1

The Thermoregulatory Hypothesis

The Thermoregulatory Hypothesis for Bipedalism

Kayla Martinez-Raymond
2

The Thermoregulatory Hypothesis

Imagine walking with your hands and feet every day for the rest of your life, difficult

right? Unlike how we move today, our hominid ancestors used to walk on all their limbs. While

advantageous for a period, there were various challenges arose from the environment that

became more demanding. With having these challenges comes adaptation, this adaptation is

known as Bipedalism. Bipedalism is a form of locomotion that refers to the ability to walk

upright on two limbs, rather than all fours. An outstanding question is why our ancestors needed

to move from four limbs to two, and what challenges contributed to shaping us how we are

today. One of the theories for the adaptation of bipedalism is called the thermoregulatory

hypothesis. By examining the evidence from sun exposure, increasing airflow surrounding the

body shows that the thermoregulatory hypothesis is most likely when compared to other theories

and hypotheses.

The thermoregulatory hypothesis is an explanation for bipedalism. This hypothesis argues that

bipedalism arose to increase the surface area of the body and decrease sun exposure which helps

regulate body temperature by dissipating heat though evaporated. For instance, Sun exposure

impacted hominids by causing them to overheat, become dehydrated, and damage their skin and

bodies. Additionally, by increasing the distance from the body to the ground bipedalism would

allow for greater air convection and further dissipation of heat. With the hominids adapting to

walking and having less sun exposure, this decreases their chances of getting dehydrated and not

overheating. This indicates that the hypothesis is most likely the favorable way of bipedalism,

The evidence such as humans we don’t get as dehydrated, overheat, and have the sun affect our
3

The Thermoregulatory Hypothesis

bodies when we walk on our two feet, if humans walk in the savanna in 100-degree weather and

are moving around on all fours in the hot sun, it would cause the body to overheat and be

dehydrated. Our hominid ancestors adapted, and walking would make it easier for them to

regulate their body temperature.

Another way that the hypothesis shows that it’s the favorable way of bipedalism, is that by being

in a bipedal position our hominid ancestors had exposure to air low. By walking upright, it lifts

the body into a slightly cooler air zone, just like the higher up you in altitude the colder it gets.

This also helps their bodies be exposed to wind and air circulation that can benefit them by

helping their body cool off. Wind speeds are higher and air temperatures lower the farther away

from the ground. This is a way where it’s easier to dissipate heat by convection. Having airflow

and low humidity increases the rate at which sweat can be evaporated from the skin and be able

to cool the body off. In the present day, if we work out and sweat and when our body cools

down, or if we get cold or chills. That’s the sweat being evaporated to cool our bodies down.

Additionally, over time our ancestor hominids learned how to adapt to these conditions and to be

able to continue in survival. This indicates that the factors contributed to having an upright

posture help them manage their body temperature to stay cool during the heat of the day, wind,

and air circulation to help them with cooling their bodies, with a slightly lower air temperature.

These factors imply that the thermoregulatory hypothesis is most likely correct. Many explorers

and anthropologists have found different theories and hypotheses on why our ancestral hominids
4

The Thermoregulatory Hypothesis

became bipedal. One of the hypotheses is called the postural feeding hypothesis. This hypothesis

is created by Kevin Hunt. His theory states that feeding habits are associated with bipedalism. In

theory, this does not prove the reasoning for upright posture in our hominid ancestors. In his

theory, he states that the reason why our hominid ancestors became bipedal and started upright

walking is to be able to collect fruits from trees and while some of our ancestors’ adapted traits

and continued to use them. But for this theory to explain bipedalism it would have to account for

hominid’s ability to balance upright in trees and how some hominids didn’t develop bipedalism

in the same environment. Many other ancestor hominids still have those traits even in different

areas of environments, some in absence of trees would not adapt this trait. The critiques of this

theory just slowly indicate an extraordinary change in our ancestors but not the favorable reason

for bipedalism.

Lastly, there are many different types of hypotheses for why our hominid ancestors became

bipedal. Even though the thermoregulatory hypothesis is most likely the reason for bipedalism.

Some hypotheses that come close, like the provisioning hypothesis. This hypothesis was made

by anthropologist Owen Lovejoy. He argues that early humans became bipedal and evolved by

the male human fathers caring foods and resources to their female partners. Typically, ape

mothers take months or years to provide for just one single offspring before it could fend for

itself. By the male providing for the mother, it allows her to be able to take care of a single

offspring or multiple at a time. This hypothesis would reduce birth spacing and increase the

overall number of offspring a female produces in a lifetime. This demonstrates that bipedalism is
5

The Thermoregulatory Hypothesis

only being adapted for the males, however, this does not validate that the hypothesis is most

likely. It does show that females adapted bipedally. The provisioning hypothesis shows a way of

reproduction and a source of resources for hominid’s survival but doesn't show bipedalism in

how it evolved for both sexes to be able to walk.

As the above demonstrates, there are many explanations for bipedalism. While they may

partially explain the reason for bipedalism. They cannot explain discrepancies in the evidence.

For example, how are female ancestral hominids develop bipedalism if males were the only ones

expected to require this adaptation, or if ancestor hominids were able to develop bipedalism to

access food from trees and how some hominids didn’t adapt bipedalism in the same

environments, without access to trees. The thermoregulatory hypothesis explains with fewer

discrepancies how our ancestral hominids adapted bipedalism. It shows that with reduced sun

exposure and exposure to larger airflow that bipedalism was adapted. Hominids adapted because

the sun exposure made it difficult for them to be hydrated and regulate temperature more

efficiently. In conclusion, the thermoregulatory hypothesis is most likely the reason for

bipedalism.
6

The Thermoregulatory Hypothesis

Work Cited

Wheeler, P. E. (1991). The thermoregulatory advantages of hominid bipedalism in open equatorial

environments: the contribution of increased convective heat loss and cutaneous evaporative

cooling. Journal of Human Evolution, 21(2), 107-115.

Wheeler, P. E. (1984). The evolution of bipedality and loss of functional body hair in hominids. Journal of

Human Evolution, 13(1), 91-98.

Soluri, K. E., & Agarwal, S. C. (2020). Page 404. In Laboratory manual and Workbook for biological
anthropology: Engaging with human evolution. essay, W.W. Norton & Company. 
7

The Thermoregulatory Hypothesis