The family that only walks on all fours

For many years, the case of Alas from Turkey had led many scientists and anthropologists to throw up their hands. Many members of this family exhibited the strange behavior to move only on all foursusing their hands as front legs.

As it says Unilada research team from Turkey had investigated the family, discovering how of their 18 children, 6 of these had a “unique disability” that resulted in them walking, running and standing on all fours.

The specific group approached the case of Ulas as a possible case evolutionary regression, but many did not share their view as socially and scientifically offensive.

The family caused a “civil war” among scientists since many were talking about a non-existent “phenomenon”.

The truth about the Ulas

Professor of evolutionary psychology Nicholas Humphrey has been trying for years to find an alternative answer. Brain scans had shown that the their cerebellum was slightly “shrunk”but this did not provide definitive answers, as other people with less or even no cerebellum can walk upright.

In addition, palaeontologists from New York analyzed the way they walked on all fours, finding that it was not at all consistent with the way our primate ancestors walked, while a team at the University of Liverpool found that their skeletons were different from other humans.

However, when he returned to visit the Ulas family, Professor Humphrey found that their children they could now walk upright after they were given help through physiotherapy and assistive equipment.

A few years later a group of Danish scientists finally found the answer to why the family members walked on all fours.

Scientists from Aarhus University in 2014 discovered that the cause was a clinical condition called cerebellar ataxia, mental retardation and disequilibrium syndrome (CAMRQ).

CAMRQ is a very rare syndrome resulting from an incredibly rare mutation, which prevents proteins from properly distributing fat molecules.

This results in defective nerve cells, brain damage and loss of balance, which would explain why some of the Ulas walked on all fours, as their balance was not good enough to walk upright.