Did a tiny bone let humans walk?

More than a third of humans have a tiny bone in their knee called the lateral fabella. This bone is the size of a sesame seed—in fact, the word fabella is Latin for “little bean.” Its purpose has puzzled scientists for a long time. Now researchers from King’s College London in the UK think it might have developed in order to help humans walk on two legs. Scientists studied 93 types of primates (group of mammals including lemurs, monkeys, and humans). They found that most primates have a lateral fabella, along with another small bone called the medial fabella. Humans, however, have only a lateral fabella. This arrangement of bones in early humans could have affected their evolution (process of changing slowly over time). Michael Berthaume, an engineer and anthropologist…

You're reading a preview of

The Week Junior US (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 238

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.