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Evolution of the human species
Annotated bibliography on how humans evolved
Evolution of the human species
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Hominids are a family that includes 7 different types of species. Its original meaning referred only to humans (Homo) and their closest non-extant relatives. That restrictive meaning has now been largely assumed by the term "hominin", which comprises all members of the human clade after the split from the chimpanzees (Pan). The time of the split between humans and living apes used to be thought to have occurred 15 to 20 million years ago, or even up to 30 or 40 million years ago. Some apes occurring within that time period, such as Ramapithecus, used to be considered as hominids, and possible ancestors of humans. Human evolution through this years has been related to this family. According to the recent African origin of modern humans theory, …show more content…
The brains of these early hominins were about the same size as that of a chimpanzee, although it has been suggested that this was the time in which the human SRGAP2 gene doubled, producing a more rapid wiring of the frontal cortex. During the next million years a process of rapid encephalization occurred, and with the arrival of Homo erectus and Homo ergaster in the fossil record, cranial capacity had doubled to 850 cm3.[5] (Such an increase in human brain size is equivalent to each generation having 125,000 more neurons than their parents.) It is believed that Homo erectus and Homo ergaster were the first to use fire and complex tools, and were the first of the hominin line to leave Africa, spreading throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe between 1.3 to 1.8 million years …show more content…
And animal breeders make evolution happen all the time—think of the tremendous variety of dog breeds that have been created from wolves.
About 10 billion years after the formation of Universe, the earth was formed. Life on earth appeared far late, nearly three billion years ago. Of the several evolutionary problems, perhaps the origin of life is the most critical, since there is no record concerning it. Life has been characterized by the capacity of performing certain vital functional activities like metabolism, growth and reproduction. There is no ambiguity regarding this point. But how the first life came on earth is a matter of conjecture.
Ancient thinkers speculated that life originated spontaneously from inorganic components of the environment, just after the formation of earth. A series of physio-chemical processes were perhaps responsible behind this creation. Aristotle (384 BC to 322 BC) was the pioneer in this line of thought and nobody raised any voice against his speculation till seventeenth Century. But in seventeenth Century, an Italian scientist, Francesco Redi (1627 -1697) made an experiment with two pieces of
“Analyses of the hominid indicate that they belonged to a previously unidentified species, which anthropologist Yohannes Haile-Selassie of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and his colleagues are calling this species Ardipithecus Kadabba. Previous fossil finds from the identical genus has suggested that hominids called kadabba were instead a subspecies of the only other known Ardipithecus species, Ardipithecus ramidus”(Bower 2004). This new hominid is being addressed presently as Ardipithecus ramidus kadabba. “While Ardipithecus ramidus kadabba is not the sought-after link—the yet-undiscovered creature that lived at the cusp of the evolutionary division between man and chimp—Yohannes Haile-Selassie, also a doctoral candidate at the University of California at Berkeley, said the hominid certainly is very close to the branching point.” (Rickman 2001)
Native people in the Great Plains would hunt bison mostly with Folsom points. Great plain hunters often stampeded bison herds over cliffs and then slaughtered the animals that plunged to their deaths. They used bows and arrows to hunt, which replaced spears. Archaic peoples in the Great Basin between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada inhabited a region of replaced spears. Archaic peoples in the Great Basin between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada inhabited a region of great environment diversity defined largely by the amount of rain. They hunted fish, deer, antelope, bison, and smaller game. To make sure they did not have shortages of fish they relied on plants for food. Archaic peoples in the Pacific Coast lived within the richness
When the Spanish began to arrive in Mexico and in Central America in the early 15th century, one of the many civilizations they found was the Maya. The Maya, building upon the Olmec culture, were located in present-day Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, southern Mexico, and the Yucatan Peninsula. Even though they had many similarities, the Maya were separated by language differences. Because of that they were organized into city-states. Since there wasn’t a single city-state powerful enough to impose a political structure, the period from 200 A.D. to the arrival of the Spanish was characterized by the struggle of rival kingdoms for dominance.
People often associate brain size with intelligence, a larger brain is necessary for better intelligence. Through observation of both Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, it is seen that it is not the case but the size of the frontal lobe is what matters most. Neanderthals have a large braincase, no forehead, brow ridge, a projecting face and no chin. Their teeth are large, having large incisors, large jaws and a retro molar space. Being part of a colder environment, these traits were beneficiary and changed their diet. Neanderthals required a lot of energy and therefore their diet was heavy in meat. Their large teeth helped them consume meat much easier than those who had smaller teeth. Being small and stocky, their large skull was mainly for balance since they did not have a forehead, where the frontal lobe is, they did not have the same level of intelligence as Homo sapiens but had better vision, smell, and hearing which is essential to their
The first Neanderthal remains, discovered in Germany in 1856, were presented to the world of science at a meeting of the Lower Rhine Medical and Natural History Society held in Bonn in February 1857 and named a species, Homo neanderthalensis, by William King in 1864. Some Neanderthal fossils and other remains are in excellent condition, giving a good idea of Neanderthal culture. In 1887, two complete skeletons were found in a cave near Spy in Belgium, and more from sites in France in 1887, 1908 and 1911. These and other finds showed that the Neanderthals had populated Europe widely from about 130,000 to 28,000 years ago after which they became extinct. Most of these fossils were found in caves. Usually they are associated with cold adapted species such as reindeer, arctic fox, lemming and mammoth. The current conclusion drawn from fossil evidence is that Neanderthals emerged at least 230,000 years and maybe even 300,000 years ago. In the Far East, in contrast, there is quite a clear evolution from Homoerectus, by a generalized Homosapiens to Homosapiens sapiens with Mongoloid features, but no Neanderthal presence. In northern Spain, fossils of an 800,000-year-old fossil named Homo antecessor, has also been proposed as the common ancestor to humans and Neanderthals. Others say that Homo heidelbergensis is the more likely of modern and primitive features hints at some surprises as more fossils from this period are unearthed. One line of thought places Homo ergaster as ancestral to Homo antecessor in Africa. A population of Homo antecessor migrated via the Middle East to Europe about one million years ago and evolved into Homo heidelbergensis and then into Neanderthals. The population of Homo antecessor that remained in Africa evolved into Homo sapiens. Another possibility is that Homo antecessor is ancestral to both Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis. The Neanderthal was not human. Genetic evidence from a comparison of human and Neanderthal mitochondria shows that while chimpanzee and human lineage's diverged four million years ago, the Neanderthals diverged over 550,000 to 690,000 years ago. Human trunk and limb bones of Homo antecessor, recovered from the Ran Doling site, in the Sierra de Atapuerca have been dated at about 780,000 old and are said to represent the last common ancestor for Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis. Living humans have on ...
