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Essays on human evolution
Natural history of homo sapiens
Essay of human evolution
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Homo Sapiens, it is the scientifically referred name for the modern man, and the two names together means the man who thinks or the wise man. The human is one of the most distinguished species of the entire animal kingdom. They perform highly complex activities and solve serious matters or problems using the exceptionally large brain compared to the body size. It has been a widely accepted fact that the human’s primary weapon is the brain, or in other words, the intelligence of man could never be beaten by any of the forces in the universe. The highly complex and developed brain of the humans can theorize languages, justifications, problem solving, and many more functions. Humans are distributed all over the world including the ice-cold snowed …show more content…
lands all around the year, but not in Antarctica. They are culturally different among nations as well as within nations and countries. Mainly, there are three morphological types of humans known as Mongoloid, Caucasoid, and Negroid. However, the number of differences among human individuals is countless, because all the human individuals are extremely different from each other in their external appearance as well as from their thoughts.
Nevertheless, the physiology has no much difference from the related species. Usually a healthy average adult human weighs about 50 – 80 kilograms while the height could vary from 1.5 to 1.8 meters. Even though humans are the most sophisticated species ever known to live on the Earth, the ability to stand out any major disaster or a climatic or geographic shift is unknown, but other animals have proven their abilities in such occasions. On the other hand, Homo Erectus. Homo erectus was one of the hominid species, which is now extinct from the world. They were the first to stand in a standard upright posture out of all the hominids, and that has given their species name erectus. According to the fossil evidences, they lived until 1.3 million years from today and the earliest Homo erectus fossil dates to 1.8 million years. Until recent findings about the fossils of Homo habilis, it was believed that H. erectus descended into H. neanderthalensis. However, now the scientists state that both these species lived together for at least 500,000
years. H. erectus was the first to move out from Africa, and they have gone into many places of the world as their fossils from different regions of the world suggest. They were highly intelligent creatures, and it is envisaged as some had cranial capacities differing between 850 and 1,100 cubic centimeters. The face profile was not much protruded like in Australopithecus, and erectus man was averagely 5 feet and 10 inches tall. Additionally, the females were considerably smaller than males (by 25%). There are evidences to suggest that they used fire and tools in easing their functions. Furthermore, they have used rafts to cross water bodies that measure up to even oceans.
Four hypotheses of how the bodies got there occupation, water transport, predation, and death trap were ruled out. A new hypothesis was formulated what if Homo naledi intentionally buried their dead? Although there is not enough evidence yet to confirm this, such behavior would be significant in that it would precede previous cases of the behavior in Neanderthals and humans. This would add to the argument that Homo naledi are of the genus Homo. After the examination of these fossils and extensive research, it was concluded that Homo naledi were a new species of the Homo genus.
Australopithecus afarensis existed between 3.9 and 3.0 million years ago. The distinctive characteristics of A. afarensis were: a low forehead, a bony ridge over the eyes, a flat nose, no chin, more humanlike teeth, pelvis and leg bones resembled those of modern man. Females were smaller than males. Their sexual dimorphism was males:females; 1.5. A. afarensis was not as sexually dimorphic as gorillas, but more sexually dimorphic than humans or chimpanzees. A lot of scientists think that Australopithecus afarensis was partially adapted to climbing the trees, because the fingers and toe bones of the species were curved and longer than the ones of the modern human.
...hat we are doing right now. They started making the tool and they are the one who created the first fire. It was just passed on to a greater species that were gifted with more cranial capacity. Homo sapiens was the successor of these discoveries. They were the one who made these tools more advanced for them. This is the reason why these tools were different. Homo erectus was the inventor of all these things. Homo sapiens was the one who expanded the function to a better hunting. Homo sapiens was considered human more than human-like. I personally think that they are our ancestors mostly. They really look like us, only with few differences from us but they were no longer ape-like. The comparison of these two just shows us how they evolve from one human-like species to a human.
From all existing creatures, we humans differ because we are able to use our brain to make decisions. In
When looking at Africa, it is believed that the first H. erectus seems to have evolved here. This theory developed based on the fact that all of the previous hominins to make an appearance were also in Africa, so it stands to reason that the evolution from those early hominins to H. erectus would have occurred in the same location. That being said, evidence also shows that after H. erectus made his debut in Africa, he quickly migrated to other parts of the world, as fossil remains have also been found in Europe and Asia around the same time period. And, it is through the migration of H. erectus, that fossil remains show the greatest differences in physicality to one another. Anatomically, African H. erectus had a brain and brain case similar in size to previous hominins, however, smaller than “average” skulls were found showing that there were some African H. erectus with smaller skulls which may have been women (indicating sexual dimorphism) or children/youth, the skulls also had fairly large browridges with thin skull bones (typical of East African H. erectus, ve...
