Australopithecus Cordi Human Evolution

The infamous event of the Piltdown hoax is one that continues to draw speculative attention over a century after the initial announcement of the paleoanthropological findings. Although many scientists, especially those involved in the field of paleoanthropology, would like to forget the incident entirely, the Piltdown man—taxonomically referred to as Eoanthropus dawsoni—is perhaps the greatest hoax in anthropological history. By 1912, British archaeologists and paleontologists were desperate for a significant paleoanthropological finding that would provide the missing link between humans and apes in hominin evolution (Prosser, 2009). The Piltdown man was originally a famous finding that straddled the human-animal boundary, dichotomously

They found that Au. ramidus had very similar characteristics to Sahelanthropus Tchadensis an ancestor that dates to 6-7 million years ago. Ardi had a foot that was primitive and had an opposable big toe which was most likely used to grab on branches. She also had a long and curvy spine just like humans. Its pelvis was large like those of apes and had short and broad shoulders suggesting it had a lower center of mass and could possibly walk on one leg at a time. But it is also thought that it was still spending a lot of time in the trees as well. Thus, why it is thought to be intermediate form of bipedalism it lived in both worlds, walking upright, and climbing trees, equal success in both biospheres. Although Ardi is not the connection to apes it still served to prove that the ancestor of apes was a lot more primitive than we believed. There are still several questions to be answered in this puzzle called our ancestry. It may seem that more questions arise as more clues are found, but that is science, there would be no intrigue left if all questions were

In the Article “Redrawing Humanity’s Family Tree” by John Noble Wilford, describes how two different skulls challenge the theories of human origins and migrations. The Central African skull, that dates back to nearly 7 million years ago, was assigned to a whole new genus and species because of its apelike and evolved hominid species. The 1.75-million-year-old Georgian skull shows evidence that the first hominids may have been intercontinental travelers who set motion the migrations that occupied the whole planet. Finally a third skull was found that is the same age and shares a resemblance but, the size of the skull suggests that the brain was smaller than expected for H. erectus.

Discoveries relating to the human lineage are extremely exciting and often baffling. This is the case with the recent discovery of what seems to be the oldest member of the human family. A skull found in northern Chad in 2001, has been deemed the earliest relative to the human ever found. Nicknamed Toumai, and discovered by Michel Brunet and his paleontology team, this new category of human has been given the scientific name, Sahelanthropus tchaensis. What makes this skull so definitive is the fact that it dates back approximately 6-7 million years in the earth’s history (Whitfield 2002). Since the discovery there have been anthropologists and paleontologists that have

Darwin once hypothesized that humans evolved from an ape like ancestor and that those ancestors most likely originated in Africa since the majority of the great apes lived there. Unfortunately, Darwin’s hypothesis was ignored for reasons such as people (e.g. Europeans) not liking of having African ancestors—not to mention the lack of evidence did not help in supporting such hypothesis. Thus, finding the missing link between apes and humans was of great important—it still is. Thankfully, through extensive research many scientists have been able to determine a clade called Hominin [7]. This clade contains humans as well as their most closely related relatives.

In terms of lower limb proportions comparing Australopithecines and Paranthropus, only a few post cranial remains have been discovered. Comparing the post cranial remains of these genera to those of modern day non-human and human apes can give great insight to the locomotion and stature of Paranthropus and Australopithecines.

timeline of modern humans, Homo sapiens, and how long they have been in existence. According to mainstream science, popular belief holds that the history of our species is confirmed to be confined to the past 12,000 years. This figure is a culmination based on what we know about evolution and what we have been able to gather through fossil analyzation and dating of artifacts as well as human remains. Although the subject of human antiquity, also referred to as human origins, does not prompt a great deal of debate there may actually be the need for some. A reexamination of the notion that humans have only existed a mere 12,000 years should be considered as there may be evidence to support a much greater antiquity of modern human life. Alternative researchers have offered up evidence of “forbidden archeology” that contradicts the mainstream beliefs of human origins, however these discoveries seem to have been swept under the scientific rug.

