Early Man

Early Man

Introduction:

What do we know about ourselves as a species and how long have we been around in `modern` form?

Homo sapiens the human species is a Latin word that stands for the ‘wise man’. The Homo sapiens belongs to a bigger family of the hominidae (great apes). In comparison to other living organisms, human beings have the greatest thinking capacity capable of reasoning and introspecting. This capability in addition trod an erect body that frees the fore limbs has helped humans to use tools far much better than any other species.

The human species belongs to the Homo sapiens species. The human species has been in existence for around six to seven million years. There have been many branches and or lineages within the development of this species. Within this lineage, there have been a couple of genetic variations within our development.

Directly up the lineage of Homo sapiens, we as a human race can trace our roots to Homo habilis, and then upper on this tree there is homo Africanus and higher up there is the homo ramidus.

Early Man

What `facts` can you determine about our `earliest` direct ancestors and what are THREE primary physical indicators of our `earliest` human ancestors?

Through the recovery of fossils from various regions of the globe, there has been a tremendous growth of information concerning our earliest ancestors. Palaenthropologists have been able to apply genetic engineering and in the process, they have been able to trace our lineage. These researchers have been able to determine our ancestors DNA combinations, which are very close to ours. In addition, their brains have been claimed to be around 74% of the modern human beings brain. In addition, their teeth have been found to be slightly smaller from ours.

The three major physical indicators of our earliest direct ancestors include the bone structure, brain size and the utilization of tools.

How do you define or interpret the Theory of Evolution regarding man as a species?

(INCLUDE any `late breaking` developments you may find while researching this material.)

The evolution theory is a theory that concerns itself with the development of the homo genus. Despite the fact that it specializes with the study of the homo genus, the evolution theory also studies other hominines and hominids like the Australopithecus

There are two major theories that seek to explain the evolution of modern humans. These are the out of Africa (single-origin) perspective and the multiregional theory.

Early Man

Human advancement is characterized by a number of essential developmental, behavioral, morphological and physiological and modifications that have taken place over time.

Human evolution whether analyzed using the single-origin or the multiregional perspective dates back to millions of years ago. This timeline of evolution outlines all the major developmental events of the human species. This timeline also looks at the development of the ancestors of the human species like the Homo habilis.

The evolution theory relies on not only paleontology studies for its arguments but also on morphological studies, genetic and anatomical data, as well as developmental biology.

Human evolution started when the human species first speciated from the ancestors of the lesser apes (gibbons), after this development, the human ancestors then speciated from the ancestors of other great apes. After this the human ancestors then diverged from the ancestors of the famous gorillas, then a few million years after these ancestors then diverged from the ancestors of the chimpanzees. This divergence went on like this up to the point that they diverged from the ancestors of the Australopithecus, then the Homo habilis, to the Homo erectus.

The Homo erectus is believed to be the closest ancestor to modern man with the Homo heidelbergensis believed to have been just an intermediary link.

References:

Dorothy A. Nelson. “Evolutionary aspects of bone health Development in early human populations.” Journal Clinical Reviews in Bone and Mineral Metabolism 1(2002)

Early Man

Miller, Kenneth. (1999). Finding Darwin’s God: A Scientist’s Search for Common Ground between God and Evolution

Niles, Eldredge. “Between Extinctions.” the magazine of the California academy of sciences

51(1998)