Bicol University

College of Education
Daraga, Albay

Student: Jan Chris A. Gile

Course: Socio-cultural Anthropology
Professor: Maribel M. Naz
Term: 1st Semester, S.Y. 2019-2020

Class Kit on
HUMAN/ BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION

I. What is Evolution?
 According to Karen Barss, Evolution means the changes that occur in a population over time.
In this definition, a “population” means a group of the same species that share a specific
location and habitat.
 In other words, evolution is a process that results in changes that are passed on or inherited
from generation to generation. It does not, for example, describe how people can change their
muscle mass by lifting weights.
 Evolutionary changes always occur on the genetic level.

II. Theories of Evolution

Religion

 Traditional Judaism and Christianity explain the origin of living beings and
their adaptations to their environments—wings, gills, hands, flowers—as the
handiwork of an omniscient God.
 The philosophers of ancient Greece had their own
creation myths. Anaximander proposed that animals could be transformed
from one kind into another
 Church Fathers such as Gregory of Nazianzus and Augustine, both of whom
maintained that not all species of plants and animals were created by God;
rather, some had developed in historical times from God’s creations.
Spontaneous Generations (Aristotle)

 The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC) was one of the earliest
recorded scholars to articulate the theory.
 The notion that life can arise from nonliving matter.
 As evidence, he noted several instances of the appearance of animals from
environments previously devoid of such animals, such as the seemingly sudden
appearance of fish in a new puddle of water.
Great Chain of Being (James Ussher 1581-1656)

 This belief that the earth and life on it are only about 6000 years old fit neatly
with the then prevalent theory of the "Great Chain of Being."
 This held that God created an infinite and continuous series of life forms, each
one grading into the next, from simplest to most complex, and that all
organisms, including humans, were created in their present form relatively
recently and that they have remained unchanged since then.
 He proclaimed that the time of creation was 9:00 A.M. on October 23, 4004
B.C.
Nested Hierarchies, the Order of Nature (Carolus Linnaeus -1707-1778)

 Linnaeus apparently believed that he was just revealing the unchanging order
of life created by God.
 His most important contribution to science was his logical classification system
for all living things which he proposed in his book Systema Naturae, first
published in 1735.
 He named humans Homo sapiens, and placed us in the genus Homo.
Spontaneous Origins of life (Comte de Buffon -1707-1788)
 Buffon proposed that the debris flung out from a comet’s collision with the
sun became the planets.
 In the hot oceans of the early Earth, Buffon claimed that vast amounts of life
were generated from unorganized matter—even large animals sprang into
existence.
 In time, as the world’s climate cooled, many animals migrated to the
tropics. As species moved to new habitats, the supply of organic particles that
could create new individuals
Theory of Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics (Jean-Baptiste Lamarck-
1744-1829)

 If an organism changes during life in order to adapt to its environment, those

changes are passed on to its offspring. Also known as Transmutation of
species.
 Such as greater development of an organ or a part through increased use—
could be transmitted to their offspring.
 Lamarck believed that giraffes stretched their necks to reach food. Their
offspring and later generations inherited the resulting long necks.
Catastrophism (George Cuvier -1769-1832)

 Cuvier advocated the theory of catastrophism, as did most other leading

scientists of his day.
 Plants and animals living in those parts of the world where such events
occurred were often killed off according to Cuvier. Then new life forms
moved in from other areas.
 This held that there have been violent and sudden natural catastrophes such
as great floods and the rapid formation of major mountain chains.
 As a result, the fossil record for a region shows abrupt changes in species.
 Cuvier's explanation relied solely on scientific evidence rather than biblical
interpretation.
Uniformitarianism (Charles Lylle -1797-1875)

 Charles Lyell , to conclude that Cuvier's catastrophism theory was wrong. He

believed that there primarily have been slower, progressive changes.
 In his three volume Principles of Geology (1830-1833), Lyell documented the fact
that the earth must be very old and that it has been subject to the same sort of
natural processes in the past that operate today in shaping the land. These
forces include erosion, earthquakes, glacial movements, volcanoes, and even
the decomposition of plants and animals.
 Uniformitarianism, in geology, the doctrine suggesting that Earth’s geologic
processes acted in the same manner and with essentially the same intensity in
the past as they do in the present and that such uniformity is sufficient to
account for all geologic change.
Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection (Alfred Russel Wallace -1823-1913)

