New Scientist
Image: Jonas Lauströer (HAW Hamburg), Amir Andikfar (HAW Hamburg), John Nyakatura (HU Berlin), Kamilo Melo (EPFL Lausanne)
A robotic version of a creature that lived about 290 million years ago may lead us to rethink an important evolutionary event in our past. It suggests animals with four legs could have gained advanced walking skills before they had fully turned their backs on life in water.
Some reptiles and amphibians look superficially similar when they walk, because their legs are sprawled out on either side of the body. In detail, though, amphibians tend to move inefficiently with their legs held mostly horizontal and their bellies very close to the ground. Many reptiles, in contrast, hold their legs a little more vertically and raise their bellies further off the ground for a more energy efficient walking style.
John Nyakatura at the Humboldt University of Berlin and his colleagues may have helped pin down when this change occurred. They have studied an ancient animal called Orobates that, in evolutionary terms, lies on a branch between the amphibians and the reptiles. It may even have had to return to water to lay its eggs as almost all amphibians still do, meaning it may not have been completely adapted to life on land. Read more on newscientist.com…
