Human Origins : The Cusp Of Evolution Essay

Homo erectus was first found in Africa and the fossilized remains dated 1.8 and 1.0 million years old. The Homo erectus traits are very similar toward the modern human traits. Homo erectus brain size was smaller than the Homo sapiens. Homo erectus had a brain size of approximately 650 cc and Homo sapiens had a brain size of approximately 1251

Describe the major developments of early human and social evolution. Throughout, discuss tool manufacturing, language development, agriculture, social behavior, and population growth.

In his On the Origin of Species, written in 1859, Charles Darwin clearly explained the gradual progression toward the speciation of organisms with his five main principles: variation, inheritance, competition, selection, and propagation. Darwin hesitated to publish his findings because he understood that his findings were based on the animal kingdom and on an evolutionary process that had to have spanned millennia. He specifically did not think that his discoveries were applicable to the evolution of human society. Contrary to Darwin’s preference, Herbert Spencer did exactly what Darwin hoped to avoid by publishing numerous works supporting his own, new thesis of “Social Darwinism,” which claimed that Darwin’s principles of evolution

of some sort to the general human gene pool, enough to be considered a different

Human evolution is the biological and cultural development of humans. A human is any member of the species Homo sapiens, meaning "wise man." Since at least the Upper Paleolithic era, some 40,000 years ago, every human society has devised a creation myth to explain how humans came to be. Creation myths are based on cultural beliefs that have been adopted as a legitimate explanation by a society as to where we came from.

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

One of the most astonishing things on earth is the human body. They consist of many organs that work together to maintain the person alive. The humans body composition is complex, but what was the origin? How did we become who we are today? These are the questions that intrigued me, and allowed me to understand how the human body evolved over the years. By the examination of our ancestors, and our body we will understand how we look today.

Many people often consider our first milestone in life to be our first step. It is the beginning of many important developments as an individual. It was also the beginning of our development as a species. Dr. Donald Johanson and Dr. Tim White discovered two of the most amazing specimens that would be the stepping-stones to the beginning of evolutionary development. Australopithecus Afarensis (Lucy) and Ardipithecus Ramidus (Ardi) were the first fossils found in Africa that showed signs of early evolutionary development that is connected to Homo sapiens in the evolutionary tree. Lucy and Ardi are important to our

2) The concept of descent with modification, or evolution, has a great deal of evidence in its support. Indicate the major types of evidence.

Scientists have been able to discover things about our past that are almost inconceivable over 150 years ago when Charles Darwin was releasing his book, “The Origin of Species” (Gibbons, 2009a). Fossils from different australopith species have been found that lived between 4 million and 2 million years ago that show the clearer transition to human. The author, Kate Wong (2013) believes the Australopithecus sediba is the most important human ancestor discovered. Even though the discovery of Au. sediba allowed anthropologists to see human species a long time ago, there are opinions on whether it was the most important human ancestor discovered. This essay will explore how hominids have gone through many changes to get from Ardipithecus to Homo habilis and the important discoveries by scientists and what I think is the most important to the study of human origins.

here is an argument as to which Australopithecine gave rise to the genus homo. Evidence indicates that it was Australopithecus Sediba. The species lived 1.9 million years ago and greatly resembled Homo. According to Erin Wayman in his article Fossil Finds Complicate Search for Human Ancestor scientists still don't fully agree on where A. Sediba fits in the human family tree, but there is evidence to support it is possible ancestor. The study of two skeletons, on male one female, found in Malapa Cave in South Africa show that: the shape of the frontal lobe of the males brain is very similar to that of Homo. Also the pelvis had a mix of australopithecine- and homo-like traits leading scientists to believe they spend more time walking around and

The chapter 1 called "Up To The Starting Line" gives a brief report on the topic of evolution of the first human ancestors. The earliest stages of human evolution took place in Africa with abundant of fossil evidence to prove. We all originated in Africa around 7 million years age. Our closet common ancestor living are called the surviving species of the great apes that are chimpanzee, bonobo, and gorilla. But the most closets animal to humans are chimpanzee. The homo erectus was significantly close to us in modern human body size but lacks half of the brain. Homo erectus were more than an ape but still more different than a human. Neanderthals so called cavemen, had brain slightly larger than normal human being. But the Neanderthals

In the historical year of 2013, two amateur cave explorers, Rick Hunter and Steven Tucker, discovered a primitive human-like species in a cave in South Africa. After two years, Lee Berger, a professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa was tipped off by the cavers, who had explored the deep cave to find multiple fossils. Berger and his team soon identified the multitude of fossils as a primitive human. This revolutionary discovery has added an ancestor to our evolutionary tree.

Throughout time human species have evolved. It all started seven million years ago. Many different kinds of ancient humans have roamed Earth. The first species were discovered in Africa and later in Asia, Europe, Australia, and the Americas. Paleoanthropologists, geologists, anatomists, and paleoecologists determined when and where new species evolved by analyzing hominid fossils. They can also tell us how species lived and died, which other species they are related to, what was the climate like, and the plants and animals people relied on.

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.