 Alfred Russel Wallace OM FRS was a British naturalist, explorer,

geographer, anthropologist, and biologist. He is best known for
independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural
selection; his paper on the subject was jointly published with some of
Charles Darwin's writings in 1858.
 Wallace enjoyed a high reputation in his lifetime and received many of
science’s most prestigious awards.
 Natural Selection modifies the population: the fittest survive and
reproduce, passing on their traits. Say, the long beaks get more food and
survive when food becomes scarce. Unfit species die out. Population
diverge into new species.
“On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection” Charles Darwin
(1809-1882)

 Charles Darwin, in full Charles Robert Darwin, English naturalist

whose scientific theory of evolution by natural selection became the
foundation of modern evolutionary studies.
 He said that organisms, even of the same species, are all different and that
those which happen to have variations that help them to survive in their
environments survive and have more offspring.
 To offspring are born with their parents' helpful traits, and as they
reproduce, individuals with that trait make up more of the population.
Other individuals, that are not so well adapted, die off.
 Most elephants used to have short trunks, but some had longer trunks.
When there was no food or water that they could reach with their short
trunks, the ones with short trunks died off, and the ones with long trunks
survived and reproduced. Eventually, all of the elephants had long trunks.
Principle of evolution by natural selection

 The idea behind the theory of evolution through the process of

natural selection is that all species of living things have evolved from
simple life forms over a period of time. The Earth is about 4.5 billion
years old, and there is scientific evidence to suggest that life on Earth
began more than 3 billion years ago.
The Evolutionary Tree of Life

 Biological evolution explains the way all living things evolved over
billions of years from a single common ancestor. This concept is often
illustrated by the so-called tree of life. Every branch on the tree
represents a species.
Theory on Mutation (Hugo de Vries 1848-1935)

 De Vries disagreed with the slow and steady idea after seeing the
'sudden' mutations in the evening primrose plants. He believed that
evolution could occur via discontinuous variation, or large changes
happening in a few generations. This means that organisms can have
drastic 'jumps' that immediately result in a new species coming into
existence.
 According to de Vries' mutation theory, living organisms can develop
changes to their genes that greatly alter the organism. These changes
are passed down to the next generation, and lead to the development
of new species. Once a new species has evolved, it becomes fixed and
stops changing.
 HUMAN EVOLUTION
Humans are primates. Physical and genetic similarities show that the modern
human species, Homo sapiens, has a very close relationship to another group of primate species, the
apes. 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. Humans first evolved in Africa, and much of human evolution occurred on that
continent. The fossils of early humans who lived between 6 and 2 million years ago come entirely
from Africa.
III. What is human evolution?
 Human evolution is the lengthy process of change by which people originated
from apelike ancestors.
 The process by which human beings developed on Earth from now-extinct
primates.
 Scientific evidence shows that the physical and behavioral traits shared by all
people originated from apelike ancestors and evolved over a period of
approximately six million years.
 One of the earliest defining human traits, bipedalism -- the ability to walk on
two legs -- evolved over 4 million years ago
Fossil Evidence of Evolution Theories