It was evolution from wolves in the form of natural and artificial selection that brought dogs into existence (Harris 3). This is the most modern and widely accepted theory at this time, however this was not always the case considering the theory of evolution in itself is relatively new in our society. After evolution as a theory was accepted there were several other variations on the theory such as, the evolution being from jackals opposed to wolves, and artificial selection being the only form of evolution to have taken place. According to Jarret A Lobell and Eric A Powell of Archaeology magazine “The idea that dogs were domesticated from jackals was long ago discarded in favor of the notion that dogs descend from the gray wolf (2)”. As for the theory that artificial selection was the only form of evolution to take place, it is also now considered to be an obsolete theory (Harris 2) and the reasons for this will be discussed in more detail in the following paragraphs.... ...
Most of their evidence comes from the fossilized bones of Neanderthals and Cro- Magnons, or modern man’s ancestors (Shreeve, 150). There is a definite difference between their bone structures, and it may be a significant enough difference to divide them into species. There is a set of traits that distinguishes Neanderthals. Their general proportions are short, robust, and strong. Males and females of all ages have thick bones, and very pronounced muscle and ligament attachment sites. They also have distinct facial and cranial features. They have a large skull with no chin, a significant brow-ridge, and a large nasal opening (Shreeve, 49-150). They have large brains, around 1400cc, that protrude in the back, causing an occipital bun in the skull (Lecture, 4/19). Cro-Magnons on the other hand look more like humans do today. They are more slender and not as muscular, with chins and rounder skulls with slightly smaller brains among other traits.
In order for natural selection to happen, the species has to have genetic variation. Genetic variation happens because of mutations and recombination of genes. Other processes that contribute are gene flow and genetic This process is seen mostly in agriculture. It is because of artificial selection that we have the domesticated plants and livestock that we eat. In the case of canines, they were originally bred to become working and hunting dogs in agriculture.
#1 A pattern that was common among the ancient civilizations of China, Rome, Greece, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India was that most of them started as a dictatorship, a monarchy, or a dynasty. Eventually, most of them changed to a democracy, republic, or class system. Almost all of the civilizations had one or two great leaders. For example, Egypt had King Tut, Greece had Alexander the Great, and Rome had Julius Caesar. China has had many different leaders through the years.
The first group of primates was the Ardipithecus group. They were the earliest humans closely related to other primates. The Ardipithecus group evolved in Africa and took the first step upright on two feet. Sahelanthropus tchadensis was the first human species to ever walk the earth. They were the building block of more complex species to come. There were many species that started the human race such as the Orrorin tugenensis. This species was nicknamed the Millenium Man and live 5.8-6.2 million years a...
Homo erectus is also known for its larger body compared to earlier ancestors. "Past estimates of Homo erectus stature frequently were in the 5-5 1/2 feet (152-168 cm) range for adult males and arou...
Are we still evolving? How do humans and apes share a common ancestor? Modern human species or Homo sapiens have shown great similarities in the physical and genetic makeup to another group primates species, the apes. Both organisms share a common ancestor dating back eight to six million years ago. Evolution means change over time. Human evolution is the process by which humans have emerged from apelike ancestors. Through sequences of mutations, genetic drift, migration, and natural selection and technology we are able to observe the amazing amount of similarities and diversity of humans to other living organisms. Humans have roamed the earth for about six million years. At least, that is from when the oldest human ancestor was discovered.
In early times, cavemen lacked useful tools to communicate and survive. Their early weapons were brittle and made it difficult to successfully hunt. They were always on the move, traveling to find food and shelter. Because of these things, groups of cavemen remained small. The caveman eventually overcame these problems and grew to be civilized. The caveman made many great advances throughout history.
Creationists believe that humans were always humans. Humans are classified in the mammalian family Primates. In this arrangement, humans, along with our extinct close ancestors, and our nearest living relatives, the African apes, are sometimes placed together in the family Hominidae because of genetic similarities. Two-leg walking seems to be one of the earliest of the major hominine characteristics to have evolved. In the course of human evolution the size of the brain has been more than tripled.
When thinking on the lines of evolution, animals and humans can be categorized in the same group since we have the ability to learn, remember past events, and experience emotions that can affect our thoughts, even on the decisions we have made in the past. This idea might sound very unrealistic but studies have shown that it is, in fact, a viable theory.