Origin and Evolution of Man

ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF MAN
In 1859, the foundations of the evolutionary theory according to which man was the result of the
evolution of previous species were laid, with the publication of "The Origin of Species" by Charles
Darwin.
Since geologists in the first decades of the 19th century came to the conclusion that the earth was
formed through very slow and continuous processes, over extraordinarily long periods,
paleontologists began to speculate with the idea that the fossilized remains of animals that had
been found for centuries must have been much older than until then attributed to them.
Other sciences, such as physics and chemistry, provided increasingly reliable procedures for dating
the findings of paleontologists, and when Darwin's Origin of Species was published in 1859, the
foundations for the triumph of evolutionary theory were laid. according to which current living
beings - including man - are the result of the evolution of previous species.
Evolution of hominid species, evolution, human evolution, evolution of man

Evolution of hominid species: Proconsul, Plioplithecus, Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Homo
erectus, Neanderthal, Homo sapiens. Proconsul is considered the first common ancestor between
monkeys and man, but Australopithecus afarensis is considered the first ancestor of Homo
sapiens.
THE FIRST HOMINID
Man made his appearance on earth about three or four million years ago, in some forest in Africa.
The oldest ancestor found so far common between man and monkey is called Proconsul (about 18
million years ago), it has a small brain and four short joints adapted to life in trees. The next step is
called Ramapithecus (14 million years ago), which is considered the first hominid. But the affinity
of the African remains (Keniapithecus) with gorillas, and of the Asian ones (Sivapithecus) with
orangutans, has established the thesis that it is a common ancestor.
Then, Plioplithecus was a genus of different species of catarrhine primates (with characteristic
downward-opening nostrils, separated by a thin nasal septum) that lived approximately 17 million
years ago, and up to 11.5 million years ago.
Australopithecus
From this moment on, a gap of almost 10 million years opens between Ramapithecus and the first
known ancestor of man, so to speak, Australopithecus afarensis.
A series of hominid remains have been found for this period but they would not yet be considered
a direct ancestor of man. Among them, the Ardipithecus Ramidus (=root) stands out, discovered in
Ethiopia in 1992. It is a biped, similar to a chimpanzee, that lived about 4.4 million years ago and
had to stand up thanks to the droughts that occurred in the jungles. They transformed them into
sheets that forced them to stand up and walk on their two legs. Also notable is Australopithecus
anamensis, a very primitive hominid that has wider molars and thicker enamel. It occupied the
area of Kenya between 4.2 and 3.9 ma (millions of years).
The origin of species, Charles Darwin, evolution, human evolution, evolution of man
Cover of the work "The Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin, published in 1859.
In 1974 Austrapithecus afarensis appeared in Ethiopia (it lived about 3.9 to 4 million years ago),
specifically in a region northwest of Ethiopia called Afar. This specimen was known as "Lucy", and
this species is considered the first ancestor of man. It was a 40% complete female skeleton,
although the first remains of an Australopithecus had previously been found in South Africa in
1924, but it was only a baby skull. "Lucy" was the oldest specimen of this species that would live in
East Africa, it weighed 30 to 50 kilos, stood upright and was already able to turn its hands. At the
same time, they were distinguished by the development of their stronger jaws and teeth.
Australopithecus bahrelghazali was the only specimen found outside of East Africa (it lived about
3.58 million years ago). It is named after the oasis of Bahr-el-Ghazal, in the Republic of Chad, in
central Africa. It is considered a species of Australopithecus different from the one that evolved
into the genus Homo.
Austrapithecus africanus lived in southern Africa about 2.5 million years ago (even up to 3 million
years ago). These species lived in vast plains of grass and bushes, near lakes and rivers. They fed
on fruits, seeds and tubers, with the aforementioned exception of the Africanus, which were
omnivores. They led a nomadic life, in small groups of several males and females, united by a
collaborative relationship better than that observed in modern monkeys. The A. younger, the A.
Robustus became extinct being contemporary with man.
