Worth noting that humans are good distance runners too, if not very fast compared to most mammals. Plantigrade animals (foot on the ground) don’t tend to be as fast or quiet, but it can provide good stability- quite a few plantigrade animals climb, use their front limbs for manipulation, or stand on two legs at least some of the time. The joint half way down the hind leg is more equivalent to an ankle, the lower leg is made of the equivalent to foot bones, and they walk on their toes or toe-tip.Īs for advantages, walking on toes tends to be faster and quieter, and those animals seem to get more leverage from their “backward” bending legs, which effectively gives them another joint for forward motion by lifting the heel up off the ground and incorporating it into the leg’s motion. So animals with “backwards” knees actually do have forward-bending knees, they’re just located higher up the leg (usually right at the top).
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