BIOLOGY INVESTIGATORY

PROJECT

HUMAN
EVOLUTION
(2022-2023)

Project submitted to: Project submitted by:

Meenakshi Ma’am Vafiya Shahbas
XII B
CBSE Roll No:

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I have taken efforts in this project. However, it would not have been
possible without the kind support and help of many individuals.
I would like to thank my principle, Mr. Majeed and school s for
providing me with facilities required to do my project.
I am highly indebted to my Biology teacher, Mrs. Meenakshi, for her
invaluable guidance which has sustained my efforts in all the stages of
this project work.
I would also like to thank my parents for their continuous support and
encouragement.
My thanks and appreciation also go to my fellow classmates and the
laboratory assistant in developing the project and to the people who
have willingly helped me out with their abilities.

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 INDEX
SL NO. Content Page No.
1. Acknowledgement 2
2. Index 3
3. Objective 4
4. Introduction 5
5. Human evolution 6
6. Conclusion 11
7. Bibliography 12

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 OBJECTIVE
The aim of doing a project on the topic “study of human evolution” is
to:
 To have a clear information about the evolution of human
 Look into different similarities of humans with apes and
changes that happened to humans
 To understand more about the study of evolution called
Palaeoanthropology
 To learn what is the process of evolution.
 To learn what are the changes occurred in humans during
evolutions

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 INTRODUCTION

Humans (Homo sapiens) are the most abundant and

widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and large,
complex brains. This has enabled the development of
advanced tools, culture, and language. Humans are highly social and
tend to live in complex social structures composed of many
cooperating and competing groups,
from families and kinship networks to political states. They are
culture-bearing primate classified in the genus Homo, especially
the species H. sapiens. The generic name "Homo" is a learned 18th-
century derivation from Latin homō, which refers to humans of either
sex. Human beings are anatomically similar and related to the
great apes but are distinguished by a more highly developed brain and
a resultant capacity for articulate speech and abstract reasoning. In
addition, human beings display a marked erectness of body carriage
that frees the hands for use as manipulative members.

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 HUMAN EVOLUTION
Human evolution is the lengthy process of change by which people
originated from apelike ancestors. Scientific evidence shows that the
physical and behavioural 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.

It is generally agreed that the taproot of the human family shrub is to

be found among apelike species of the Middle Miocene
Epoch (roughly 16–11.6 mya) or Late Miocene Epoch (11.6–5.3
mya). 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 .

The idea of evolution is ancient. Aristotle in his writings mentioned

that "Nature, gradually, step by step, develops from inanimate
substances to living creatures"5. He even gave a hint on natural
selection. During the 13th c. AD, a Muslim scholar named Nasiraddin
Tusi, while commenting on Aristotle, added that from elements
evolve minerals, from minerals evolve plants, from plants evolve
animals and from animals evolve humans, adding that "The human
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has features that distinguish him from other creatures, but has other
features that unite him with the animal world, the vegetable kingdom
or even with the inanimate bodies". Darwin’s specialized observations
that lead to a more precise and well-documented theory, with its most
disputable element being that of the common ancestor of man and
ape. The concept of the man-ape relationship has also enjoyed a long-
standing history, its origins being traced somewhere between History
and Legend. It has always been implied but rarely precisely described,
that man and ape, regardless of the sub-species of ape, shared more
than the air they breathed.

Study of human evolution- Paleoanthropology

Paleoanthropology is the scientific study of human evolution. The field
involves an understanding of the similarities and differences between
humans and other species in their genes, body form, physiology, and
behaviour. Paleoanthropologists search for the roots of human physical
traits and behaviour. They seek to discover how evolution has shaped
the potentials, tendencies, and limitations of all people.it 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 archaeological 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.

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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.
The process of evolution:
It 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 as mutation.
Evolution does not change any single individual. Instead, it changes the
inherited means of growth and development that typify a population .
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 favoured new abilities to adapt to environmental
change and so altered the human way of life.

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 CONCLUSION
Studies in evolutionary biology have led to the conclusion that human
beings arose from ancestral primates. Many of the most important
advances in palaeontology over the past century relate to the
evolutionary history of humans. Not one but many connecting links—
intermediate between and along various branches of the human family
tree—have been found as fossils.
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
habitat).

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY
 http://humanorigins.si.edu/education/introduction-human-
evolution
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_evolution
 https://www.britannica.com/science/human-evolution

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