Read on Twitter
You can tell by the way I use my walk
I'm a busy bear
No time to talk https://twitter.com/Pandamoanimum/status/1178384680523051009
I'm a busy bear
No time to talk https://twitter.com/Pandamoanimum/status/1178384680523051009
If you've ever wondered why bears walking on their hind legs look so eerily like humans wearing furry suits, there's an interesting anatomical explanation.
Most domesticated animals that walk on all fours have hind legs and feet are configured very differently than ours.
In general, their equivalent of our heel bone (the calcaneous) is off the ground and oriented to point up and back at an angle (which, when combined with other features, provides various biomechanical advantages for species that walk on all fours)
Some animals (notably cats and dogs) have what's called a digitigrade stance, walking on their toes/phalanges (equivalent to our ball of the foot forward).
Others, such as horses, cows and sheep, have what's called an ungligrade stance, which basically means they stand on their tippy toes / distal phalanx (in horses, they literally walk on the tip of one digit).
Which brings us back to bears (and humans). Both use what's called a plantigrade stance, and walk on all the bones from the tips of the toes (phalanges) to the heel (calcaneus).
This also happens to be the stance most suited for walking upright.
This also happens to be the stance most suited for walking upright.
I now present you with this cursed image by @satoshikawasaki, who has apparently carved out a living drawing eldritch abominations of humans anatomically proportioned as various other species. Check out his profile (but be prepared to have nightmares for a month).