Monkey see, monkey do. Apes have always been thought to have an increased level of intelligence. Over the years, researchers have attempted to understand the degree of intelligence these primates possess. However, it is essential to understand the definition of intelligence in order to determine the amount of intelligence primates have. Intelligence is the capability of obtaining knowledge and being able to utilize it in everyday situations. There are many hypotheses that focus on the evolution of intelligence in primates that view a number of factors including brain size and modernism. Primate intelligence has been a topic of interest to many because it will allow us to further understand the close relationship between humans and primates. Additionally, we will be able to understand the difference between human and primate cognition. Some studies suggest that the human and primate brains possess many similarities. This demonstrates why primates tend to respond to stimuli in a manner that is closely related to humans. Researchers have conducted a number of studies in an effort to understand primate cognition.
“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.
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...
The members of the Homo genus possess a combination of unique features that distinguish them from other related species. At the time that each respective species was alive, they were able to walk upright on two legs, use their large brains for the benefit of their species, and could thrive in many geographically and climatically diverse areas of the world. One of the most mysterious quandaries in science is how the lineage of the Homo genus became so different from their primate relatives. Bipedalism, brain size, and location diversity all have a common link that may explain this difference – dietary evolution allowed humans to adapt to their surroundings, and in turn, become a more advanced species. The Homo diet evolved in relation to food availability and nutritional necessity. With the ability to maintain a proper diet, the species of the Homo genus were able to flourish and advance toward the development of modern Homo sapiens.
Research shows that the Neanderthals had a “protruding jaw, receding forehead, and weak chin.” (Ansering Genesis) The average brain of a Neanderthal was slightly larger than a modern humans brain. It is also stated that this specific species generally was larger in body size. The Neanderthals also tend to live mostly in colder climates. Researchers and paleontologists found many remains left by the Neanderthals, which include bones and stone tools, found in Eurasia, Western Europe to Central, Northern, and Western Asia. “Neanderthals (or Neandertals) are our closest extinct human relatives. There is some debate as to whether they were a distinct species of the Homo genus (Homo Neanderthalensis) or a subspecies of Homo sapiens. Our well-known, but often misunderstood, fossil kin lived in Eurasia 200,000 to 30,000 years ago, in the Pleistocene Epoch.” (Live Science) The Neanderthals had a very similar appearance to human, although they were “shorter and stockier with angled cheekbones, prominent brow ridges, and wide noses.” (Live
According to the film, Birth of Humanity: Becoming Human—Unearthing Our Earliest Ancestors, NOVA depicts that the Homo erectus was the middle ground of developing from apes to humans, using the Turkana boy as a reference. The Turkana boy was the earliest human skeleton, yet he still had a primitive upper body and a human lower region. At five feet and three inches, he is eight years old and still growing, based on his teeth and skull evaluation. His brain was larger than a chimpanzee but smaller than the modern human. With the creation of stone tools, it proved that the Homo erectus was capable of decision-making and understanding the stone’s properties. In addition, it would allow the Homo erectus to gain food by using the tool to his or her
I consider the evolution of Homo sapiens to be the most important in the evolution of humans. The Homo sapiens walked this earth about 15,000 to 10,000 years ago around the Holocene Epoch period. (Levin)Fossils for this group were found around Africa over 400,000 years ago. Also in Israel, a tooth fossil was found around this same time to prove that man lived there as well. (Ancient Man and His First Civilizations:Homo-habilis, Homo-erectus, Homo-sapien-sapien)
The earliest humans appeared in East Africa. They traveled in small kinship-based groups. 95% of the earliest humans were hunter-gathers. The men hunted while the women and children gathered. The earliest humans followed migration patterns and eventually traveled to other continents by foot and boat. They were very adaptable to their environment and geography. They made tools to which helped them adjust to their surroundings, such as sewing needles or a bow and arrow. They would often bury these tools with those that had died. Some would even lay the dead on wildflowers and cover the body with garland and shrouds. Earliest people were very creative people. They are most known for their cave art and Venus figurines. Also, throughout their
Humans are extremely complex and unique beings. We are animals however we often forget our origins and our place in the natural world and consider ourselves superior to nature. Humans are animals but what does it mean to be human? What are the defining characteristics that separate us from other animals? How are we different? Human origins begin with primates, however through evolution we developed unique characteristics such as larger brain sizes, the capacity for language, emotional complexity and habitual bipedalism which separated us from other animals and allowed us to further advance ourselves and survive in the natural world. Additionally, humans have been able to develop a culture, self-awareness, symbolic behavior, and emotional complexity. Human biological adaptations separated humans from our ancestors and facilitated learned behavior and cultural adaptations which widened that gap and truly made humans unlike any other animal.
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.