Wildlife: Baboons can quickly switch from four feet to two, say scientists

Baboons usually walk on four legs

If you've ever seen a picture of a baboon it would usually be walking on four feet.

Now scientists have found that, although the primates are four-footed, they can effortlessly switch to walking on two feet without slowing down.

By studying this further, researchers were also able to work out what mechanism they used to do this.

Being able to walk upright on two feet, called bipedalism, is often seen as one of humanity's most defining characteristics.

But researchers on the study, published in the journal Journal of Experimental Biology, say this shows it's not actually such a big deal.

The baboon used its hind legs to move into an upright position

"A few decades ago, we thought that we are the only bipeds and therefore it is something really, really special," said study author Kris D'Aout, of the University of Liverpool.

But Kris says this study shows that it is actually quite feasible to be able to transition from all fours to two feet - you don't have to slow down."

The researchers filmed ten olive baboons of different ages for the study.

Using music, food, and mirrors they encouraged the baboons to walk upright so they could film the movement.

They then analysed the videos to see how the primates moved themselves into an upright position in less than a second.

They discovered the baboons crouched their hind limbs and sprinted them forward under the torso while taking two or three steps, lifting the body upright as they stood up to walk.

The scientists also found the animals didn't use any more energy when moving from four legs to two.

Lead author Peter Aerts, from the University of Antwerp in Belgium, claims the study showed that many primates had a natural ability to walk on two legs.