Human Evolution

—By Karen Barss

The story of human evolution began in Africa about six million years ago and it
describes the very long process that our ancestors went through to ultimately
become modern humans. This process has been uncovered by studying
fossils and understanding the underlying theory of evolution, and while new
fossils are uncovered every decade revealing new chapters, scientists agree
about the basic story.

What Is Evolution?

Evolution means the changes that occur in a population over time. In this
definition, a “population” means a group of the samespecies that share a
specific location and habitat. Evolutionary changes always occur on the
genetic level. 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.

When successful, these genetic changes or adaptations, which happen when

genes mutate and/or combine in different ways during reproduction, help
organisms survive, reproduce, and raise offspring. Some individuals inherit
characteristics that make them more successful at surviving and having
babies. These advantageous characteristics tend to appear more frequently in
the population (because those individuals with less advantageous
characteristics are more likely to die without reproducing), and over time these
changes become common throughout that population, ultimately leading to
new species.
 The 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. The fork
separating one species from another represents the common ancestor that
each pair of species shared. So ultimately, all life is interconnected, but any
two species may be separated by millions or even billions of years of
evolution.

Only a Theory?

Some people dismiss evolution as “just a theory.” Evolution is in fact a theory,

a scientific theory. In everyday use, the word theory often means a guess or a
rough idea: “My theory is…” “I have a theory about that.” But among
scientists, the word has an entirely different meaning. In science, a theory is
an overarching explanation used to describe some aspect of the natural world
that is supported by overwhelming evidence.

Other scientific theories include cell theory, which says that all living things are
made up of cells, and heliocentric theory, which says the earth revolves
around the sun instead of the other way around.

The Relationship between Apes and Humans

Since scientists developed the ability to decode the genome and compare the
genetic makeup of species, some people have been stunned to learn that
about 98.5% of the genes in people and chimpanzees are identical. This
finding means chimps are the closest living biological relatives to humans, but
it does not mean that humans evolved from chimps. What it does indicate is
that humans share a common ancestor with modern African apes (i.e., gorillas
and chimpanzees), making us very, very distant cousins. We are therefore
related to these other living primates, but we did not descend from them.

Modern humans differ from apes in many significant ways. Human brains are
larger and more complex; people have elaborate forms of communication and
culture; and people habitually walk upright, can manipulate very small objects,
and can speak.

Our Common Ancestor

Most scientists believe our common ancestor existed 5 to 8 million years ago.
Then two species broke off into separate lineages, one ultimately evolving into
gorillas and chimps, the other evolving into early humans called hominids. In
the millions of years that followed, at least a dozen different species of
humanlike creatures have existed, reflected in the fossil discoveries
ofpaleoanthropologists, although many of these species are close relatives
but not actual ancestors of modern humans.

In fact, the fossil record does not represent a straight line of ancestry at all;
many of these early hominids left no descendents and simply died out. Still
others are most likely direct ancestors of modern humans or Homo sapiens.
While scientists still do not know the total number of hominid species that
existed, because new fossils are discovered every decade, the story of human
evolution becomes clearer all the time.

What about the Missing Link?

The idea of a missing link has persisted, but it is not actually a scientific term.
In the popular imagination, this missing link would be the fossil of our common
ancestor. While scientists agree on the concept of a common ancestor,
deciding which fossil represents that actual species is challenging if not
impossible, given that the fossil record will never be 100% complete. Also, the
word implies that evolution is a straight chain of events, when in fact the
sequence of evolution is much more complicated.

The Fossil Record

Fossils are the remains or impressions of living things hardened in rock. All
living organisms have not been preserved in the fossil record; in fact, most
have not because very specific conditions must exist in order to create fossils.
Even so, the fossil record provides a fairly good outline of human evolutionary
history.

