Adriel Rodriguez Soto
ANT 300
Final Essay
May 16, 2017
In a historical form, identify a minimum of three hypotheses on the emergence of Hominids
And discuss why these scientific theories provided pathways for later appearing ideas.
The Understanding of Hominid Emergence and their Importance:
By utilization of scientific hypotheses
The reason for the emergence of Hominids, has had scientists from all over the world attempt to piece together the mystery by adding their own beliefs or adding on to others. Believed to have first appeared 5-10 Mya during the late Miocene epoch, fossil records and data continue to back up this statement as more information continues to be discovered. Studies of the human origins and understanding why hominids
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Darwin’s model for the origins of humans was ingenious, yet simple but in order to form his hypothesis, he retracts anatomical data from well-known British naturalist, Thomas Huxley. The research, based primarily on the living apes of Africa, would lead Darwin to conclude that the likely place of hominid origin was Africa. This belief was due to anatomical resemblances studied between African apes and humans. Darwin assumed that the characteristics that differentiated living apes and living humans was the idea of the shifting of life from trees to ground. This supposed event allowed Darwin to observe the distinguished characteristics; “(1) humans are bipedal, while apes are quadrupedal; (2) humans have tiny canines, while apes have larger canines; (3) humans rely on tools for their adaption, while apes do not; and (4) humans have big brains, while apes have small brains.” (Larson, 2nd ed., 294). Darwin felt that bipedalism offered bipeds many advantages that allowed for the consumption of mostly meat by using weapons to kill animals. He believed that bipeds were allowed to carry weapons due to the freeing of the hands and in order for early humans to form such tools, large amounts of intelligence was needed. Big canines once used for defense or hunting slowly disappeared as tool production and tool use took a greater role in bipedalism. Scientists would eventually refute the belief that canine reduction began with tool use due to data found on the earliest tools that dated to about 2.6 mya, while brain enlargement evidence would date sometime after 2 mya. After the gathering of such information, Darwin would propose that the basis of the divergence was hunting, and although much controversy and disproving took place, his hypothesis provided the first step to an understanding on the origins of
Dr. Goodall is a well-known British primatologist who has discovered a substantial amount about primates in her many years of research. She has written numerous books, including one that we will be going into depth about called, “Through a Window.” Her book contains personal experiences, research findings, and even pictures to help the readers visualize her scientific breaking moments from her thirty years with the chimpanzees of Gombe. She states that there is are minor differences, and several similarities between humans and the chimpanzees. We will discuss these differences and similarities through their social behavior, intellectual ability, and emotions. To conclude, examine Goodall’s research to adopt what her findings can tell us about our early ancestors, and whether or not her study coincided to the steps of scientific methodology.
The evolution of man is constantly in question. While we are reasonably sure that modern humans and primates are both related to the same common ancestor, there is constant debate over what initially caused the two species to split into early hominids and apes. According to some, our longest and most popular theory on the division of man and ape is profoundly wrong. However, those same individuals usually offer an equally controversial theory as a substitute, one that is almost impossible to scientifically test or prove. Both the Savanna Theory and the Aquatic Ape Theory offer solutions to how and why humans evolved into bipedal toolmakers. But with enough questioning, each loses its accountability to rhetorical science.
Australopithecus afarensis who existed 3.5 million years ago and a 4.4 million year old skeleton of an Ardipithecus ramidus are the closest science has come to discovering the human lineage. Shattered Ancestry an article written by Katherine Harmon discusses the remains of two hominids found within Ethiopia. These skeletal remains have created a huge controversy within the topic of evolution questioning many assumptions that have been made referencing the human lineage. The skeleton of the Australopithecus afarensis was named Lucy and was discovered in 1974. The evidence of her walking upright on her two feet essentially guaranteed her a spot in the human lineage line. Lucy was a chimplike ape that was said to walk upright making scientists believe the human ancestry was simple. The complete skeleton found in Ethiopia of an Ardipithecus ramidus named Ardi completely changed all assumptions made from scientists about the complexity of the human lineage. These remains have encouraged researches that the human line is not the only lineage to have evolved but the chimpanzee line has undergone drastic changes as well. There are many traits that researchers have always directly linked to the human lineage however since these discoveries occurred researchers are reconsidering. The recent discoveries that have shattered what has always suggested what linked a species to the human lineage have changed the certainty of whether it is possible to confidently identify the human’s last common ancestor. Majority of scientist had forgotten that there would have been many hominid species living together at one time. New theories have been suggested since scientists revealed that the foot of a hominid found called the Burtele site was found ju...
