Human Evolution

Human evolution is the long process by which humans evolved from their apelike ancestors. Scientific data suggests that the physical and behavioural characteristics common by all humans evolved over a six-million-year period from apelike ancestors.

Bipedalism, or the capacity to walk on two legs, is one of the earliest defining human characteristics, having emerged around 4 million years ago. Other essential human features, such as a large and complex brain, the ability to create and utilise tools, and the ability to communicate, have just lately emerged. Many advanced characteristics, such as rich symbolic expression, art, and elaborate cultural diversity, have only arisen in the last 100,000 years.

Primates are humans. Physical and genetic similarities reveal a close link between the contemporary human species, Homo sapiens, and another group of primate species, the apes. Humans and Africa’s big apes (large apes), such as chimps (including bonobos, or “pygmy chimps”) and gorillas, have a common ancestor who lived between 8 and 6 million years ago. Humans originated in Africa, and much of human evolution took place there. Early human fossils dating back between 6 and 2 million years come exclusively from Africa.

History of Human Evolution

The term “prehistory” refers to the period before written history began. Prehistory makes up more than 99 percent of man’s story. Historians agree that man is approximately 1 million years old, yet he did not begin writing until 5000 years ago. Despite the fact that the prehistoric man left no written records, he unwittingly left us knowledge about his manner of life, which has been interpreted by various scientists.

Physical anthropologists, human palaeontologists, archaeologists, and other scientists are among them. It is their responsibility to discover what occurred before written history began (Braidwood 1964a, b). Some historians believe it is their responsibility to collect and organise the information provided by these scientists in order to reach objective judgments.

E H. Carr has two ideas about what an objective historian is: one is that he “…has the capacity to rise above the limited vision of his own situation in society and in history – a capacity that is partly dependent on his capacity to recognise the extent of his involvement in that situation, to recognise, that is to say, the impossibility of total objectivity,” and the other is that he “…simply gets his facts right, but rather that he chooses the right facts (Marwick 1970).

Among all living animals, man has the best characteristics and qualities. It is a single species having the knowledge and wisdom to control all other species. It is the only species capable of reasoning and rational thought. “Human beings are the aspect in our environment that is of most relevance to every child of man,” argues C. M. Bowra, “based on the humanistic premise that man is worth studying for his own sake” (Grant 1965, 1952). As a result, it should come as no surprise that there are several ideas and counter-theories regarding the dates of origin, evolution, and various stages of development.

Stages of Human Evolution

Human evolution has taken many forms, but seven distinct periods of humanity stand out. It’s worth noting that palaeontology is a field rife with new findings, thus the timeline’s specifics may change in the future, while the overall scheme is generally understood and accepted.

1. Hominidae – Around 7 million years ago, the apes that would eventually evolve into today’s humans parted from the so-called lesser apes. These are the great apes, or Hominidae. This is the estimated time range for the human lineage’s separation from that of chimps, humans’ closest living relatives.

Many early hominid fossils have been discovered in Kenya, suggesting that this separation occurred in Africa. There are several candidates for which organisms evolved into modern humans rather than dying out.

2. Ardipithecus Ramidus – In 1994, Ethiopians uncovered the existence of this species, which appeared to combine walking and swinging in trees. About 4.5 million years ago, Ardipithecus ramidus appeared. The best estimations of this creature’s size place it at no more than 4 feet tall and weighing around 110 pounds, although this is only for females, as no male remains large enough to determine adult size have yet been discovered.

3. Australopithecus Afarensis – In the sense of interpreting “ape-like” as reminiscent of gorillas or chimps, this ancestor of modern humans would have been identified as possessing both ape-like and human-like traits. The first specimen was discovered in southern Africa in 1924, long before such finds were widely considered as proof of prehistoric humans. Australopithecus afarensis lived between 2 and 3 million years ago and was slightly taller and lighter than Ardipithecus ramidus, in addition to walking upright.

4. Homo Habilis – Homo habilis, which means “handyman,” was named after the first human ancestor known to have used constructed tools when it was discovered in Tanzania in 1960. These hominids lived between 2.4 million and 1.4 million years ago and are thought to be the ancestors of Homo erectus, though this has yet to be proven. Homo habilis stood between 3.5 and 4.5 feet tall and weighed around 70 pounds.

5. Homo Erectus – This well-known predecessor of modern humans, discovered in Indonesia in 1891, lived for about 2 million years, from nearly 2 million years ago to roughly 143,000 years ago, a remarkable period of survival. Homo erectus’ anatomy showed its further separation from twee-dwelling creatures, with comparatively short arms and legs. These hominids are thought to have utilised hand axes, making them the first users of self-made tools. These were enormous hominids, with some exceeding 6 feet tall and weighing around 150 pounds.

6. Homo Heidelbergensis – This hominid was discovered in Germany in 1908 and is thought to be the first human progenitor to have lived in frigid climes, extending over Europe and Asia as well as parts of Africa. Its time span was from 700,000 to 200,000 years ago, and these hominids were roughly the same size as modern humans, with men reaching an average height of about 5′ 9″ and females reaching an average height of about 5′ 2″. They undoubtedly hunted with spears and cooked their kills over fire.

7. Homo Sapiens- Humans in your midst are thought to be the same species as Homo sapiens, which developed into its present form in Africa some 300,000 years ago. Throughout human evolution, the brains of human ancestors have grown in proportion to their bodily size, and today’s humans have the largest brains of the group. Modern humans lack the pronounced forehead ridges and forward-jutting jaws of earlier hominids.

Conclusion

In geological standards, modern humans are a young species. The oldest fossils that fit the criteria for archaic Homo sapiens, the genus and species name for modern humans, date back roughly 400,000 years, whereas modern humans have been around for about 170,000 years.Apes developed from previous primates that were largely arboreal, or tree-dwelling, some 20 million years ago (and humans are apes taxonomically).