The role of running in human evolution

Kellie Bartlett

A glance at the November 18 issue of Nature: The role of running in human evolution

The human ability to run long distances may be more than a side effect of adaptations for walking, two scholars say. It may have been a major factor in shaping how the species evolved.

Human beings are the only primates capable of long-distance running, write Dennis M. Bramble, a professor of biology at the University of Utah, and Daniel E. Lieberman, a professor of biological anthropology