As archeological discoveries of bone fragments and fossils continue to support the existence of homo-sapiens
Charles Darwin, the Father of Evolution, was a British scientist who laid the foundations of the theory of evolution, transforming the thinking of the entire world about the living things around us (Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882)). After working on his theory for nearly 20 years, he published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859. As soon as the book was released, the controversy began with each sides gaining followers until the climax on July 10, 1925. The idea that animals could “evolve” and change into new species, including humans, was one that challenged not only how people thought about the natural world, but challenged the story of the creation from the Bible itself. Even though Darwin himself never said that humans “evolved” from apes, everyone took it as a logical extension of his new theory. It went against the idea of argument for design that had unified theology and science for decades (Moran 5). This new threat to Christianity and the social culture of the time was one that would transform state laws on their educational curriculum.
Stringer, C. B. & Hublin, J-J. (1999). New age estimates for the Swanscombe hominid and their significance for human evolution. Journal of Human Evolution 37, 873–877.
Myers, provider of source material for Edie Heydt's notes from "Human Origins," fall 1997, Alfred. Much of the material in the notes is paraphrased, and the original information sources are unknown.
This paper has shown how Homo sapiens had several advantages over the Neanderthals including better diets, better tools and just better luck. The Neanderthals could not survive the harsh climates they were thrust into and eventually died out. In this paper I looked at how Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis had co-existed but the disappearance of the Neanderthal ius due in some part to the appearance of the more culturally advanced and genetically superior Homo sapiens. Although the How and Why of how Neanderthals went extinct, it is clear that Homo sapiens had a part in their demise. In the last one hundred and fifty years that we have been studying humans we have seen them come from savage brutes, to Homo sapiens respectable contemporary. If we had not gotten lucky in the past, Neanderthals could be studying us today.
Were Neanderthals the same as modern humans, or were they an entirely different species? This is a major topic of debate among Anthropologists, and many people strongly argue each view, backing their opinion with evidence from physical remains and inferred ideas about behavior.
Humanity became fascinated with the idea of evolution with the work of Charles Darwin and the Scientific Revolution. People began hunting for fossils that would prove that man had an ape derived ancestry (Weiner, 1955). After various years of searching, a piece of physical evidence was found in England that was said to confirm the theory of evolution (Weiner, 1955).This confirmation came from Charles Dawson’s discoveries from 1908, that were announced publicly in 1912 (Thackeray, 2011). Dawson was believed to have found the fossil remains of the “missing link” between ape and human evolution, the reconstructed skull of Piltdown man (Augustine, 2006). The material was found in stratigraphical evidence and animal remains that were, at the time, adequate enough to confirm the antiquity of the remains (Weiner, 1955). In 1915, another specimen, Piltdown man II, was found further proving this theory (Augustine, 2006). However, this was merely a hoax proven by fluorine relative dating in 1953; the artifacts and bone fragments discovered turned out to be altered to fit the proposed scenario (Augustine, 2006). The skull found was actually composed of a human braincase that was younger than the complimentary orangutan lower jaw (Falk, 2011). Both sections of the skull had been stained to appear to be from the same person of the same age (Falk, 2011).The perpetrator of this act was never caught and there are many theories proposed for the motive of this hoax (Augustine, 2006). Many people have been taken into consideration for this crime, such as Chardin, Woodward, Hinton, and Dawson (Augustine, 2006). Nevertheless, the evidence that proves that Dawson is guilty of this crime against anthropology is quite substantial compared to the evidence...
Bindon, Jim 2004 Fossil Hominids. ANT 270 Notes. http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/bindon/ant270/lectures/ hominids1.pdf Delson, Eric 1981
Trinkaus, E. (2007). European early modern humans and the fate of the Neandertals. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America, 104(18), 7367-7372. doi:10.1073/pnas.0702214104
“The scientific study of how humans developed did not begin until the 1800s in Europe. Until that time, people relied on religious explanations of how humans came into existence. Starting in the 1500s a scientific revolution began to sweep Europe. Thinkers started using scientific methods and experiments to try to better understand the world and the creatures living in it. Eventually these methods were turned to the question of human origins” (The Nature Of Human Origins, 1). Earth made it possible for species to change over time because Ancient Earth provides ability to plenty of time.The Homo Sapien a is very complex creature. The species started off very simple by living in caves and surviving with little food and then later evolved into a species that were able to do many more complex things. The first species was Sahelanthropus tchadensis They were one of the most simple humans in that time period and on. They had very small skulls compared to Homo Sapiens today and their motor skills were just the same. We have evolved and changed for the better both mentally and physically. The Evolution of Homo Sapiens started off simple, such as the Neanderthals, and now we are the most advanced species to ever walk the planet so far.
One of the most important and pivotal physical and biological adaptations that separate humans from other mammals is habitual bipedalism. According to Darwin, as restated by Daniel Lieberman, “It was bipedalism rather than big brains, language, or tool use that first set th...
The evidence for human evolution begins with the australopithecines. All the australopithecines were bipedal and therefore possible hominines. In details of their teeth, jaws, and brain size, however, they modify enough among themselves to be divided into five species: Australopithecus anamensis, A. afarensis, A. africanus, A. robustus, and A. boisei. Genus Homo are also divided in five different spices: Homo erectus, H. habilis, H. sapiens, and H. sapiens sapiens.