Editing Bipedalism (section)

===Thermoregulatory model===
The thermoregulatory model explaining the origin of bipedalism is one of the simplest theories so far advanced, but it is a viable explanation. Dr. Peter Wheeler, a professor of evolutionary biology, proposes that bipedalism raises the amount of body surface area higher above the ground which results in a reduction in heat gain and helps heat dissipation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wheeler |first=P. E. |year=1984 |title=The evolution of bipedality and loss of functional body hair in hominids |journal=J. Hum. Evol. |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=91–98 |doi=10.1016/s0047-2484(84)80079-2 |bibcode=1984JHumE..13...91W }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wheeler |first=P. E. |year=1990 |title=The influence of thermoregulatory selection pressures on hominid evolution. |journal=Behav. Brain Sci. |volume=13 |issue=2 |page=366 |doi=10.1017/s0140525x00079218|s2cid=147314740 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wheeler |first1=P.E. |year=1991 |title=The influence of bipedalism on the energy and water budgets of early hominids |journal=J. Hum. Evol. |volume=21 |issue=2| pages=117–136 |doi=10.1016/0047-2484(91)90003-e|bibcode=1991JHumE..21..117W }}</ref> When a hominid is higher above the ground, the organism accesses more favorable wind speeds and temperatures. During heat seasons, greater wind flow results in a higher heat loss, which makes the organism more comfortable. Also, Wheeler explains that a vertical posture minimizes the direct exposure to the sun whereas quadrupedalism exposes more of the body to direct exposure. Analysis and interpretations of [[Ardipithecus]] reveal that this hypothesis needs modification to consider that the [[forest]] and [[woodland]] environmental [[preadaptation]] of early-stage [[hominid]] bipedalism preceded further refinement of bipedalism by the pressure of [[natural selection]]. This then allowed for the more efficient exploitation of the hotter conditions [[ecological niche]], rather than the hotter conditions being hypothetically bipedalism's initial stimulus. A feedback mechanism from the advantages of bipedality in hot and open habitats would then in turn make a forest preadaptation solidify as a permanent state.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=David-Barrett |first1=T. |last2=Dunbar |first2=R. |year=2016 |title=Bipedality and hair loss in human evolution revisited: The impact of altitude and activity scheduling |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.02.006 |journal=J. Hum. Evol. |volume=94 |pages=72–82 |pmid=27178459 |pmc=4874949|bibcode=2016JHumE..94...72D }}</ref>