The earliest humans were found in Africa, which is where much of human
evolution occurred. The fossils of these early hominids, which lived 2 to 6
million years ago, all come from that continent. Most scientists believe early
humans migrated out of Africa into Asia between 2 million and 1.7 million
years ago, entering Europe some time within the past 1 million years. What
follows are some highlights of the early human species that have been
identified by scientists to date.
 Australopithecines

An African apelike species evolved probably around 6 million years ago with
two skeletal characteristics that set it apart from apes: small canine teeth (the
teeth on either side of the four front teeth) compared to the long canines found
in almost all other primates, and, most importantly, bipedalism or walking on
two legs as the primary mode of locomotion.

The name australopithecine means “southern ape,” in reference to South

Africa where the first known fossils were found. Many more australopith fossils
have been found in the Great Rift Valley in eastern Africa, in countries
including Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, and Chad.

The very early years of the transition from ape to human, from 6 million to 4
million years ago, is poorly documented in the fossil record, but those fossils
that have been discovered document the most primitive combinations of ape
and human features.

Fossils from different early australopith species that lived between 4 million
and 2 million years ago show a variety of adaptations that mark this transition
much more clearly. Among the genera that are included in early australopith
species areSahelanthropus, Orrorin, and Aripithecus; a species of the
genus Kenyanthropus; and four species of the genusAustralopithecus.

Probably the best-known australopith specimen is “Lucy,” the partial skeleton

of a female discovered in 1974 in Hadar, Ethiopia. Lucy belongs to a
species, Australopithicus afarensis, which thrived in eastern Africa between
3.9 million and 3 million years ago. Scientists have found several hundred A.
afarensis fossils in Hadar. Lucy lived 3.2 million years ago.

Another very exciting A. afarensis site was discovered in northern Tanzania at

Laetoli. In addition to fossilized bones of A. afarensis, researchers in 1978
discovered trails of bipedal human footprints preserved in hardened volcanic
ash over 3 million years ago. The footprints provided irrefutable evidence that
australopiths regularly walked upright.

By about 2.7 million years ago, so-called robust australopiths (in contrast to
the earlier, gracile forms) had evolved, with wide molars and premolars and a
facial structure that indicate that these robust australopiths chewed their food,
primarily tough, fibrous plants, powerfully and for long periods. Several robust
species have been identified, and the last robust australopiths died out about
1.4 million years ago.

The Genus Homo

The genus Homo first evolved at least 2.3 million to 2.5 million years ago. The
most significant difference between members of this genus and australopiths,
with which they overlapped, was their significantly larger brains (about 30
percent larger, though still small compared to modern humans).

Scientists divide the evolution of the modern human genus into three rough
periods: early, middle, and late. Species of earlyHomo, among them Homo
habilis, resembled australopiths in many distinct ways, but they had smaller
teeth and jaws, more modern-looking feet, and hands capable of making
tools. They probably lived from between 2.5 or 2.3 million and 1.6 million
years ago.

The middle Homo species, including Homo erectus, evolved anatomically to

be more similar to modern humans but their brains were relatively small
(though bigger than australopiths). They probably overlapped with
earlier Homo species, as they developed perhaps between 2 million and 1.8
million years ago. Homo erectus was a very successful species of the middle
period; fossils have been found throughout Africa, Europe, and much of Asia,
and the species may have survived for more than 1.5 million years.

The final transition, from the middle to late periods, happened about 200,000
years ago. Late Homo species, includingNeanderthals and Homo sapiens,
evolved large and complex brains, leading eventually to language, and
developed culture as an increasingly important aspect of human life.

Homo sapiens

Scientists have dated the oldest known fossils with skeletal features typical of
modern humans from 195,000 years ago. Early anatomically modern Homo
sapiens fossils have come from sites in Sudan, Ethiopia, South Africa, and
Israel. Many scientists have therefore concluded that modern Homo
sapiens evolved in Africa and began spreading to other parts of the world
90,000 years ago or a little earlier, although whether, how, why, and when this
happened is still in dispute. And it was not until about 40,000 years ago that
anatomically modern humans, Homo sapiens sapiens, emerged. Since that
time, human evolution has been primarily cultural as opposed to biological.

