Mammals didn't walk upright until late—here's what fossils reveal

Mammals didn't walk upright until late—here's what fossils reveal

The shift from lizard-like sprawl to upright walking in mammals wasn’t a smooth climb up the evolutionary ladder. Instead, it was a messy saga full of unexpected detours. Using new bone-mapping tech, researchers discovered that early mammal ancestors explored wildly different postures before modern upright walking finally emerged—much later than once believed.