Three recent fossil findings believed to be hominin ancestors have been selected for description and any controversy surrounding their discovery will be discussed. The three fossils are: Homo floresiensis, Homo rudolfensis and Kenyanthropus

Professor David Lordkipanidze presented some highly interesting information regarding our ancestry as humans. He is an internationally renowned scientist and paleontologist, and it was a great privilege to hear about his work in the Dmanisi where he led the discovery and analysis of the earliest human found outside of Africa.

There was a chief new discovery of fossil bones and teeth belonging to the earliest human ancestors ever discovered. The fossil bones predate the oldest formerly discovered human ancestor by more than a million years. The discovery was of fossil remains of a hominid that lived in present day Ethiopia between 5.2 and 9.8 million years ago. (Hominids include all species following the split as of the chimpanzees on the “human” side of the evolutionary tree.)

This chapter starts off by explaining the evolution of the first human ancestors, which originated around seven million years ago. Historians and scientists were able to conclude that the closest living relatives of humans are the gorilla, bonobo, and the chimpanzee. All humans from the start originated and evolved in Africa. Of the many evolutionary stages of humans, Homo erectus was the first to migrate outward into other areas. Neanderthals have constantly been portrayed as unintelligent, desolate, and inconsiderate creatures, from past and present points of perspective, but evidence from archeological digs show they essentially cared for their sick and buried their dead. "The Great Leap Forward" is what Jared Diamond calls the earliest signs or evidence of uniform tools, bone tools, jewelry, and much more. This great leap was estimated to be around 50,000 years ago. Around the same period, hominids began to spread to New Guinea and Australia. As hominids adapted to their new surroundings, large animal species were wiped out because they weren’t evolved to defend themselves against hominids and other predators. The extinction of many large animal species in Eurasia occurred shortly after

According to physical evidence, and theories, scholars have concluded upon a whole hypothesis. Based on their knowledge and belief, modern humans diverged from Homo sapiens between 200,000 and 150,000 years ago specifically in Africa, that between 125,000 and 60,000 years ago members of Homo sapiens left Africa, and that these

Human evolution is the gradual process in which people, or Homo sapiens, originated from apelike ancestors. Scientific evidence, particularly in the form of fossils and secondary remains, show that the physical and behavioral traits shared by all people evolved over a period of approximately six million years. Humans are primates. Both genetic and physical similarities show that humans and the great apes (large apes) of Africa, chimpanzees (including bonobos, or so-called “pygmy chimpanzees”) and gorillas share a common ancestor that lived between 8 and 6 million years ago. The volume of fossils found in Africa suggests that most evolution occurred there and is likely the place of origin for early humans. This brings to fruition the “out of Africa” theory, also called the “single-origin hypothesis.”

Humans have existed on Earth for approximately 3.4 million years. The oldest known human ancestor is "Lucy," an Australopithecus. Over this extensive period of time, humans have evolved significantly. Homo Sapiens have grown from 3 to almost 6 feet (average), lost most of the body hair, became leaner and adapted to walking. Humans have come a long way, from Australopithecus to Homo sapiens, from living in trees to living in cities. Slowly, through hundreds of thousands of years, we mutated over and over again, natural selection ensuring that no destructive mutations continue. From the slow evolution, four distinctive species emerged and died out, each giving way to its ' descendant: Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus, Homo Sapiens Neanderthalesis, and Homo sapiens Sapiens.

Human evolution according to research started over 6 million years ago. The outcome of the evolution process is the current human beings. Scientific studies have revealed over the years a remarkable affinity between the chimpanzees/Apes and human beings. Even though this reality is not a definitive prove that human beings evolved from apes, it does show that the human beings are in one way or another related to other primates. Scientists suppose that the humans and the primates shared a common ancestor. The subject of what makes humans what they are and their origin has been the exclusive purpose leading to many scientific studies globally (Coolidge & Wynn, 2011). Studies believe that Africa was the origin of evolution millions of years ago. Fossil remains have been discovered in different parts of Africa as well as other regions of the world. Different hominins have been discovered around the world in the last 1 million years. Thus, the different discoveries have led to comparisons between the various species of hominins to clarify on their similarities as well as differences. This essay seeks to explain whether they were distinctively different species or regional versions of the same species.