EvolutionThe First Men Ancestors To Be Proud

(Evolution)The First Men: Ancestors To Be Proud Of Essay, Research Paper

The First Men: Ancestors to be Proud of Evolution is described to be any change in the frequency of alleles within a gene pool from one generation to the next by Biology, a high school textbook. But what exactly does that mean. Evolution is the idea that things or animals change and grow throughout time and eventually change into something different. Whether or not you believe in evolution, you cannot deny the scientific views on the subject. I intend to show the scientific reasoning behind the theory of evolution. In this paper, I will explain how scientists believe modern man came to be and what steps were taken to get there. Public Opinion In the eighteen and nineteen hundreds, most people did not want to believe the idea that their ancestors were apes. Since there are no living examples of human-like creatures that are not fully human, it is still hard for many people to envision such an idea. Thinking that Charles Darwin was the sole creator of the idea of evolution, some strict Christians considered him to be a Satanist because he did not believe that a Supreme Being controlled evolutionary life. Evolutionary Hypotheses There are four main hypotheses about the origin of modern humans. The first, called Neanderthal phase hypothesis, created by Loring Brace, explains that there was only one evolutionary line and that there were no branches. Spectrum hypothesis says that there was a lot of interaction and interbreeding between different species of early men, making it difficult to see the lines of where one species ended and another began. Clark Howell came up with the Pre-Neanderthal hypothesis, stating that early Neanderthals were broken into two branches: the now extinct Western European Neanderthals and what became modern humans. Lastly, Marcellin Boule brought up the idea that somewhere in time, the evolutionary branch was split to separate Homo sapiens from all other primates and early humans. Are Modern Men and Monkeys Related. To discover whether or not some monkeys and humans are in the same gene pool and determine if they are related genetically, scientists can look at certain factors and characteristics. Many kinds of monkeys share similar tastes as humans. In Australia, three monkeys were given tea, coffee, alcohol and tobacco. After observation, it was noted that all three monkeys enjoyed the products without any outside influence, just as modern man would have. When the apes had hangovers , they refused more liquor and wanted lemon juice to soothe their stomachs. This is because monkeys have similar taste and nervous systems as modern men, pushing forward the idea that men and monkeys really are similar.The First Primates The first primates arrived on Earth ten million years after dinosaurs became extinct. Plesiadapis, a squirrel-like creature, was the first primate to arrive. Around forty million years ago came Smilodectes, which resembled a lemur. Twenty million years ago, human-like animals called the Pliopithecus lived in trees and walked on the branches on two legs, using their arms for balance. Walking on two legs was actually a step back on the evolutionary ladder for these creatures. Bipedality is less efficient than quadrupedality because more calories are burned when covering the same distance.The First HominidsAustralopithecus The earliest primates that were truly recognized as hominids were of the genus Australopithecus. They lived in southern and central Africa around five and a half million years ago and were more ape-like than modern man is. It is one of several extinct hominids, or primates, that may be man s ancestors. One belief is that around three million years ago, Early Australopithecus split into two branches, the genus Homo and the genus Australopithecus. Australopithecus is broken up into several species, those being afarensis, africanus, robustus and boisei. The bipedal afarensis had a small brain cavity and large teeth. The teeth, legs and pelvis were fairly human-like and lived from three and a half to three million years ago. Africanus had a larger brain and smaller teeth than its processors. It probably ate fruit and foliage and lived from three to two and a half million years ago. Robustus had a large and heavy skull and large jaws and teeth that were adapted to chewing softer things. The species lived around two to one and a half million years ago. Boisei had larger teeth and skulls and lived from two to one million years ago. Generally, Australopithecus had a brain smaller than that of a gorilla and walked semi-upright. The species was quite small, ranging from three and a half to five feet tall. Also, either all or just the more advanced species of Australopithecus used crude stone tools.Homo Homo habilis, meaning handy human, is the next most recent ancestor of modern man. Habilis was around five feet tall and weighed around one hundred pounds. The species is estimated to have lived two and a half to one and a half million years ago. It was also the first animal to carry the genus name Homo, indicating that it was, indeed, the ancestor of humans. Habilis had a larger cranial cavity, smaller rear teeth, and the skeletal structure more closely related to that of modern man. Also habilis was the first ancestor to be believed to be able to have the ability to speak at all, even if it wasn t very coherent. The next species of the Homo genus was originally named Pithe