Human Evolution Essay - 2986 Words

Human Evolution Human evolution is the biological and cultural development of humans. A human is any member of the species Homo sapiens, meaning wise man. Since at least the Upper Paleolithic era, some 40,000 years ago, every human society has devised a creation myth to explain how humans came to be. Creation myths are based on cultural beliefs that have been adopted as a legitimate explanation by a society as to where we came from. The science of paleoanthropology, which also tries to create a narrative about how humans came to be, is deeply technical. Paleoantropology is the science of the evolution of humans, and it is the base of all research in that field. Humans have undergone many different changes during the last hundred†¦show more content†¦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 accommodate this strange position, we have developed a specialized pelvis, hip and leg muscles, and an S-shaped vertebral column. Because these changes can be documented in fossil bone, bipedalism is seen as the defining trait of the sub family Homininae. Much of the human ability to make and use tools and other objects stem from the large size and complexity of the human brain. Most modern humans have a braincase vol ume of between 79.3 and 91.5 cubic inches. In the course of human evolution the size of the brain has more than tripled. The increase in brain size may be related to changes in hominine behavior. Over time stone tools, and other artifacts became increasingly numerous and sophisticated. It is likely that the increase in human brain size took place as part of a complex interrelationship that included the elaboration of tool use and tool making, as well as other learned skills, which permitted our ancestors to be increasingly able to live in a variety of environments. The earliest hominine fossils show evidence of marked differences in body size, which may reflect a pattern of the different sexes in our early ancestors. The bones suggest that females may have been 3 to 4 ft in height andShow MoreRelatedEvolution And Its Impact On Human Evolution910 Words   |  4 Pages Humans have gone through many stages of adaptation, allowing for great expansion and our unrivaled dominance of the earth. So it could seem as though humans have reached the peak of evolutionary development. Evolution is often thought of as a natural process, and were it not for humans, this might be true. However, evolution, in the strictest sense, is a change in the genetic structure of a population (Jurmain, et al., 5). While natural selection is a major contributor to the process of evolutionRead MoreThe Evolution Of Human Evolution1103 Words   |  5 PagesHuman 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 primat es. Scientists suppose that the humans and the primates shared a commonRead MoreEvolution And Its Effect On Human Evolution1826 Words   |  8 Pages It is the key to our evolution is very much correct. Beneficial mutation can be a next step of human evolution as people get more adapted to their environment, greatly increasing their chance of successfully reproducing. Evolution is the process of the characteristics of an organism changing over a long period of time. There are two types of evolution: micro, where gene frequencies are shifted within the population, and macro, where a whole new species arises. Evolution occur through naturalRead MoreConvergent Evolution Of Human Evolution972 Words   |  4 Pagesinstance of human evolution has been detected among the peoples of East Africa. It is the ability to digest milk in adulthood, conferred by genetic changes that occurred as recently as 3,000 years ago, a team of geneticists has found.The finding is a striking example of a cultural practice — the raising of dairy cattle — feeding back into the human genome. It also seems to be one of the first instances of convergent human evolution to be documented at the genetic level. Convergent evolution refers toRead MoreThe Evolution Of Humans And Humans978 Words   |  4 PagesHumans have existed on Earth for approximately 3.4 million y ears. 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 andRead MoreEvolution of Human3142 Words   |  13 PagesHuman evolution is the biological and cultural development of humans. A human is any member of the species Homo sapiens, meaning wise man. Since at least the Upper Paleolithic era, some 40,000 years ago, every human society has devised a creation myth to explain how humans came to be. Creation myths are based on cultural beliefs that have been adopted as a legitimate explanation by a society as to where we came from. The science of paleoanthropology, which also tries to create a narrative aboutRe ad MoreHuman Evolution2755 Words   |  12 PagesHuman Evolution Human Evolution, the biological and cultural development of the species Homo sapiens, or human beings. A large number of fossil bones and teeth have been found at various places throughout Africa, Europe, and Asia. Tools of stone, bone, and wood, as well as fire hearths, campsites, and burials, also have been discovered and excavated. As a result of these discoveries, a picture of human evolution during the past 4 to 5 million years has emerged. Human Physical Traits Humans areRead MoreThe Evolution Of The Human Body989 Words   |  4 PagesThe evolution of the human body can be observed from studying the intermediates found in ancestral organisms. Shubin proposes that every attribute that makes us human can be traced back to a time that showcases its importance for survival. Every single trait in the human body has been selected for through multiple mechanisms of evolution, natural selection being one of them. This theory is intriguing because not long ago it was unheard of to relate humans to fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, andRead MoreThe Evolution Of Human Origins1179 Words   |  5 PagesInitial ideas of human origins are reflected in the ancient mythologies. Later on, religious versions of human origins appeared. One of the most popular religious theory is creationism. According to it God had created men and everything else in the world. There are two types of creationism, young earth creationism and old earth c reationism . Ancient philosophy first proposed ideas of the natural origins of men. Most of its ideas were speculative. It was the product of the ancient philosophers` imaginationRead MoreThe Evolution Of The Human Body996 Words   |  4 Pagesinformation website is primarily focused on the evolution of the human body. The web source provides various selections to choose from, including: the human evolution summary, timeline, hall of skulls, and their perspectives. Likewise, the human evolution page describes the fossil hominids and their origins. The author recapitulates the hominid family, which consists of Homo, Australopithecus, and Ardipithecus. Correspondingly, the human evolution timeline page includes six distinct topics that follow