Taking a Look at Homo Erectus

Science researcher Christopher Stringer and science writer Robin McKie state that modern humans first developed in Africa and then spread to other parts of the world.

The earliest stage of human evolution came to be found in Africa. Human history began about 7 million years ago and came from a descendant of the gorilla line. These early humans known as Homo erectus dispersed to different continents and started colonizations. Since every human being came from the same background it supports diamond’s theory that different human intellectuals wasn’t the cause of different advancements. As the inhabitants of Africa started to create new tools Europe and Asia began to follow this trend. As of some 400,000 years ago, Cro-Magnons in Europe developed modern skeletons, superior weapons, and other advanced cultural traits, a sign human evolution.

Evidence indicates Neanderthals and Modern humans shared a common African ancestor and split on the evolutionary tree between 500,000 to 200,000 years ago. Neanderthals developed in the cold and harsh environment of Europe and western Asia. With a lot of water locked up in the polar ice caps, Africa was experiencing a severe drought. This arid and dry environment is where modern human’s direct ancestor was living. These people’s bodies were a lot taller and weaker (to allow heat to escape) in comparison to the Neanderthals. This severe drought placed modern humans on the brink of extinction. However, when a species is dying out only the most inventive and resourceful survive, this causes the fitness of the remaining population to increase. In Europe the Neanderthals toughness allowed them to be very successful. In Africa the modern humans developed something the Neanderthals did not have, imagination. In Africa to survive it was necessary to think ahead and this allowed them to make the final step in becoming modern humans. Every previous human ancestor had been limited to the confines of their environment, but these ancestors eventually made their way out of Africa, and their imaginative behavior is illustrated in the drawings they left behind for others to find. After they left Africa they could have very well come into contact with the Neanderthals. Neanderthals became

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

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

Culturally, the Homo erectus was very successful compared to the other hominids because they had strong families. They multiplied and produced strong offspring as well. Aside from strong famlies, the Homo Erectus' utilized fire which made them sucessful as well. They used fire to stay warm, to cook their meats and other foods, and it was a tool to protect them against predators as well. The biology of Homo Erectus consists of a reduced size in the face, which includes their jaws and teeth. They also have a much bigger body and brain than Homo Habilis'. The Homo Erectus have pretty short arms and fairly long legs. The Homo Erectus had great access to animal food sources and had the ability to hunt, therefore they had sufficient protein in their

I agree with you Lilian. Homo Erectus was the only hominid that migrated out of Africa. They were sufficiently developed to adapt new environment. They leave Africa during warm stages between ice ages due to a phenomenon. Many researchers believe that Homo Erectus larger brains explains their intelligence and cognitive ability to adapt on new

Homo erectus, a species found globally, lived from around 1.8. million years ago, to about 300,000 years ago. They were part of the genus Homo, which began emerging around 2.8 million years ago, and evolved from the genus Australopithecus, which inhabited the world around 3.8. million years ago. Homo erectus was unique in their ability to adapt to new environments, which allowed them to migrate to continents apart from Africa (04/12 lecture). The new ecological niches resulted in physical adaptations and a wide mosaic of traits within the species. Despite the variation there are many traits that are consistent found in species before and after the lifespan of Homo erectus. Homogeneous traits within the species included obligate bipedalism,

The Out of Africa hypothesis and the Multiregional hypothesis are the two most contentious theories pertaining to the origins and migration patterns of modern Homo sapiens. The aim of this essay is to examine the genetic and phenotypic evidence of these two greatly debatable theories using the scientific method to adapt, adjust, reject or accept these theories in order for the reader to retrieve information about this discussion and make an informed decision as to which theory they deem most logical. Recent studies (Jin & Su 2000) has suggested that both the Out of Africa (OOA) and Multiregional hypotheses agree that Homo erectus originated in Africa and expanded to Eurasia about one million years ago, but they vary in clarifying the origin of modern Homo sapiens. The Out

The multiregional origin of modern humans is a scientific idea that gives reasons for the pattern of human evolution that was suggested by Milford H. Wolpoff. Multiregional origin says that the evolution of humans from 2.5 million years ago to the present day has been inside of one human species, evolving into modern humans.

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

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.”

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

The theories of human evolution may always cause a heated dispute. Each theory presents its own evidence proving

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.