Evolution Of Human Evolution

Describe the major developments of early human and social evolution. Throughout, discuss tool manufacturing, language development, agriculture, social behavior, and population growth.

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

I have to assume that the skulls that were closest to walking on four legs lived in environments with a lot of trees and high grounds. That being said, now I have to assume that our ancestors eventually found it easier to live in long plains and migrated which made them lose the need to be efficient on all fours, thus leading to bipedalism.

The Australopithecine are some of the earliest known hominids and they embody many characteristics that are associated with bipedalism. Bipedalism is a highly specialized and unusual form of primate locomotion that sets modern humans apart from all other living primates as we are the only extant obligate bipeds. Many evolutionary biologists and paleoanthropologists have devoted innumerable research hours to attempting to understand this unique form of locomotion and how it evolved. A number of interdependent morphological adaptations occurred over a long period of time to solve challenges posed by habitual bipedalism. As a result, there are obvious differences that exist between early and late hominin species.

The first behavior, locomotion, is well known for hominins because of the evolution to bipedalism. Bipedal locomotion allows for the carrying of objects, provisioning family, and efficiency of energy, among many other reasons. Not all primates are bipedal. Chimpanzees can walk both bipedally and quadrupedally. They have been a common point of reference for a better understanding of the evolution of bipedal locomotion in early ape-like hominins. Many studies have looked into the evolution of walking quadrupedally to bipedally. These bipedal performances of contemporary non-human primates have given important context that can help in reconstructing early hominin bipedalism. Many anthropologists claim that biomechanical models link locomotor performance to anatomy and have the potential to reveal robust form function relationships, however, this is only given to the extent that locomotor performance of chimpanzees and other species are shown to fit

Bipedalism is a form of locomotion that is on two feet and is the one factor that separates humans from other forms of hominoids. The first bipeds are believed to have lived in Africa between 5 and 8 million years ago. (Haviland et al. 2011, pg. 78). The evolution to bipedalism resulted in various anatomical changes. To be able to balance on two legs, the skull must be centered over the spinal column. As bipeds evolved, the foramen

Current ideas suggest that the common ancestor of humans and African apes lived only about 5-8 million years ago; so, for more than 50 million years, humans and the African apes have shared primate ancestry. Within this ancestry, a new level of movement began to come into existence known as bipedalism: the ability to walk and run upright on two legs. There are various theories about when our ancestors started walking upright, but a popular view is that perhaps about 7-million years ago, early hominids began to adapt to a climate that was cooling globally. The huge rainforest expanses in Africa were being replaced with savannah and patches of woodland, requiring the tree-climbing apes to become more adept at walking on land. Our ancestors who ventured out into the savannah were rewarded with roots, shrubs and occasional animal carcasses, ensuring that those who walked on two legs were more likely to survive. Even so, the jump from trees to land is not all that significant because some of the early hominids’ anatomical structures may have already been pre-adapted to bipedalism while climbing trees and stretching for fruit. Bipedalism primarily allowed hominids to free their arms completely, enabling them to make and use tools efficiently, stretch for fruit in trees and use their hands for social

Human evolution is “the process by which human beings developed on Earth from now-extinct primates” (Human Evolution, 2017). It is thought that human evolution began with a species of ape called Australopithecus, or one referred to as Neanderthals. These species most closely resemble the beginning of humans because they were a type of ape that walked up-right. As time progressed our primates began to adapt to the environment, and slowly changed into who we are today; Homo sapiens. Charles Darwin— an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist—was known for developing the theory of evolution. He explained that evolution was a “decent with modification” (On the Origin of Species, 1859). This meant that we all originated from a different species. However, we do not look exactly alike because we adapted to the environment we were exposed to. Although we all originated form a certain species, after undergoing serval mutations throughout generations to ensure

Approximately 4 million years ago a wonderful evolutionary phenomenon was happening in Africa. Early hominids, man’s ancestors, were beginning a giant leap in their evolution. These hominids were moving out of the forest and beginning to walk upright, out on the open plains (Fagan, 98). This change from quadrupedalism was the most significant adaptation that ever happened to these early hominids. It caused many adaptations that make man what he is today. This process occurred in early hominids for many different reasons, each reason helping to perfect the upright walking posture. Bipedalism is thought to have occurred because of changes in environment, feeding habits, thermal regulation, and

There has been much debate concerning the origins of bipedalism. Bipedalism, or the ability to move on two legs (eLucy, 2007) was said to have emerged due to climate change in East Africa, for sexual display purpose, to reduce exposure to sunlight, the need to use weapons and tools and many more (NOVA, 2013). There are numerous arguments associated with bipedalism as no one can be entirely sure as to what constituted to the emergence of this trait, which was first present in hominins Australopithecus Afarensis. Anthropologists claim that there is a missing link in the evolutionary lineage that makes it hard to confirm the real cause of bipedalism emergence. However, there are some models which are widely accepted by scientific world, such

The central purpose of this essay is to critically discuss the importance of understanding human evolution and the history of psychology for the modern psychologist. For the human evolution, the essay will be addressing on how we and other species descended from our ancestors and how the different environment has helped to us to become more adaptable. Regarding the history of psychology, the essay will be discussing on how psychology branched off from the philosophy approach to become its own science. The essay will then go on discussing how the understanding of both human evolution and history of psychology would be used by modern psychologist.

Anthropologists and other scientist use different types of method to study the evolution of human behavior, depending on their specific interest and expertise. First approach is the Paleontological Reconstruction; these reconstructions were constructed on the anatomy of existent of hominins and the archaeological remains, which they were connected. They were also found associated among behavior, anatomy, and ecology discovered in non-human primate species and in modern humans. Next is the Biological approach, which is understandable that human cultural behavior has affected human evolution. Biological and evolutionary heritage may have developed several methods behavior that has been discovered by others. Third approach is the Evolutionary Psychology, which emphasize on understanding the behaviors or cognitive modules adaptations. Evolutionary psychologist is convinced that our evolved behavior may indicate or should be explained in terms of theoretical environment of evolutionary adaptedness. Lastly, is the Human Evolutionary Ecology, which emphasize more on psychological experiments and surveys of individuals living in developed countries, also on the ecological factors that impact reproduction success in the few remaining hunter gathered

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 Australopithecines were the first to walk upright, or became bipedal, although rather clumsily. Their walk was unsteady, judging by their bone structure (Figure 1.), and they most likely were quadrupedal the majority of the time. The Australopithecines had a brain about the size of an orange, high up cheekbones, and big molars. They were about three feet tall, and had small thumbs. Australopithecines, while definitely possessing some human characteristics, humans are still much closer to the chimps. Australopithecines were vegetarians; even if they knew that animals were edible, they still had no reliable means of killing animals for food. About 2 million years ago, highly evolved Australopithecines made the

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.