Mother Of Man Argument

The Science and Nature section of the BBC website, recently, set up a page discussing the nature of human evolution. The articles- Mother of Man, Food for Thought, Leaving Home, the First Europeans, Ice People, and the New Batch- bring up many arguments about the nature of how we as humans evolved, and the potential thought processes and migrations of our ancestors. Below, these arguments will be discussed:

In the article, Mother of Man, it is argued that routine bipedalism came from our ancestors being forced to live on the ground and, therefore, started us off towards the path that would lead to how we are today. I, for one, agree with this argument- the climate change would have forced our ancestors downwards, and onto the grass. When out in the open, it would have been a better adaption for us to be able to see over it and see far through the plains. Walking would have given us better chances to run in this environment, and escape predators- therefore giving those who could have

This species did, after all, survive the Ice Age- why wouldn’t they have continued to survive past that? Neanderthals first encountered modern humans ~40,000 years ago, and being on the losing side in the competition with them for resources, the last neanderthal disappeared roughly 12,000 years later. And though many believe that neanderthals simply went extinct, other researchers argue that they interbred with modern humans. Personally leaning towards the idea that neanderthals interbred with humans, this idea is supported by many different researchers, including an analysis that “could not rule out a small genetic contribution.” ("Interbreeding?" Ancient DNA and Neanderthals. Web. 22 Aug. 2014.) While this does not mean that neanderthals disappeared completely into the modern human branch, there is evidence supporting that they, at least in a small bit, live on in modern