The Evolution Of Human Animals

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

We share almost 99 percent of our genetic material with chimpanzees. Yet we have several traits that are very different. Two legged walking, or bipedalism seems to be one of the earliest of the major hominine characteristics to have evolved. To

The Australopithecine are some of the earliest known hominids and they embody many characteristics that are associated with bipedalism. Bipedalism is a highly specialized and unusual form of primate locomotion that sets modern humans apart from all other living primates as we are the only extant obligate bipeds. Many evolutionary biologists and paleoanthropologists have devoted innumerable research hours to attempting to understand this unique form of locomotion and how it evolved. A number of interdependent morphological adaptations occurred over a long period of time to solve challenges posed by habitual bipedalism. As a result, there are obvious differences that exist between early and late hominin species.

The first behavior, locomotion, is well known for hominins because of the evolution to bipedalism. Bipedal locomotion allows for the carrying of objects, provisioning family, and efficiency of energy, among many other reasons. Not all primates are bipedal. Chimpanzees can walk both bipedally and quadrupedally. They have been a common point of reference for a better understanding of the evolution of bipedal locomotion in early ape-like hominins. Many studies have looked into the evolution of walking quadrupedally to bipedally. These bipedal performances of contemporary non-human primates have given important context that can help in reconstructing early hominin bipedalism. Many anthropologists claim that biomechanical models link locomotor performance to anatomy and have the potential to reveal robust form function relationships, however, this is only given to the extent that locomotor performance of chimpanzees and other species are shown to fit

Bipedalism was the first evolutionary change to define the hominid lineage. It was a major evolutionary change that changed the way we move. Bipedalism is the condition of using two feet for standing and walking. Before bipedalism emerged we were walking on all fours just as many animals do presently. Bipedal locomotion dates back to 7 million years ago with one of the candidates which is Sahelanthropus tchadensis. The other two candidates for the earliest bipedal hominid are Orrorin tugenesis, and Genus Ardipithecus. This evolutionary change brings about several benefits such as being better adapted to live on savannas, having freed hands, more efficient for travel, and better regulation of body temperature. However, similar to many evolutionary changes, Bipedalism comes with “costs” or disadvantages. These disadvantages include our loss of speed, and more stress on lower body joints including the spine.

Current ideas suggest that the common ancestor of humans and African apes lived only about 5-8 million years ago; so, for more than 50 million years, humans and the African apes have shared primate ancestry. Within this ancestry, a new level of movement began to come into existence known as bipedalism: the ability to walk and run upright on two legs. There are various theories about when our ancestors started walking upright, but a popular view is that perhaps about 7-million years ago, early hominids began to adapt to a climate that was cooling globally. The huge rainforest expanses in Africa were being replaced with savannah and patches of woodland, requiring the tree-climbing apes to become more adept at walking on land. Our ancestors who ventured out into the savannah were rewarded with roots, shrubs and occasional animal carcasses, ensuring that those who walked on two legs were more likely to survive. Even so, the jump from trees to land is not all that significant because some of the early hominids’ anatomical structures may have already been pre-adapted to bipedalism while climbing trees and stretching for fruit. Bipedalism primarily allowed hominids to free their arms completely, enabling them to make and use tools efficiently, stretch for fruit in trees and use their hands for social

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.

The Australopithecine are some of the earliest known hominids and they embody many characteristics that are associated with bipedalism. Bipedalism is a highly specialized and unusual form of primate locomotion that sets modern humans apart from all other living primates as we are the only extant obligate bipeds. Many evolutionary biologists and paleoanthropologists have devoted innumerable research hours to attempting to understand this unique form of locomotion and how it evolved. A number of interdependent morphological adaptations occurred over a long period of time to solve challenges posed by habitual bipedalism. As a result, there are differences that exist between early and late hominin species.

But why was bipedalism so critical to human evolution? It is the earliest human feature to have evolved in hominins. Darwin felt that it was to free up the hands for making of tools and weapons. However, the first stone tools don’t appear until approximately 2.5mya, many years after the first evidence of bipedalism in hominids. A more logical explanation may be that bipedalism was selected simply because it is superior to walking quadrupedally. The Efficient Walker theory argues that bipedalism enabled hominids to travel further to locate food and fertile territory which coincided with the disappearance of Miocene forests and emergence of savannas in Africa.

The issue at hand in these articles is the evidence for the development of bipedalism in hominids. Bipedalism seems to be one of the most important factors in the evolution of mankind and therefore the surrounding debate is rife with various hypotheses as to the background of this development in hominid evolutionary history. Although each of the three articles reviewed in this essay make different arguments, each seem to be cogent in their own way and do seem to complement each other. The first of which is C. Owen Lovejoy 's Human Origins.

Throughout the conceptual yet acknowledged theories surrounding human evolutionary traits and behaviours, the exact forces that specifically promoted bipedalism are still difficult to determine. Controversy lies with the suggestion that bipedalism arose from as early as 5.8 million years ago, in the late Miocene era, but it can be scientifically defined that the first definite bipedal hominin was the Australopithecus anamensis in the Pliocene. These findings suggest that at 3.9-2.9 million years ago, bipedalism was evolving; certain conditions acted as influences upon the hominins to develop bipedality. As such, specific selection pressures have since been proposed during evolutionary studies to indicate the exact circumstances which

Bipedalism, a locomotion that consist of the two lower limbs to move. This can be found in many animals, but it is considered more “optional” than “mandatory” as a way to transport. Some use it as a defense mechanism. In humans, it is one of the special characteristics that is used to differentiate the human species from the rest of the Hominidae family. Only humans have “mandatory” bipedalism. Other characteristics include massive brain size and the ability to make and use tools (Lovejoy,1988). It was discussed that because of going from quadrupedal to bipedal it cause many advancements such as brain development. Bipedalism was the biggest evolutionary change for the human ancestors. Nobody really knows the origins of bipedalism, but there are some theories that might explain it. It can be the freeing of hands to use tools or to hold and carry resources or offspring. It can be change of habitat from woodland to plain or use of defense mechanism to look beyond the plains for predators at further distance. It can also be energy efficient and to run longer more easier compare to quadrupedalism. Bipedalism gave many advantages with the change of human body, mainly the skeletal structure, but is it possible that some of these changes have tradeoffs? Some scientists believe that certain illnesses, injuries, and health complication are the results of the change of skeletal structure to become bipedal. There are disadvantages for bipedalism and it can differ between male and

One of the most intriguing aspects surrounding this topic is the multiple different hypotheses for the evolution from quadrupedal gait to bipedal locomotion. Due to the fact that evidence suggests that the emergence of bipedalism occurred as early as 6 millions years ago, there have been many hyptotheses as to how the earliest hominids

There has been much debate concerning the origins of bipedalism. Bipedalism, or the ability to move on two legs (eLucy, 2007) was said to have emerged due to climate change in East Africa, for sexual display purpose, to reduce exposure to sunlight, the need to use weapons and tools and many more (NOVA, 2013). There are numerous arguments associated with bipedalism as no one can be entirely sure as to what constituted to the emergence of this trait, which was first present in hominins Australopithecus Afarensis. Anthropologists claim that there is a missing link in the evolutionary lineage that makes it hard to confirm the real cause of bipedalism emergence. However, there are some models which are widely accepted by scientific world, such

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.