AUSTRALOPITHECUS GARHI: lived about 2.5 million years ago in the area of present-day Ethiopia.
He had a remarkable cranial capacity of 450 cm3 and other special facial features.
Finally, Australopithecus sediba lived about 1.78 to 1.95 million years ago in southern Africa. Two
partial skeletons were found in the Cradle of Humankind in South Africa (about 50 kilometers
northwest of Johannesburg). This species has characteristics that bring it closer to both the genus
Homo and Australopithecus, which is why some paleontologists place it as the most feasible direct
ancestor of humans. In any case, it is the most recent species of Australopithecus.
HOMO HABILIS
The next step, Homo Habilis, (2.4 to 1.4 million years ago), its oldest remains, an upper jaw, was
found in Ethiopia in 1996, also known for having been found next to stone utensils from the same
time. It seems that manual skill was essential when adapting to new times, a time of progressive
cooling that would end in droughts and lack of food, which would lead them to maintain a tough
fight for survival. This is the time when utensils, called primary, begin to appear, which is what this
manual skill and the difficulty of performing certain functions for the reasons mentioned above
would translate into.
The first remains of H. Habilis were found in the 1960s by Louis Leakey in Tanzania, they were
attributed to this species for its manual abilities and its brain mass, a third larger than
Australopithecus. This species would already begin to be omnivorous, it would collect the remains
left by hunting animals, and they would also keep the marrow of the bones, just as it was skilled at
collecting herbs, fruits, eggs and catching small animals.
HOMO ERECTUS
The penultimate step was Homo Erectus (about 1.6 million to 200,000 years ago), he had a cranial
capacity of 900 cc, he mastered fire and used it, he had a rough face and pronounced incisors. This
mastery of fire would allow it, among many other things, to better withstand the low
temperatures of the glacial period and to be able to spread more easily due to its better
adaptation to each environment. At the same time, there is a greater development of utensils that
are still made of stone, this is the time of their expansion throughout Europe and Asia.
HOMO SAPIENS
The penultimate step towards evolution will be Homo Sapiens, whose oldest remains date back to
about 195,000 years ago. One of the best known subspecies is the Neanderthal man or Homo
sapiens neanderthalensis (between 75,000 to 36,000 years old). They were hunters, they came to
fully master fire and with great perfection in the utensils they used, as well as the development of
hunting instruments (spear, bow, arrows,...). The first artistic manifestations of a utilitarian nature
also belong to this period.
Finally, modern man or anatomically modern human (Homo sapiens sapiens) evolved from other
species of Homo sapiens around 195 million years ago (Kibish men — discovered in 1967 in the
Omo River Valley, southern Ethiopia), with a cranial capacity of 1400 cc and a highly developed
cerebral cortex, which will lose body hair over time, as well as reduce the size of the jaws and
teeth. One of the greatest qualitative leaps of this species would become (much later) the
development of speech, as well as language and writing.
Neanderthal man coexisted with the first modern men (Cro-Magnon man) in Europe, and in fact
they may have competed for resources and food sources before their disappearance about 39,000
to 41,000 years ago, approximately 5,000 years after modern man appeared. In the continent.
There is a debate about whether Neanderthal man and modern man are really subspecies of the
Homo sapiens classification, or since they represent two different biological species the
classification would simply be Homo neanderthalensis for Neanderthal Man and Homo sapiens for
modern man. But the possibility of interbreeding between both species is also debated. Studies
suggest that modern man has between 1% and 4% of the genetic material of Neanderthal man.
CREATIONISM
In contrast to the theory of Evolution is the biblical doctrine of Creation, according to which all
living beings were created by God in 6 days, or depending on the interpretation, in an
indeterminate period of time.
In the Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions, creationism begins with the Fiat Lux (Let There Be
Light) recounted in the Book of Genesis of the Old Testament.

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ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF MAN

Evolution of hominid species, evolution, human evolution, evolution of man

THE FIRST HOMINID

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