Chapter 16.3, Problem 6MI

Summary Introduction

To explain:

The relation between humans and its ancestors.

Introduction:

Evolution is the process by which an organism inherits or adapts favorable characteristics that prolong its survival in the living world. Nature automatically selects best fit individuals from a population that can evolve and transfer the characteristics to their progeny. Evolution is a time taking process that takes hundreds of years to become significant.

Explanation of Solution

Human beings are complex organisms. They are said to be evolved from primates, since many of the characteristic features of human beings match with the primates.

Some of the man-like beings that are hypothesized to be ancestors of modern humans are:

Homo habilis : This was the first human-like hominid. The brain capacities of Homo habilis were between 650-800cc. They were not meat eaters and walked with bent spine.

Homo erectus : Homo erectus had a large brain around 900cc. They were meat eaters. They were taller than its predecessors and were the first hominids to walk with erect spine.

Homo neanderthalensis : Next came the Neanderthal man with a brain size of 1400cc who lived in near east and central Asia between 1,00,000-40,000 years back. They used hides to protect their body and buried their dead. They had more developed facial features than their predecessors.

Homo sapiens: The Homo sapiens were found in Africa and moved across continents and developed into distinct races. During ice age between 75,000-10,000 years ago modern Homo sapiens arose.

Conclusion

The Homo sapiens which is the modern human being arose from the ancestors like Homo neanderthalensis .