In my research paper I will talk about the general history of the Homo Sapiens. I will talk about their origins, behaviors, their evolution to the present time, their means of survival thousands of years ago, the difference between other Homo etc. Homo Sapiens is our ancestors dating back to around 190,000 - 200,000 years ago. Homo Sapiens is Latin for “wise man,” and is the only species of Homo that has not gone extinct. The name Homo Sapiens came from a Swedish naturalist and explorer, Carolus Linnaeus, (born on May 23, 1707 to January 10, 1778) in the year 1758. He was known to be the “father of modern biological classification,” (Tattersall 1998) Homo sapiens were known to coexist with Neanderthals and have also interacted and even …show more content…
In the next 5 – 6 million years after the Sahelanthropus tchadensis which was 2 million years ago, the homo erectus and homo ergaster surfaced in Africa, Asia and Europe. They were one of the first of the homo species to craft many things in order for their survival such as hand- sized stone spears, creating fire, and developing hunting skills for food and survival. The change in their body structure shows how close homo sapiens are to homo erectus as they had similar leg and arm bones to us. Just their structure shows they also had bipedal movement like us and also stood upright. Their brains were slightly smaller and narrower than ours and are known to have a lower mental ability. One of the first early homo sapiens were located majorly in East Africa around 200,000 years ago. Fossils from there showed skull changes that were similar to modern humans today such as a rounded skull and a protruding chin. Few thousand years later the brown ridges started to shrink and form a forehead much like ours. As scientists started to find more clues about the homo genus, there were arguments about the true origins of homo sapiens and were split into two different views on the subject. They are The Multiregional Evolution Model (MRE) and The African Replacement Model (AR). The Multiregional Evolution Model was created by
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
In the quest to explain human origins it is necessary to find a species that bridges modern man (Homo sapiens) with the apes. To fill this gap evolutionists have set forth Homo erectus, who lived approximately 400,000 to 1.6 million years ago (Johanson and Shreeve1989). Although the distinctions are somewhat vague, below the neck, Homo sapiens and Homo erectus are practically Identical and Homo erectus was responsible for pioneering the use of standard tools (such as the hand axe), big-game hunting, and the use of fire (Johanson and Shreeve1989).
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.
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.
This evidence comes from comparisons done of anatomically modern humans in areas such as Europe and Africa. The appearance of anatomically modern humans is associated with an increase in neurological capacity, and this increase in complex thinking can be seen through material resources collected in sites that date to the first appearance of anatomically modern humans. Material resources were collected in Europe that date to a time period known to most archaeologists and anthropologists as the Upper Paleolithic Revolution. This occurred roughly 40,000 years ago and shows a major expansion in various aspects of human life such as technology and
species lived from about four to three million years ago in Eastern Africa. They were much
To begin this essay, Lovejoy appeals the notion of human uniqueness while focusing on human’s ability to be bipedal. By doing this, he introduces the possibilities of the first bipedal ancestor of humans while focusing the relation to other ape’s morphology. Lovejoy first discusses early Australopithecine as one the possibilities for a last common ancestor with chimpanzee, but quickly moves to Ardipithecus ramidus with their thesis of through examining the morphology and social behavioral structure of a CLCA , A. ramidcus can prove the African ape based models are not necessary. African apes models that are used to illustrate human and hominid behavior have become unreliable. To replace these models, Lovejoy proposes adaptive suites and explains
Through the fossil record, scientists have been able to observe the changes among different homo genus, as they evolved over time becoming what we now know as the modern human (Fossil Record, 2015). The fossil record not only organizes the sequential generations that have changed over time to adapt better to their environments, but it also provides a time line to how homo sapiens came to exist (Fossil Record, 2015). Through careful analysis of the human fossil record, characteristics in the skull such as the brow ridge, brain size, cranial capacity, dentition, nasal cavity, eye sockets, mandible, and the cranial base are all characterizes, that both connect the three specimens Homo erectus, Neanderthals, and modern human, as well as, set them apart.
Throughout time man has evolved. Common belief is that Homo sapiens evolved from primates and then, by following the Darwinistic theory of evolution, Neanderthals, when in fact they all evolved alongside each other, sharing common ancestors rather than directly coming from one another. This then lead to similarities in the DNA as well to the high probability that there was interbreeding between the species; phylogenic tree mappings of the mitochondrial DNA of numerous different modern humans from around the world as well as the mtDNA of an assortment of Homo neanderthalensis were able to show the similarities of the two species along with the human descent from their origins in Africa to other areas of the world.
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
The next species to appear were the Homo erectus which might have descended from Homo habilis. They were the first human whose fossils were found outside of Africa. They also had larger brain than the species before them. Homo sapiens sapiens came after the Homo Neanderthalensis; they are the only human species around. This could have been due to the result of increase brain sizes that allows more cognitive abilities that help them adapt to different environment changes and hence survive. Global evidence have been found of art, music, and culture and advanced tool making. In Mithen’s 3 phase of mind proposes that the shape of the Neanderthals’ frontal lobe was similar to the one of the modern Homo sapiens and this indicated that they were able to cope with complex cognitive functioning. Evidence for this could be explained using the phonological approach by Frank Gall (1758-1828).
There is evidence to suggest that Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens had coexisted for approximately 35-40,000 years, (Fagan 2010) from around 60,000 years ago to 25,000 years ago when they finally went extinct (Gibbon 2001). Anthropologists are still uncertain what the cause of their extinction was. This paper will analyze three main theories of Neanderthal extinction. The first theory is the competition theory, which claims that the Homo sapiens and Neanderthals had to compete for resources, ultimately leading to their demise. The second theory I will discuss is the climate change theory, which claims that Homo sapiens lived while Neanderthals died because they were better adapted to the climate. The last theory I will discuss is
There has been a great deal of heated debate for the last few decades about where modern Homo sapiens originated. From the battle grounds, two main theories emerged. One theory, labeled “Out-of-Africa” or “population replacement” explains that all modern Homo sapiens evolved from a common Homo erectus ancestor in Africa 100,000 years ago. The species began to spread and replace all other archaic human-like populations around 35,000 to 89,000 years ago. The rivaling opinion, entitled the “regional continuity” theory or “multiregional evolution” model refutes this theory and states modern humans evolved from various species of Homo erectus who interbred with others that lived in
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.
Hominids with a brain absolutely and relatively larger than that of the australopithecines appeared about 2.3 million years ago. These hominids are classified in our own genus: Homo. The earliest species to appear was the Homo Habilis. It was the first of our ancestors to show a significant increase in brain size and also the first to be found associated with stone tools. These characteristics resulted in this species’ placement into the human genus, Homo.