Walk This Way: How Neanderthals and Bipedalism Define Our Past

Last March, the University of Zurich (UZH) merged its four natural sciences museums – the Zoological Museum, the Paleontological Museum, the Museum of Anthropology and the Botanical Museum – into the Natural History Museum. After combining zoological and paleontological elements in a first step, the museum has now added anthropological exhibits to its permanent collection. The new exhibits aim to appeal to children as well as grown-ups interested in science.

In a newly designed section of the museum, visitors can experience a projection showing the impact of the ice ages on our planet’s landscapes and animals. During the last cold period, the European continent was inhabited by cave bears and cave lions, as well as woolly rhinoceroses. The exhibition sheds light on why these animals went extinct, while other species such as musk oxen and arctic foxes survived.

The museum’s main areas of focus include Neanderthals, symbolized by an individual dubbed Orsa. They emerged some 230,000 years ago, their fossils first discovered in the Neander Valley in Germany. Neanderthals also used to roam the area that is now Switzerland, as evidenced by an approx. 50,000-year-old incisor found in a cave in the canton of Jura. The Natural History Museum is now showcasing the life of Neanderthals in an updated digital ice age exhibit, expanded with new material on their closest relatives.

Various finds of human bones and skulls are helping us to gain a better understanding of humans’ closest ancestors. Scientists have developed several theories ever since the first Neanderthal remains were discovered in 1856. “The human family tree is becoming increasingly fuzzy. But one thing is crystal clear: a small part of modern-day humans’ DNA comes from Neanderthals,” says Isabel Klusman, director of the museum.

The permanent collection now also includes exhibits on the various forms of movement on two legs, or bipedalism. Ducks and penguins waddle, while kangaroos, jerboas and small birds such as sparrows hop. In contrast, chickens, pigeons and some pangolin species simply walk, whereas humans and ostriches can even run. “Bipedalism may be efficient, but it’s not very stable. This instability is cancelled out by movements of the head or by using the tail or the arms,” says Eveline Weissen, former head of the Museum of Anthropology at UZH.

Whether waddling, hopping or running, all ways of walking leave tracks that provide insights into the evolution of our particular forms of movement. At the Natural History Museum, visitors get to leave their very own traces or footprints on a specially designed floor.