Evolution Man, Or, How I Ate My Father

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A member of the Australopithecus afarensis left human-like footprints on volcanic ash in Laetoli, northern Tanzania, providing strong evidence of full-time bipedalism. Australopithecus afarensis lived between 3.9 and 2.9 million years ago, and is considered one of the earliest hominins—those species that developed and comprised the lineage of Homo and Homo 's closest relatives after the split from the line of the chimpanzees. The theory that extinctions due to environmental conditions hurt specialist species more than generalist ones, leading to greater evolution among specialists. Red Queen hypothesis Mondal, Mayukh; Bertranpetit, Jaume; Lao, Oscar (16 January 2019). "Approximate Bayesian computation with deep learning supports a third archaic introgression in Asia and Oceania". Nature Communications. 10 (1): 246. Bibcode: 2019NatCo..10..246M. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-08089-7. PMC 6335398. PMID 30651539. The journey of human evolution, Homo sapiens, has been a topic of great biological interest. The idea that man is a creation of a super­natural power prevailed for a long time. However, biologists view the process of human evolution using knowledge on morphology, physiology, embryology, and fossil records.

Evolutionman

Shortly after the appearance of the first reptiles, two branches split off. One branch is the Sauropsida, from which come the modern reptiles and birds. The other branch is Synapsida from which come modern mammals. Both had temporal fenestrae, a pair of holes in their skulls behind the eyes, which were used to increase the space for jaw muscles. Synapsids had one opening on each side, while diapsids (a branch of Sauropsida) had two. An early, inefficient version of diaphragm may have evolved in synapsids. Just by looking at DNA from present day individuals we’ve been able to infer a pretty good outline of human history,” Akey says. “A group dispersed out of Africa maybe 50 to 60 thousand years ago, and then that group traveled around the world and eventually made it to all habitable places of the world.”

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One of the most amazing of Darwin’s predictions in The Descent is his prediction that humans evolved in Africa: Ardipithecus Ardipithecus is, or may be, a very early hominin genus ( tribe Hominini and subtribe Hominina). Two species are described in the literature: A. ramidus, which lived about 4.4 million years ago [32] during the early Pliocene, and A. kadabba, dated to approximately 5.6 million years ago [33] (late Miocene). A. ramidus had a small brain, measuring between 300 and 350cm 3. This is about the same size as the modern bonobo and female common chimpanzee brain; it is somewhat smaller than the brain of australopithecines like Lucy (400 to 550cm 3) and slightly over a fifth the size of the modern Homo sapiens brain.

The Origin and Evolution of Man | Biology - Biology Discussion The Origin and Evolution of Man | Biology - Biology Discussion

Given Darwin’s reluctance to discuss human evolution in The Origin why did he then decide to publish an account of the topic in 1871? By this time several other scientists, including Thomas Huxley and Ernst Haekel, had expanded Darwin’s theories to the human species. In the meantime Darwin had published on fertilisation of orchids, climbing plants and variation in domestic species. All the while, of course, being limited to a few hours work a day due to ill health; if he had been well The Descent would probably have come out sooner.The therapsids had temporal fenestrae larger and more mammal-like than pelycosaurs, their teeth showed more serial differentiation, their gait was semi-erect and later forms had evolved a secondary palate. A secondary palate enables the animal to eat and breathe at the same time and is a sign of a more active, perhaps warm-blooded, way of life. [21] They had lost gastralia and, possibly, scales. Our ancestors used stone tools as long as 3.3 million years ago and by 1.75 million years ago they’d adopted the Acheulean culture, a suite of chunky handaxes and other cutting implements that remained in vogue for nearly 1.5 million years. As recently as 400,000 years ago, thrusting spears used during the hunt of large prey in what is now Germany were state of the art. But they could only be used up close, an obvious and sometimes dangerous limitation. Visitors will encounter some of the exciting research Museum scientists have recently been involved in as part of the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain and Pathways to Ancient Britain projects, including the discovery of the oldest human footprints in Europe. One major omission from The Descent is a discussion on human fossils. By this time fossils of Homo neanderthalensis had been found in Germany but there was no mention of them. Why leave these out? Surely they are pretty good evidence for human descent from another species?

The origin of our species | Natural History Museum

The theory that improving cognitive capabilities would allow hominins to influence local groups and control resources. Toba catastrophe theory Panderichthys is a 90–130cm (35–50in) long fish from the Late Devonian period (380 Mya). It has a large tetrapod-like head. Panderichthys exhibits features transitional between lobe-finned fishes and early tetrapods. The 160,000-year-old skulls of two adults and a child at Herto, Ethiopia, were classified as the subspecies Homo sapiens idaltu because of slight morphological differences including larger size. But they are otherwise so similar to modern humans that some argue they aren’t a subspecies at all. A skull discovered at Ngaloba, Tanzania, also considered Homo sapiens, represents a 120,000-year-old individual with a mix of archaic traits and more modern aspects like smaller facial features and a further reduced brow. Comparison of skull features among early humans.A comparison of Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Homo floresiensis and Homo naledi skull features. Neanderthals

Close Encounters

Callaway, Ewen (26 July 2012). "Hunter-gatherer genomes a trove of genetic diversity". Nature. doi: 10.1038/nature.2012.11076. S2CID 87081207. Larger brain size, also called encephalization, began in early humans with Homo habilis and continued through the Neanderthal line (capacity of 1,200 – 1,900 cm3). The ability of the human brain to continue to grow after birth meant that social learning and language were possible. It is possible that a focus on eating meat, and cooking, allowed for brain growth. Modern humans have a brain volume of 1250 cm3. The timeline of human evolution outlines the major events in the evolutionary lineage of the modern human species, Homo sapiens, Other very old fossils often classified as early Homo sapiens come from Florisbad, South Africa (around 260,000 years old), and the Kibish Formation along Ethiopia’s Omo River (around 195,000 years old). The two objects on the right are pigments used between 320,000 and 500,000 years ago in East Africa. All other objects are stone tools used during the same time period in the same area.

Evolution – the facts | National Geographic Human Evolution – the facts | National Geographic

Callaway, Ewen (7 June 2017). "Oldest Homo sapiens fossil claim rewrites our species' history". Nature. doi: 10.1038/nature.2017.22114. Klein, Richard (1995). "Anatomy, behavior, and modern human origins". Journal of World Prehistory. 9 (2): 167–98. doi: 10.1007/bf02221838. S2CID 10402296. Other adaptations include lessening of body hair, a chin, a descended larynx, and an emphasis on vision instead of smell.To understand how Homo sapiens eventually evolved from these older lineages of hominins, the group including modern humans and our closest extinct relatives and ancestors, scientists are unearthing ancient bones and stone tools, digging into our genes and recreating the changing environments that helped shape our ancestors’ world and guide their evolution.