In a bid to identify the cradle of modern man, evolution theorists have formulated several theories on the origins of man. Amongst these theories, some attribute the origin of modern man to the early apes while others argue that both man and the early apes evolved from early life forms. Nonetheless, the theorists affirm that the earliest man survived on the basis of natural selection. In this regard, the early man underwent various changes in order to adapt to the environment. Those that failed to adapt to the environment became extinct. Thus, evolution became a necessity whereby the species recombined through sexual or genetic mutation to produce new species (Boeree, 2009). As such, the modern man has evolved into the present form for over five million years. The process of evolution has been slow and gradual and it is reasonable to foresee future changes in the human race. In this paper, therefore, an assessment is made on whether or not the human race is still evolving.
The environment has had the greatest impact on human evolution so far. The earliest descendants of modern man lived in the tropical and equatorial forests. Thus, they were physically adapted to the environment, for instance, their heads were elongated in order to allow cooling and their skins and eyes were dark to protect against radiation from sun rays (Internetlooks.com, n.d.). However, due to the vagaries of weather including the global cooling and the global warming, they migrated from their original habitats. Different populations moved to different habitats hence in adapting to the new habitats, the populations acquired new physical characteristics that were inherited by their progenies. Thus, different races emerged including the Whites, Indians, Dravidi...
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...ases will ensure increased longevity and improved standards of life for the future generations hence they will have distinct physical features. For instance, it is posited by evolution theorists that men will have deeper voices, square jaws, and big penises while women will have smooth hairless skin, firm breasts, and even features. In the view of the evidence of evolution in the human race, it is tenable to state that the human race is still evolving and will continue to do so even in the future.
Works Cited
BBC News. (2006). Human Species May Split in Two. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6057734.stm
Boeree, C.G. (2009). Human Evolution. Retrieved from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/humanevol.html
Internetlooks.com. (n.d.). Human Differentiation: Evolution of Racial Characteristic. Retrieved from http://www.internetlooks.com/humandifferentiation.html
The evolution of man is constantly in question. While we are reasonably sure that modern humans and primates are both related to the same common ancestor, there is constant debate over what initially caused the two species to split into early hominids and apes. According to some, our longest and most popular theory on the division of man and ape is profoundly wrong. However, those same individuals usually offer an equally controversial theory as a substitute, one that is almost impossible to scientifically test or prove. Both the Savanna Theory and the Aquatic Ape Theory offer solutions to how and why humans evolved into bipedal toolmakers. But with enough questioning, each loses its accountability to rhetorical science.
Australopithecus afarensis who existed 3.5 million years ago and a 4.4 million year old skeleton of an Ardipithecus ramidus are the closest science has come to discovering the human lineage. Shattered Ancestry an article written by Katherine Harmon discusses the remains of two hominids found within Ethiopia. These skeletal remains have created a huge controversy within the topic of evolution questioning many assumptions that have been made referencing the human lineage. The skeleton of the Australopithecus afarensis was named Lucy and was discovered in 1974. The evidence of her walking upright on her two feet essentially guaranteed her a spot in the human lineage line. Lucy was a chimplike ape that was said to walk upright making scientists believe the human ancestry was simple. The complete skeleton found in Ethiopia of an Ardipithecus ramidus named Ardi completely changed all assumptions made from scientists about the complexity of the human lineage. These remains have encouraged researches that the human line is not the only lineage to have evolved but the chimpanzee line has undergone drastic changes as well. There are many traits that researchers have always directly linked to the human lineage however since these discoveries occurred researchers are reconsidering. The recent discoveries that have shattered what has always suggested what linked a species to the human lineage have changed the certainty of whether it is possible to confidently identify the human’s last common ancestor. Majority of scientist had forgotten that there would have been many hominid species living together at one time. New theories have been suggested since scientists revealed that the foot of a hominid found called the Burtele site was found ju...
years ” (Quimby 2), since this epoch involved the fundamental evolution of mankind to the present. It is important to
The evolution of the human species has significantly changed during the course of evolution to what is now the modern day Homo sapiens. Some of the changes that have occurred through the evolution are bipedalism, changes in body features such as brow ridges, and an increase in brain capacity.
Human advancement, otherwise called hominization, is the transformative procedure that prompted the development of anatomically modern humans, starting with the developmental history of primates – specifically variety Homo – and prompting the rise of Homo sapiens as a distinct species of the hominid family, the considerable gorillas. This evolutionary procedure was
The evolution of the human species has significantly changed during the course of evolution to what is now the modern day Homo sapiens. Some of the changes that have occurred through the evolution are bipedalism, changes in body features such as brow ridges, and an increase in brain capacity.