 Fossils have provided paleoanthropologists with a wealth of knowledge about the

hominin-species and hominid predecessors of modern humans. Some have been
placed in the genus Homo, while others belong to now-extinct genera. From oldest
to most recent, some of the humanlike species that have graced Earth include:
1. Australopithecus Afarensis- Known colloquially as "Lucy," A.
afarensis was an eastern African dweller between 3.85 and 2.95 million
years ago, making Lucy the longest-living pre-human species.
Over 300 individual A. afarensis pre-human fossils have been found,
and they show that this hominin had rapid child growth and reached
maturity faster than modern humans. The name australopithecine means
“southern ape,” in reference to South Africa
2. Australopithecus Africanus- This hominin lived from 3.3 to 2.1
million years ago in southern Africa and was discovered in 1924. It had
small, humanlike teeth, a larger brain and a rounder brain case (like
humans have). However, this bipedal creature also had apelike features
(e.g., long arms, a strong jutting jaw beneath a sloping face and
shoulders and hands adapted for climbing).
3. Homo Habilis- One of the earliest known ancestors in our own genus
(Homo) and thus a hominid, "handy man" (the translation of the name
from Latin) existed from 2.4 million to 1.4 million years ago in Eastern
and Southern Africa. H. habilis is thought to be one of the first species
to create stone tools; it had apelike features like long arms and an
apelike face, but it also possessed a large brain case and small teeth,
and it is known to have used tools.
4. Homo Erectus- This species spread all over Africa and (out of Africa)
into Asia 1.89 million to 143,000 years ago. The oldest species are often
referred to as Homo ergaster. It had humanlike body proportions, ate a
significant amount of meat as well as plants, lived almost solely on the
ground and developed a progressively larger brain and brain case.
Fossil evidence showed that this early human cared for its young, old
and sick, and was the longest-lived of all of the early hominid species.
Its ability to walk and run long distances allowed it to spread far and
wide.
5. Homo Neanderthalensis- This is the famed Neanderthal and lived
from about 400,000 to 40,000 years ago throughout Europe and parts
of Asia. The closest extinct relative to Homo sapiens, it was shorter,
more muscular and stockier than modern humans, and large noses to
 help with cold air. Neanderthals had a humanlike face, brains as large
(or larger) than H. sapiensand lived in shelters such as caves.
It used tools and weapons, made and wore clothes, made "art" and
buried its dead; evidence exists that the Neanderthals had primitive
language and used symbols, establishing the earliest traces of what is
now called culture.
6. Homo Sapiens- Modern humans evolved in Africa spread worldwide
200,000 years ago, and have continued to evolve larger brains and
lighter bodies over their evolutionary history. Human faces have also
changed over time to have less pronounced jaws and brow lines,
smaller teeth and smaller jaws. You are a member of this species.
7. Anatomically modern Homo sapiens (AMHS)- refers in
paleoanthropology to individual members of the species Homo
sapiens with an appearance consistent with the range of phenotypes
in modern humans. This type of human species- AMH only differs
from the Homo sapiens- ones which evolved 200,000 years ago in
terms of appearance and body structure or the Phenotypes.
Paleoanthropology
Paleoanthropology is the scientific study of human evolution. Paleoanthropology is a subfield
of anthropology, the study of human culture, society, and biology. The field involves an understanding
of the similarities and differences between humans and other species in their genes, body form,
physiology, and behavior. Paleoanthropologists search for the roots of human physical traits and
behavior. They seek to discover how evolution has shaped the potentials, tendencies, and limitations
of all people.

References
◦ http://humanorigins.si.edu/education/introduction-human-evolution

◦ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/09/human-evolution-101/

◦ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9989-timeline-human-evolution/

◦ https://sciencing.com/human-evolution-timeline-stages-theories-evidence-13719186.html

◦ https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldcivilization/chapter/the-evolution-of-humans/

◦ https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zwvpsg8/revision/1

◦ https://study.com/academy/lesson/hugo-de-vries-mutation-theory.html

◦ https://www.famousscientists.org/alfred-russel-wallace/

◦ https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/%3C?%20echo%20$baseURL;%20?%3E/history_0
6

◦ https://www2.palomar.edu/anthro/evolve/evolve_1.htm

◦ http://arcana.wikidot.com/spontaneous-generation

◦ http://sciencenetlinks.com/lessons/the-history-of-evolutionary-theory/

◦ https://www.britannica.com/science/Lamarckism

◦ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9953-introduction-evolution/#ixzz5xvuAIZ00

◦ New England Complex Institute https://necsi.edu

◦ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9953-introduction-evolution/

◦ https://www.infoplease.com/math-science/biology/genetics-evolution/human-evolution

◦ https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Lyell/Scientific-eminence