The debate of human evolution being fact or fiction has been around for hundreds of years. Evidence of human ancestry has been found in many parts of the world and these fossils found have been proven to be human. The parts of the world include Eurasia and Africa. Although fossils are found in Eurasia, the human ancestor the Hominoidea has been traced back to the Miocene epochs, which were 23 to 5 million years ago. The Hominoidea is a super-family, which contains many species that are existent today including, gibbons, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzee, and humans. Throughout history humans have migrated and evolved, as evolution occurred humans became more technologically advanced, while the other species in Hominoidea remained the same. Also, the lineage of the human, which had moved to Eurasia 1.8 million years ago, was in fact not completely human, but has become extinct. Human evolution is a topic that seems stretched, but the humans millions of years ago aren’t completely different from modern day, since the ancient ancestry has proven the logic to make tools for survival. Human evolution is a never-ending topic, is it myth or factual, and it will be debated for centuries even with the proof it happened (Robinson 2009). Humans come from the hominid species; short for Hominoidea, which was split from the close relative the chimpanzee. The line is connected before the time where the human race changed to bipedalism instead of four legged walking. Also, they’ve increased brain size, language, and economic dependence. The bipedalism is what cause the increase in brain size and tool use to the. Humans from this have become much less like the apes as they used to due to the evolution and changing of their actions, and these diff... ... middle of paper ... ...ding they’re more cousins of humans than close relatives (“Fossils and the Fossil Record,” 2010). Works Cited Fossilization and the Fossil Record. (2010). In Earth Sciences for Students. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/scic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow Human Evolution. (2009). In R. Robinson (Ed.), Biology. New York: Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/scic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow Human Evolution. (2010). In A. B. Cobb (Ed.), Animal Sciences. New York: Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/scic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow Zimmer, C. (2013, December 5). Baffling 400,000-Year-Old Clue to Human Origins. New York Times, p. A10(L). Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/scic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow
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
Disagreements surface in regard to the publishing of a paleoanthropologist’s discoveries of new hominid species. According to Luskins, “paleoanthropology is rife with dissent and with few universally accepted theories among its practitioners.” A large quantity of the controversies within paleoanthropology arises from fellow paleoanthropologist. In the midst of the field, each
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...
There are two major theories that encompass how modern humans may have evolved from the various groups of hominids that existed in the Old World. These two theories are the Multiregional origin theory and the “Out of Africa” origin theory. I will first introduce the background and logic behind the two theories, and then I will argue, with supporting genetic evidence, why the “Out of Africa” theory is currently the most widely accepted in the field.
My research strives to answer the presence and degree of interbreeding between Neanderthal and Modern humans. Researchers use different comparisons of the fossil record, phylogenetic, morphological, and genetic methods to explore these questions in more detail. The literature provided many positive correlations to my hypothesis that Neandertals and Modern Humans interbred on a small-scale basis after the dispersal of modern humans from Africa. The literature also predicts a time frame of likely interbreeding. To explore this question it is important to research article’s explaining the statistical, genetic, and physical evidence associated with possible interbreeding.
The human evolution states that humans have been developed from primates, like an ape. This also means that humans are apelike ancestors as well. This is because humans and non-human primates all share physical and behavioral traits. The selective pressure is a big part of the human evolution. Selective pressure means that a human or non-human primate can survive and reproduce in a certain e...
In the Pleistocene Era, hominins have been expanded rapidly in terms of survival, such as availability of food resources, migrating and how they defend their territories. Then, this has been lead hominins to develop intelligence and create a wide variety of tools. However, there is no specific evidence or answer to, how did human beings evolve and where did they come from. Environmental conditions or pressures have been played importantly, that contributed to the selection of the genus Homo in Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and there is an anatomical evidence over the past one million years, culminating in our modern genome; leads to developing human cognition and explains why modern humans are the only ones who exists today.
Non human primates’ social organization can provide useful information how human social evolution occurs. We will go over main points of how similar and different non human primates such as chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas’ society are compared to ours, humans.
Ungar, P. S. (2007). Evolution of the human diet: The known, the unknown, and the
Ungar, Peter S. Evolution of the Human Diet: The Known, the Unknown, and the Unknowable. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2007. Print.
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
Some may confuse our past ancestors with those of chimps or other apes. However, It is not accurate to say we evolved from chimps, for chimps and human both evolved from Miocene apes, until we split directions in evolution. Our last common ancestor portrayed traits from both chimps and humans. It walked on all fours, ate fruit,used tools, and held a complex “dynamic social group,” just as humans and chimps do. It is accurately to say human and chimps have overlapping traits and share a common ancestor. Our common ancestor being Miocene
Orrorin tugenensis is known to be the second oldest hominin ancestor annd possibly related to modern humans. It was also known as the “Millennium Man” because the Orrorin tugenensis was fou...
The increase in brain size may be related to changes in hominine behavior (See figure 3). The third major trend in hominine development is the gradual decrease in the size of the face and teeth. According to the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia ’98, the fossil evidence for direct ancestors of modern humans is divided into the category Australopithecus and Homo, and begins about 5 million years ago (See figure 1). Between 7 and 20 million years ago, primitive apelike animals were widely distributed on the African and, later, on the Eurasian continents (See figure 2). Although many fossil bones and teeth have been found, the way of life of these creatures, and their evolutionary relationships to the living apes and humans, remain matters of active discussion among scientists.