The Origin of Modern Humans

Humans developed in Africa. “…, indicates that the earliest stages of human evolution were also played out in Africa.” (Page 36)

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.

For many years there has been a debate over where modern humans originated from. The first theory, out of Africa, discusses modern humans evolving in Africa. They migrated out to Eurasia and as the time went on their species evolved independently and developed into distinct species. All other human populations were eventually replaced with no interbreeding involved in the process and Homo sapiens had successfully dominated the rest of the world. On the other hand, the second theory, regional continuity, says that our earliest hominid ancestors had departed Africa and spread into other parts of the world later evolving into modern human beings. In this paper I will discuss the Regional continuity theory and elaborating on the Out of Africa theory. Evidence based on fossils, artifacts, and other crucial components will be discussed. Based on the evidence found I will come to a conclusion as to which theory I think best fits the origins of humans.

The Journey of Man was an interesting non-fictional anthropological literary piece where the author sought to explain how modern humans came to inhabit the world we know today. He began by talking about the mitochondrial DNA passed from mother to daughter, or the maternal line. Using this it was discovered that all people had a common female ancestor who lived in Africa about 200,000 years ago. This was one of the first steps in supporting the out of Africa hypothesis. However, mtDNA could not give all the answers to how humans moved throughout the world, and for that he turned to the male Y chromosome. By examining this, he and many other geneticists discovered the different changes throughout populations, and could estimate how long ago they occurred. According to Wells, modern humans were in Africa 60,000 years ago, and from that point began to migrate outward. For each new area, such as Asia, the Middle East, Australia, and others, there were specific polymorphisms on the Y chromosome that defined each population. By using this technique, he was able to map out when modern

1.1) The MRC theory says after the first migration from Africa 1.8 million years ago, the different groups of humans in different part of the world slowly evolved in parallel with each other. The emergence of modern humans didn’t occur in a single area, but on different continents. In contrast, the OOA theory says humans evolved first in African and then migrated to different continents. The Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens evolved into different species and interbreeding would be rare which is why there are different races. The only similarity between the two theories is that humans started in Africa. Until about 14 years ago, Genetic DNA showed that the MRC theory was correct. But 13 years ago more evidence shows the OOA theory is more realistic. Anatomical evidence shows different physical characteristic between Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens. Archeological

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.

Chris stringer is the author of Lone Survivor How We Came to Be the Only Humans on Earth. Stringer covers a wide variety of topics in his book. He talks about the modern technology we have now that makes it easier to identify fossils, bones, dates, etc. He also mentions how the human gene became what it is today, the Homo sapien. Stringer argues that Homo sapiens did not originate in a single region of Africa. Instead, different populations coexisted across the continent with other species like Homo erectus, and they exchanged genes, tools and behavioral and survival traits before they migrated to Europe.

The Out-Africa-Theory that has been heavily sided with is the hypothesis that remains the most likely to have happened. Not only because that is the theory that has the most scientific evidence but also because that is were the remains of the oldest primate fossil on all seven continents have been found. Even though the recent evidence in Asia is very convincing, there is too much noteworthy evidence found in Africa that an not be ignored. Moreover, such a new theory is lacking a substantial amount of evidence and investigation in order for it to become convincing theory. This leads the scientific world to side with the fact that we have deeper-rooted ancestry in Africa.

The Out of Africa Theory is a widely renown theory describing the origin of the human race and their early dispersal throughout the world. According to this theory, humans have a monogensis, or a single and common origin; Africa. The concept was first introduced in 1871 by Charles Darwin but was deliberated for years until further studies of mitochondrial DNA and evidence ”based on physical anthropology of archaic specimens” was added.

Human origins, evolution, and diffusion are important for understanding the history of Africa. African historians take pride in the fact that Africa is most certainly the birthplace of humanity. There is evidence showing that humanity began in Africa by remains left behind by human groups and societies. They have retrieved fossils of living organisms, and even written records, like cave drawings. Dating back millions of years ago Africa provides the best time line of human development because other parts of the world do not have evidence dating back as far as in Africa. Where did humanity and human history begin? There are theories supporting both that, humans evolved from various parts of the world, and that humans rose in Africa then migrated to other parts of the world and continued to develop. The theory that has the most support is that humanity rose in Africa then moved to other regions of the world. Africa is indeed the home of humanity but because Africa is where humanity began they were not able to be at the top of the evolutionary ladder because their global location did not allow them to develop faster. Human history in general is difficult to understand but we can look at the past to learn more about where we came from and how our societies have developed.

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.”

The scientists involved in the project took the sample of 12,127 men from 163 different Asian populations including Iran, China and Siberia. This experiment looked at the modern human DNA patterns that define the Y chromosome. According to past studies, the Y chromosome remains constant through time and can be utilized to help trace a male’s ancestors. The results from this experiment are overwhelming and very exciting to those in the scientific community who support the Out-of-Africa theory. These results show that every man who participated in the study had one of three Y chromosome biallelic markers or mutations labeled YAP+, M89T, and M130T. These three mutations all connect back to one mutation called M168T which originate in Africa around 35,000 to 89,000 years ago. For the regional continuity theory to be proven valid, one of these 12,127 men would have not had one of these mutations but a completely new and different mutation. This could have suggested a possible lineage to another type of Homo erectus living in Asia or interbreeding between different human-like species. This may become possible in the future and prove this current study false. However, at the present time, this indisputable information resolves that there is not as much evidence to support the theory of regional continuity or else there

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

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.

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.