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How Humans Became Upright: Key Changes to Our Pelvis Found
Researchers identified two genetic changes reshaping the pelvis that enabled efficient upright walking and childbirth of large-brained infants, a key step in human evolution, study finds.
- On August 27th, 2025, a Harvard-led study published in Nature revealed two key genetic shifts that remodeled the pelvis and enabled upright walking in early hominins by analyzing embryonic tissues.
- Capellini and colleagues show that two developmental innovations reshaped the ilium: a 90-degree reorientation of the growth plate and delayed ossification at 24 weeks after gestation.
- The team traced changes to the genome using 128 embryonic tissue samples, identifying over 300 genes including SOX9, PTH1R, and RUNX2; Gayani Senevirathne said, `We didn't find a single 'bipedalism gene.'`
- Researchers note that the remodeled pelvis enabled efficient upright walking, freeing hands for tool use and carrying while retaining a birth canal shape for big-brained babies.
- Evidence from Ardipithecus ramidus and Australopithecus afarensis indicates pelvic changes began between 5 and 8 million years ago, with the oldest pelvic fossil about 4.4 million years old.
12 Articles
12 Articles
How the pelvis changed shape to help humans walk upright
Human pelvis from the anthropological collections of the Department of Biology and Environmental Studies of Charles University, Czech Republic. Credit: MAKY.OREL (CC0 1.0) A new study in Nature has revealed the key genetic and developmental shifts which reshaped the pelvises of our early hominin ancestors to make bipedalism possible. Unlike other primates, humans permanently walk around on 2 legs. It was the evolution of this type of locomotion …
Scientists find 2 key genetic shifts behind human walking | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
WASHINGTON >> Bipedal locomotion — walking upright on two legs — is a fundamental trait underpinning humankind’s success. Scientists have now identified two innovations that occurred long ago in the human evolutionary lineage that reshaped the pelvis and helped facilitate this defining characteristic.
Solving evolutionary mystery of how humans came to walk upright — Harvard Gazette
Science & Tech Solving evolutionary mystery of how humans came to walk upright Gayani Senevirathne (left) holds the shorter, wider human pelvis, which evolved from the longer upper hipbones of primates, which Terence Capellini is displaying. Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer Kermit Pattison Harvard Staff Writer August 27, 2025 6 min read New study identifies genetic, developmental shifts that re…
Colorado Springs Gazette
Two evolutionary changes underpinning human bipedalism are discovered
By Will Dunham
How humans became upright: key changes to our pelvis found
Genetic and anatomical data reveal how the human pelvis acquired its unique shape, enabling our ancestors to walk on two legs. Genetic and anatomical data reveal how the human pelvis acquired its unique shape, enabling our ancestors to walk on two legs.
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