Early hominid first walked on 2 legs in the woods

		IMAGE: Carbon isotope analyses conducted by University of Illinois anthropology professor Stanley Ambrose indicated that Ardipithecus ramidus was a woodland creature whose diet resembled those of modern baboons and chimpanzees.... Click here for more information.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. – Among the many surprises associated with the discovery of the oldest known, nearly complete skeleton of a hominid is the finding that this species took its first steps toward bipedalism not on the open, grassy savanna, as generations of scientists – going back to Charles Darwin – hypothesized, but in a wooded landscape.