The ontogeny of bipedalism: insights from trabecular changes during growth

The increase in architectural variables relative to age, is expected. BV/TV and E are at their lowest in the age class (1.1-3 years), which coincides with the developmental period when modern children begin walking unassisted.These preliminary results agree with a similar study on the radius [5]. Future analyses will include the external morphology and cortical bone thickness that will provide a more complete picture of talar development in humans. Following this, these results may then be extended to studies of non-human primates and fossil taxa, which could then ultimately be useful in identifying developmental milestones related to the evolutionary history of committed terrestrial bipedalism.