The family that walks on all fours.

The Family That Walks On All Fours is a sensitive documentary at the interface of anthropology, evolution and academic research. BBC Active anthropology study film. In 2005, a group of Turkish academics published a paper about a family who, it would appear, have not made the evolutionary leap to walk on two legs, which humankind achieved four million years ago. This is so unusual that it immediately elicited intense interest from British academics. Evolutionary science is controversial in the Islamic world as well as in fundamental Christian Creationist teaching in the US. (Some interesting clips from a black and white dramatisation of the Scopes Trial in the US are shown). The family live in a remote part of Kurdish Turkey on the border with Syria. The scientists visit the family with some excitement; could it rewrite the evolution textbooks? It is soon transparent that the condition which effects six of the children may have arised due to genetic factors as both parents are closely related. Also, routine neurological tests indicate that the effected children have a degree of brain damage. The tale which emerges is one where a notable Turkish academic has staked his reputation on the discovery of 'de-evolution' and the family itself who are shunned by other villagers. Some of the children (who are in fact young adults 18-34) have MRi scans. They have damage to their cerebellum, which explains their problems with balance, although the strange case of an Italian boy who had no cerebellum is shown; he can walk on two legs. Meanwhile in Berlin, the family are having their blood analysed. An unusual genetic mutation has been discovered and the German team are very quick to publish their research. Unfortunately, the presence of the documentary team starts to create tension in the village and soldiers appear to encourage the team to leave. Nicholas Humphrey takes footage of the family to the American Museum of Natural History where it causes controversy amongst academics there. Finally, consideration is given to the family and whether to give them access to simple physiotherapy - which seems a surprisingly straightforward but effective solution for the younger siblings. After a period of time, the family practice and it seems likely will be able to walk on two legs afterall - it may all have been to unique factors interconnecting - in particular the birth of 7 of the children within 5 years.