The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy [IEP] Scirus - for scientific information. Human Evolution. "I didn't buy it at all," Bramble says.
Like most of his peers, Bramble's first reaction to Carrier's hypothesis was that "humans are pitifully slow. " From the perspective of a vertebrate morphologist, humans lack one of the most obvious features of animals adapted for serious speed: a tail. In creatures that cover ground bipedally, such as kangaroos, kangaroo rats, and roadrunners, "the tail is the major balance organ," Bramble says. "In the whole history of vertebrates on Earth—the whole history—humans are the only striding biped that's a runner that's tailless. "