Putting Human Evolution in Perspective

Humans have existed for only a tiny fraction of Earth’s history. Scientists
believe Earth itself is approximately 4.55 billion years old. The oldest known
fossils are about 3.5 billion years old, although some scientists have
discovered evidence that life may have begun nearly 4 billion years ago.
Dinosaurs walked Earth between 230 and 65 million years ago. The oldest
known humanlike fossil has been dated at 4.4 million years old, although
another species, not yet confirmed as a hominid, has been dated at about 6
million years old. As mentioned earlier, scientists estimate that the earliest
hominid species diverged from the ape lineage between 5 and 8 million years
ago. And yet, the species to which we belong, Homo sapiens sapiens, is only
about 40,000 years old.
Darwin's Theory of Evolution - The Premise
Darwin's Theory of Evolution is the widely held notion that all life is related and has descended from a
common ancestor: the birds and the bananas, the fishes and the flowers -- all related. Darwin's general
theory presumes the development of life from non-life and stresses a purely naturalistic (undirected)
"descent with modification". That is, complex creatures evolve from more simplistic ancestors naturally
over time. In a nutshell, as random genetic mutations occur within an organism's genetic code, the
beneficial mutations are preserved because they aid survival -- a process known as "natural selection."
These beneficial mutations are passed on to the next generation. Over time, beneficial mutations
accumulate and the result is an entirely different organism (not just a variation of the original, but an
entirely different creature).

Darwin's Theory of Evolution - Natural Selection

While Darwin's Theory of Evolution is a relatively young archetype, the evolutionary worldview itself is as
old as antiquity. Ancient Greek philosophers such as Anaximander postulated the development of life
from non-life and the evolutionary descent of man from animal. Charles Darwin simply brought something
new to the old philosophy -- a plausible mechanism called "natural selection." Natural selection acts to
preserve and accumulate minor advantageous genetic mutations. Suppose a member of a species
developed a functional advantage (it grew wings and learned to fly). Its offspring would inherit that
advantage and pass it on to their offspring. The inferior (disadvantaged) members of the same species
would gradually die out, leaving only the superior (advantaged) members of the species. Natural selection
is the preservation of a functional advantage that enables a species to compete better in the wild. Natural
selection is the naturalistic equivalent to domestic breeding. Over the centuries, human breeders have
produced dramatic changes in domestic animal populations by selecting individuals to breed. Breeders
eliminate undesirable traits gradually over time. Similarly, natural selection eliminates inferior species
gradually over time.

Darwin's Theory of Evolution - Slowly But Surely...

Darwin's Theory of Evolution is a slow gradual process. Darwin wrote, "…Natural selection acts only by
taking advantage of slight successive variations; she can never take a great and sudden leap, but must
advance by short and sure, though slow steps." [1] Thus, Darwin conceded that, "If it could be
demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous,
successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down." [2] Such a complex organ
would be known as an "irreducibly complex system". An irreducibly complex system is one composed of
multiple parts, all of which are necessary for the system to function. If even one part is missing, the entire
system will fail to function. Every individual part is integral. [3] Thus, such a system could not have
evolved slowly, piece by piece. The common mousetrap is an everyday non-biological example of
irreducible complexity. It is composed of five basic parts: a catch (to hold the bait), a powerful spring, a
thin rod called "the hammer," a holding bar to secure the hammer in place, and a platform to mount the
trap. If any one of these parts is missing, the mechanism will not work. Each individual part is integral.
The mousetrap is irreducibly complex. [4]

Darwin's Theory of Evolution - A Theory In Crisis

Darwin's Theory of Evolution is a theory in crisis in light of the tremendous advances we've made in
molecular biology, biochemistry and genetics over the past fifty years. We now know that there are in fact
tens of thousands of irreducibly complex systems on the cellular level. Specified complexity pervades the
microscopic biological world. Molecular biologist Michael Denton wrote, "Although the tiniest bacterial
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cells are incredibly small, weighing less than 10 grams, each is in effect a veritable micro-miniaturized
factory containing thousands of exquisitely designed pieces of intricate molecular machinery, made up
altogether of one hundred thousand million atoms, far more complicated than any machinery built by man
and absolutely without parallel in the non-living world." [5]

