Multi-Regional Continuity: The Fossil Evidence
With regards to the multi-regional continuity model of human evolution, there is without a doubt a preponderance of fossil data that supports the diverse origins of Homo sapiens in different regions of the globe. Skulls displaying a wide variety of mixed modern and archaic features have been found in every corner of the world. The mere existence of these fossils is evidence enough to prove that human evolution was far less cut-and-dried a process than the advocates of the replacement model of human evolution would like to suggest, and, in fact, rather astonishingly complex.
It is useful before discussing the individual fossil
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(222). The occurence of this modern cranial capacity with other archaic traits in specimens consistent with a limited geographical setting suggests a local transition from primitive to more modern traits, as would be expected from the multi-regional continuity model of human evolution.
Crossing over the distance of two continents, the next fossil was recovered from a gravel pit in Swanscombe, England, and is believed to date from 250,000 years ago. The Swanscombe skull consists of an occipital bone and left and right parietals, all well-preserved (1987: 223-224). The cranial volume has been estimated at 1,275 to 1,325 cc., putting it well within the range of modern populations. There are some archaic features, however, as well. There is some indication of a heavy brow ridge, and the cranial walls are relatively thick (1987: 224). Also, the vault of the skull is low, further suggesting some sort of transitional between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens (1987: 224-225). Again, this mixture of modern and archaic features is very conveniently explained by the multi-regional continuity theory of human evolution.
Now, a shorter distance, to Arago Cave in France, for one of the more interesting and perhaps bizarre specimens to be presented in support of the multi-regional continuity model. The remains of at least twenty-three individuals comprise this sample, dating from about 190,000 to 180,000 years ago. The
Dating of the collection was’nt avalible for the lack of stratagraphy but bone from one the the skulls was date. It returned a date of 1000 BP, the date was retreived using the uranium thorium method. These skulls have been shown to show links to those from Kow Swamp.
Fossils Tell of Long Ago uses accessible language and illustrations to aid all students in vocabulary and new concept growth. Explicit instructions, reading the book allowed to the class, and allowing conversation among individual students as they work through learning new words will aid ELL students in expanding their word knowledge. Furthermore, having ELL students translate new word to into their native language will help them activate their previous knowledge. Encouraging all students to be actively engage in learning words will ensure that ELL students and all students will gain knowledge and make connections to new words.
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
Double pieces that have lasted over thousands of ages to offer scholars with references to human existence during the Paleolithic period are the Woman of Willendorf figure and the Lion Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel. Each figure is condensed with amazing features, even though they are not thorough to the level of realism. The Woman of Willendorf is one of the best instances of the small ‘Venuses’ that have been uncovered meaning that her persistence was a part of a ethnic set of views about women and fertility. The Lion Man, is a more exclusive artifact that recounts to the complex figures that are recognized from other cultures within which the related mythologies that have been revealed. The Lion Man has no known mythology that is obtainable in known written history to this day. The two pieces propose the unknown about the Paleolithic era, recognizing a sagacity of religion and rituals that were part of the lives of those who lived during that era and enlightening recent scholars on some aspects of the people during that time.
The fossils that are yet to be found in this project just very well may double the museum’s collection which is already at 3.5 million fossils. The project contains 16 fossil deposits that were recently unknown which makes us wonder how many more deposits are there left to discover (The Natural History Foundation, 2016). As technology advances and our understanding of these fossils grows it will be interesting to see what the future years will bring to the field of
The author and his colleagues chose to focus on 375 million year old rocks in their search for fossils because amphibians that look dissimilar to fish were discovered in 365 million year old rocks, while fish without amphibian characteristics were discovered in 385 million year old rocks. Thus, it is possible that the evolutionary intermediary, or the “missing link” between fish and amphibians, would be discovered in 375 million year old rocks, between the two time periods. The rocks examined were sedimentary in composition, as the gradual and relatively gentle formation of sedimentary rock under conditions of mild pressure and low heat are conducive to the fossilization of animal remains. Sedimentary rock is also often formed in rivers and seas, where animals are likely to live. This site provides a resource that describes means by which fossils are formed and how the fossil record may be interpreted, and shows some examples of fossils demonstrating evolution through geological periods: http://www.fossilmuseum.net/fossilrecord.htm. In 2004, Shubin and his colleagues were looking for fossils on Ellesmere Island, in northern Canada. This location was chosen because of its lack of human development, as well as of obstructing natural formations and life forms such as trees, which
At least 222 fossils of Homo erectus have been found to date throughout Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe that support these statistics
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
Knudson KJ, Williams SR, Osborn R, Forgey K, Williams PR. 2009. The geographic origins of Nasca trophy heads using strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotope data. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 28:244–257.
The Out of Africa or African Replacement Hypothesis is a well-supported theory that argues that every living human being is dismount from a small group in Africa, who then distribute into the wider world displacing earlier forms such as Neanderthal and Denisovans. Another name for it is The African Replacement Hypothesis. The Out-of-Africa theory was supported in the early 1990s by research on mitochondrial DNA studies. The fossils of early humans who lived between 2 and 6 million years ago come entirely from Africa. Scientists do not all agree, however, about how these species are related or which ones simply died out. In fact there is some evidence:
Some scientists believe (Duarte et al., 1999) that Neanderthals and modern humans not only interbreed in Europe but Neanderthals are the biological and cultural evolutionary transition between archaic and early modern
What evidence shows the changing from the early hominids to the modern humans? Throughout the human evolution body parts like legs and harms have changed for the better. By the early hominids being biped, meaning they are able to stand and even walk on two feet, it helped them to be able to do more things like getting around more and help with their tool making and hunting. A lot of the fossils discovered were found in the Great Rift Valley in East Africa, which contained many different lakes and small rivers. For many years researchers have been finding new species. These species have been named Australopithicus, robust australopithecines , Orrorin tugenensis, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, neanderthal, and Homo sapiens. These early
My outside source for questions 3 and 4 is a journal by Pat Shipman titled Fossils. This journal was published in The New Scientist Vol. 215, Issue 2876, p. 8-16.
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