The Ulas family, in southern Türkiye, is like no other. For the last two decades, some of its members have been quietly challenging just about every theory we have about evolution and genetics – and all despite being unable to read, write, or even talk easily with outsiders. Why? Because, unlike just about every human being on Earth, they aren’t bipedal. They walk on all fours – and scientists are kind of baffled as to why.
Why? Because, unlike just about every human being on Earth, they aren’t bipedal. They walk on all fours – and scientists are kind of baffled as to why.
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[Is it a case of backward evolution?]As beguiling as this idea of a chance look back into our collective ancestry is, there are a few… let’s say, gaping holes in the theory. So, let’s start with the most obvious: chimps and other apes don’t actually walk like that.
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“The interpretation that the members of this family are reflecting some sort of genetic throwback or some sort of ancestral situation – I don’t agree with that interpretation whatsoever,” evolutionary developmental biologist Sean Carroll, a Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Maryland, told PBS back in 2006….
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So, if not entirely genetic, what could make up the shortfall? What, in the end, is responsible for these siblings’ inability to walk on two feet?
