Orrorin

Orrorin is an extinct hominin genus from the Miocene of Kenya, known from fossils assigned to the species Orrorin tugenensis. Its leg-bone anatomy has been interpreted as evidence of early bipedal walking.

Orrorin tugenensis: An extinct hominin species from Kenya, represented by fossils dating to about six million years ago. All known Orrorin fossils are assigned to this species.
Bipedalism: Locomotion using two legs as the primary means of moving on the ground. Orrorin’s upper femur has features interpreted as adaptations for upright walking.
Brigitte Senut: A French paleoanthropologist whose research focuses on primate and hominin evolution. Senut co-led the team that announced Orrorin in 2001.
Ardipithecus: An extinct hominin genus from Ethiopia, including species dating to roughly 5.8–4.4 million years ago. Its younger fossils provide another early, anatomically debated case of bipedalism.
Hominini: The primate tribe comprising humans and extinct species more closely related to humans than to chimpanzees. Orrorin is classified within the human lineage after its divergence from the chimpanzee lineage.
Femur: The thigh bone, extending from the hip to the knee in vertebrates. Orrorin’s femoral anatomy supplies its strongest evidence for habitual bipedalism.
Martin Pickford: A British paleoanthropologist known for fieldwork on African fossil primates and hominins. Pickford co-led the discovery team and helped describe Orrorin.
Sahelanthropus: An extinct hominin genus known chiefly from fossils found in Chad and dated to about seven million years ago. It may be older than Orrorin, but its status and locomotion remain disputed.
Miocene: A geological epoch lasting from about 23 million to 5.3 million years ago. Orrorin lived near the end of this epoch.
Femoral neck: The narrowed part of the femur connecting its head to the shaft. Its thickness and structure in Orrorin are central to arguments about weight-bearing locomotion.

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GraecopithecusCompared with: Its African fossils provide a competing candidate for an early human-lineage member.