Relationship between trackmakers of the Laetoli footprints from gait synchronization.

ABSTRACT: The parallel trails of footprints at Laetoli site G are important fossils for studying the characteristics of Australopithecus afarensis. However, the relationship between the trackmakers - i.e. whether it was that of an adult male-female pair or of parent-offspring - remains unclear. The footprints show that the two individuals walked side by side with a narrow and constant distance between them and synchronized their leg movements and step lengths (gait synchronization), although they had a large height difference. In this study, live camera videos were collected to obtain data on gait synchronization in Homo sapiens, the closest extant species to A. afarensis. The data showed that when two humans with a large height difference walked alongside each other, with (at l

SUBMITTER: Nakahashi W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12034493 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature