The Future of Sapiens and Verticality is the result of an encounter, more than twenty years ago, between human paleontology and osteopathy. It is part of a radical paradigm shift in our understanding of the origins of our anatomy.

This book presents a profound challenge to the dominant evolutionary narrative since Lamarck (1802), abandoning the scenario of the quadrupedal tree-dwelling ape forced to stand upright, following the disappearance of trees. The discovery of the embryonic origin of the central nervous system (CNS), which began around forty million years ago and continued to grow in complexity, has profoundly changed this interpretation. This discovery has led us to recognize "Sapiens" as the final threshold of an evolutionary process that confronts us with a real problem: while verticality has been achieved, the progression of CNS complexity continues unabated.

This book seeks to anticipate the consequences of this dynamic on psychomotor, psychoaffective and cognitive development, as well as on occlusal and postural balance.

Anne Dambricourt Malassé is a paleoanthropologist at the CNRS, France, and is a specialist in the evolution of verticality and cognition in hominids. She is a medalist of the Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters of Caen.

Djillali Hadjouis is Associate Professor at the University of Algiers, Algeria, and is a paleontologist, paleoanthropologist and paleopathologist. He is a historian of science and also a laureate of the National Academy of Dental Surgery.

Sandra Joffroy is Lecturer of Biological and Medical Sciences at the University of Toulouse, France. She is a Knight of the National Order of Merit.

Bernard Autet is Former Secretary General of SNESO, France. He is an osteopath, President of FREHOPS, and a bronze medalist for youth, sports, and community involvement.