In the past, races were identified by the imposition of discrete boundaries upon continuous and often discordant biological variation. The concept of race is therefore a historical construct and not one that provides either valid classification or an explanatory process. Popular everyday awareness of race is transmitted from generation to generation through cultural learning. Attributing race to an individual or a population amounts to applying a social and cultural label that lacks scientific consensus and supporting data. While anthropologists continue to study how and why humans vary biologically, it is apparent that human populations differ from one another much less than do populations in other species because we use our cultural, rather than our physical differences to aid us in adapting to various environments.
The beginnings of racial difference can be traced back to the Age of Exploration, during which England was expanding its trading routes and was highly involved with trade in Africa. The English traders noticed distinguishing differences between themselves and the African people, both in physical appearance and cultural primitiveness. It was not until the 18th century when the word race began to enter languages and vocabularies, and this idea of a difference between peoples was prodded further into existence through the work of Carolus Linnaeus. Linnaeus composed a list of subspecies of human beings based on racial differences. There were several other scientists, such Georges Cuvier and Charles Darwin, as who created subspecies of man. Social Darwinism, alluded to the concept that eventually one greater subspecies of man would prevail and be the most elite of all of human kind. These lists often categorized the order of species with the white, European man at the top of the list and the darker skinned, African man at the bottom. An example of a concept of categorization was the Great Chain of Being, through which all things, including man and the subspecies of man, are given ...
One could argue that our species does everything it can do secure a future for ourselves and our future generations. We have traveled to the stars and back, we explore every inch of our land and travel to the deepest depths of our oceans, and we probe the earth for any resources we can find, all in order to find the best possible option for the human species to survive. But are we really doing the right thing for our species to survive?
“The scientific study of how humans developed did not begin until the 1800s in Europe. Until that time, people relied on religious explanations of how humans came into existence. Starting in the 1500s a scientific revolution began to sweep Europe. Thinkers started using scientific methods and experiments to try to better understand the world and the creatures living in it. Eventually these methods were turned to the question of human origins” (The Nature Of Human Origins, 1). Earth made it possible for species to change over time because Ancient Earth provides ability to plenty of time.The Homo Sapien a is very complex creature. The species started off very simple by living in caves and surviving with little food and then later evolved into a species that were able to do many more complex things. The first species was Sahelanthropus tchadensis They were one of the most simple humans in that time period and on. They had very small skulls compared to Homo Sapiens today and their motor skills were just the same. We have evolved and changed for the better both mentally and physically. The Evolution of Homo Sapiens started off simple, such as the Neanderthals, and now we are the most advanced species to ever walk the planet so far.
Biological evolution is the change in the inherited and genetic characteristics of a species. Much of what makes us human is our physical appearance and biological adaptations. Human ancestry originates in primates and over time, we have physically evolved a great deal in order to become the modern humans that we are today. Humans have larger brain sizes, longer legs, and are habitually bipedal all of which biologically separate humans from other animals and create the human identity.
Human beings are no exception to biological evolution. Like other organisms around the world, humans have significantly changed overtime and have developed all sorts of diverse characteristics. One noticeable characteristic of human beings is the variation of skin color. Skin color has been used to identify, classify, and verify the variation that exists in the human population around the world. How did such a distinct variation arise and how did it play into adaptation?
Evolution in physical anthropology is an biological science that deals with the adaptations, variability and evolution of human beings and their living and fossil relatives (Hagan, 2009). Because it studies human biology in the context of human culture and behavior, physical anthropology is also a social science (Hagen, 2009). In our reading textbook, the meaning of evolutions means we affect it, it affects us, and we are dependent on it. Another meaning is the actions of the natural processes that have affected every living organism (Park, 2009).
Evolution is the complexity of processes by which living organisms established on earth and have been expanded and modified through theorized changes in form and function. Human evolution is the biological and cultural development of the species Homo sapiens sapiens, or human beings. Humans evolved from apes because of their similarities. This can be shown in the evidence that humans had a decrease in the size of the face and teeth that evolved. Early humans are classified in ten different types of families.
Without evolution, and the constant ever changing environment, the complexity of living organisms would not be as it is. Evolution is defined as a process that results in heritable changes in a population spread over many generations (8).Scientists believe in the theory of evolution. This belief is based on scientific evidence that corroborates the theory of evolution. In Figure 1 the pictures of the skulls depict the sequence of the evolution of Homo-sapiens. As the figure shows, man has evolved from our common ancestor that is shared by homo-sapiens. The change of diet of homo-sapiens over time has thought to contribute to the change in jaw structure and overall skull shape.