profoundly affects the human evolutionary story.
Ardipithecus (03:32)
Clues from Ardi's pelvis indicate she walked upright on two legs, not on all four like chimpanzees.
Ardipithecus (02:06)
Physiological and anatomical data are combined with modern motion capture technology to create a digital model of a fully-formed Ardipithecus ramidus that moves through an ancient woodland meticulously recreated from intensive fieldwork and analysis.
Ardipithecus (03:11)
Because so much of Ardi's skeleton was preserved, a natural history artist could bring her bones to life within her lost world. See the results.
Ardipithecus (01:44)
Lucy was once the world's oldest hominid skeleton, but she was too evolved to shed light on earlier hominid evolution. But now "Ardi" is here.
Ardipithecus (03:59)
Using the most advanced motion capture technologies, the team at LifeMod works with Owen Lovejoy to recreate Ardi's movements.
Ardipithecus (03:49)
Scientists returned to the Ethiopian desert year after year to search for fossilized evidence of the plants and animals that lived with Ardi.
Ardipithecus (03:39)
Discover how scientists estimated the age of a skeleton so ancient that its bones no longer contain any material useful for dating.
Ardipithecus (01:30)
Owen points out how the male aggressive display in great apes differs profoundly from that seen in early hominids.
Ardipithecus (01:02)
Find out how scientists managed to safely free the fragile fossils from the sediment surrounding them.
Ardipithecus (01:11)
Human feet are very different from those of other primates. Ardi's foot had a big toe that could grasp as she climbed in the trees.
Ardipithecus (01:22)
Owen reminds us not to get too carried away with our genetic similarity with chimpanzees.
Ardipithecus (01:53)
Owen talks about the history of physical anthropology and contrasts anatomical and technological approaches and their results.Video features with more about the discovery and evolutionary importance of the skeleton of Ardipithecus.
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