bipedalism
noun
bi·ped·al·ism (ˌ)bī-ˈpe-dᵊl-ˌi-zəm 
: the condition of having two feet or of using only two feet for locomotion
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web But not all experts have agreed that the Sahelanthropus skull definitely suggested bipedalism. 
Brian Handwerk, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Aug. 2022 Evidence of bipedalism began with previous studies of the skull. Brian Handwerk, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Aug. 2022 The fossil, of a female hominin species that lived about 3.2 million years ago, supported the evolutionary idea that bipedalism preceded an increase in brain size. Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 3 Aug. 2022 All modern birds can trace their origins to theropods, according to paleontologists, with features like plumage, bipedalism and egg-laying common to both groups. Aylin Woodward, WSJ, 21 Dec. 2021 The idea that a third hominin species—in the same time and place as A. afarensis, at that—was evolving for bipedalism on its own branch of the family tree is a fascinating one. Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, 6 Dec. 2021 If two different species were walking upright on the landscape at the same time, that suggests different simultaneous experiments in bipedalism — complicating the conventional view of human evolution as strictly linear. Christina Larson, Anchorage Daily News, 2 Dec. 2021 Other maladies may be traced back to the origin of bipedalism. Adrian Woolfson, WSJ, 31 May 2021 Early species were adapted to climbing as well as bipedalism; later species had more specialized diets of tough, fibrous food. National Geographic, 30 Jan. 2020 See More
Brian Handwerk, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Aug. 2022 Evidence of bipedalism began with previous studies of the skull. Brian Handwerk, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Aug. 2022 The fossil, of a female hominin species that lived about 3.2 million years ago, supported the evolutionary idea that bipedalism preceded an increase in brain size. Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 3 Aug. 2022 All modern birds can trace their origins to theropods, according to paleontologists, with features like plumage, bipedalism and egg-laying common to both groups. Aylin Woodward, WSJ, 21 Dec. 2021 The idea that a third hominin species—in the same time and place as A. afarensis, at that—was evolving for bipedalism on its own branch of the family tree is a fascinating one. Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, 6 Dec. 2021 If two different species were walking upright on the landscape at the same time, that suggests different simultaneous experiments in bipedalism — complicating the conventional view of human evolution as strictly linear. Christina Larson, Anchorage Daily News, 2 Dec. 2021 Other maladies may be traced back to the origin of bipedalism. Adrian Woolfson, WSJ, 31 May 2021 Early species were adapted to climbing as well as bipedalism; later species had more specialized diets of tough, fibrous food. National Geographic, 30 Jan. 2020 See More Word History
First Known Use
1847, in the meaning defined above