Première publication : septembre 1988, mise en ligne : dimanche 15 juin 2003, Michel Raynal

 The theory of which François de SARRE comments at greater length in the present issue of BIPEDIA is quite revolutionary, as it is the most logical one, yet it is in contradiction with the commonly accepted ideas about human evolution !

 The official theory on human origins is based on very rare palaeontological data, and numerous problems risen from other sciences such as comparative anatomy, embryology, genetics, etc., are not known to the specialists in palaeontology, or they are forgotten, or just ruled out as too embarrassing. It should be clear however, for everybody, that evolutionary biology will be understood and explained only through an interdisciplinary research : as fossilization is an highly unlikely process, palaeontological data will be always uncomplete.

 Above all, a "free-thinking spirit", without any received idea, is necessary in science, particularly for the study of our origin ; but can it be possible when so many psychological, philosophical, metaphysical problems are involved - that is, when so many emotional criteria ( not objective, scientific ones ) are at work ?

 With regards to early bipedalism itself, decoding man’s and apes’ DNA may provide new evidence for this theory : recent studies on mitochondrial DNA are indeed strongly suggestive of an early bipedalim... Another possible "field" of research might come from a reappraisal of the human-like footprints found in Tertiary or even Secondary layers. Though some of them have turned out to have been made by a Megatherium, a new study of the whole file would be welcome...