And we don't need a microscope to observe irreducible complexity. The eye, the ear and the heart are all
examples of irreducible complexity, though they were not recognized as such in Darwin's day.
Nevertheless, Darwin confessed, "To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting
the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical
and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in
the highest degree." [6]

Introduction to Human Evolution

Human evolution

Human evolution is the lengthy process of change by which people originated from apelike
ancestors. 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. Other important human characteristics -- such as a large
and complex brain, the ability to make and use tools, and the capacity for language --
developed more recently. Many advanced traits -- including complex symbolic expression,
art, and elaborate cultural diversity -- emerged mainly during the past 100,000 years.
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.

Most scientists currently recognize some 15 to 20 different species of early humans.

Scientists do not all agree, however, about how these species are related or which ones
simply died out. Many early human species -- certainly the majority of them – left no living
descendants. Scientists also debate over how to identify and classify particular species of
early humans, and about what factors influenced the evolution and extinction of each
species.

Early humans first migrated out of Africa into Asia probably between 2 million and 1.8
million years ago. They entered Europe somewhat later, between 1.5 million and 1 million
years. Species of modern humans populated many parts of the world much later. For
instance, people first came to Australia probably within the past 60,000 years and to the
Americas within the past 30,000 years or so. The beginnings of agriculture and the rise of
the first civilizations occurred within the past 12,000 years.

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. For many people,
paleoanthropology is an exciting scientific field because it investigates the origin, over
millions of years, of the universal and defining traits of our species. However, some people
find the concept of human evolution troubling because it can seem not to fit with religious
and other traditional beliefs about how people, other living things, and the world came to
be. Nevertheless, many people have come to reconcile their beliefs with the scientific
evidence.

Early human fossils and archeological remains offer the most important clues about this
ancient past. These remains include bones, tools and any other evidence (such as
footprints, evidence of hearths, or butchery marks on animal bones) left by earlier people.
Usually, the remains were buried and preserved naturally. They are then found either on
the surface (exposed by rain, rivers, and wind erosion) or by digging in the ground. By
studying fossilized bones, scientists learn about the physical appearance of earlier humans
and how it changed. Bone size, shape, and markings left by muscles tell us how those
predecessors moved around, held tools, and how the size of their brains changed over a
long time. Archeological evidence refers to the things earlier people made and the places
where scientists find them. By studying this type of evidence, archeologists can understand
how early humans made and used tools and lived in their environments.

The process of evolution

The process of evolution involves a series of natural changes that cause species
(populations of different organisms) to arise, adapt to the environment, and become
extinct. All species or organisms have originated through the process of biological
evolution. In animals that reproduce sexually, including humans, the term species refers to
a group whose adult members regularly interbreed, resulting in fertile offspring -- that is,
offspring themselves capable of reproducing. Scientists classify each species with a unique,
two-part scientific name. In this system, modern humans are classified as Homo sapiens.
Evolution occurs when there is change in the genetic material -- the chemical molecule,
DNA -- which is inherited from the parents, and especially in the proportions of different
genes in a population. Genes represent the segments of DNA that provide the chemical
code for producing proteins. Information contained in the DNA can change by a process
known asmutation. The way particular genes are expressed – that is, how they influence
the body or behavior of an organism -- can also change. Genes affect how the body and
behavior of an organism develop during its life, and this is why genetically inherited
characteristics can influence the likelihood of an organism’s survival and reproduction.

Evolution does not change any single individual. Instead, it changes the inherited means of
growth and development that typify a population (a group of individuals of the same
species living in a particular habitat). Parents pass adaptive genetic changes to their
offspring, and ultimately these changes become common throughout a population. As a
result, the offspring inherit those genetic characteristics that enhance their chances of
survival and ability to give birth, which may work well until the environment changes. Over
time, genetic change can alter a species' overall way of life, such as what it eats, how it
grows, and where it can live. Human evolution took place as new genetic variations in early
ancestor populations favored new abilities to adapt to environmental change and so altered
the human way of life