Introduction
The term human evolution refers to the gradual process through which human beings developed from simple to complex humans a process which took millions of years. The question on how we came to be is one of the compelling and mysterious questions which have been disturbing the minds of different scientist and even the normal beings. In order to come up with a comprehensive answer regarding human evolution, many pertinent questions have to be answered. For instance, what lead human being to evolve their marvellous intellect? Why are we somehow different with our closest relatives? These questions among others are some of the pertinent questions which ought to be answered in an attempt to validate the evolution of human beings. This paper therefore shall critically and comprehensively analyze deeply the evolution of human beings by considering the questions raised above.
Objectives of this research.
The fundamental objective of this research is to
Statement of the problem
The question of how we came to be is one of the compelling and mysterious one which have been disturbing the minds of different scientist and even the normal beings. In order to come up with a comprehensive answer regarding human evolution, many pertinent questions have to be answered. For instance, what lead human being to evolve their marvellous intellect? Why are human beings somehow different with our closest relatives? These questions among others are some of the pertinent questions which ought to be answered in an attempt to validate the evolution of human beings. This paper therefore shall critically and comprehensively analyze deeply the evolution of human beings by considering the questions rose above.
Research question.
This research paper will attempt to answer the evolution question: how did human evolved.
Limitations of the study.
It is important to recognise some of the limitations that have been encounters in this paper. Some of the limitations include. Limited time to carry out effective and comprehensive research because of tight time schedule of the semester. This paper also mainly utilized the secondary data which is text books because of the limited time available to carry out field work so as to come up with first hand objective information.
Body
Because of the unavailability of adequate information regarding the evolution of human beings, most of the individuals have had to satisfy their curiosity by accepting different beliefs regarding the origin of human beings. For instance, some have come to agree with religious creation while others have simply accepted to live with the vague notion concerning how humans could have evolved.
Different groups of people have either to live with the scientific creation or God’s creation. For instance, scientists such as the biologically-minded anthropologists belief that the process of evolution was primarily guided by the process of natural selection and therefore are not satisfied with the vague or the supernatural arguments that human beings were created by a supernatural being known as God.
Scientists have come up with different evidences and theories to support their assumption on the evolution of human beings. The following paragraphs shall examine some of the theories evidences for the evolution of human beings.
Theories of evolution
The theories of the origin or the evolution of man can be categorised into two.
- Creation theory
- Scientific theory.
Creation theory.
According to the creation theory, human beings were created by a supernatural being known as God. They therefore evolved from simple to complex forms (adults) through the power of God.
Scientific theory.
According to various scientists, human beings evolved gradually from simple to complex individuals taking period of millions of years. One of the great scientists who pioneered evolutionary theory was Charles Darwin. Darwin came up with the theory of natural selection in which the nature selected individuals who were better suited to survive. Therefore, through natural selection, the individuals who were not better suited perished while the better suited survived to become the present day Homo sapiens sapiens.
Evidences a for the Evolution of Human Beings
There are different evidences and theories suggesting how human beings could have evolved. However, according to the proponents of organic evolution, modern human beings is believed to have evolved through a natural process in which the living organisms changed gradually under the influence of environmental and the genetic factors through successive generations.
Fossil evidence
Fossils are the remains of dead organism. Scientist has been able to collect different fossil records dating back to millions of years ago. The fossils are strong evidence that human beings must have evolved from simple to complex forms through a series of stages. For instance, some of the human skulls collected resemble those of the early forms of human beings such as the Homo habilis and the Homo erectus. This is a strong indication that human beings must have evolved through a series of stages.
According to the evolutionists, the evolution of human beings is believed to have followed the following stages.
- Proconsul
- Australopithecines
- Homo habilis
- Homo erectus
- Neanderthal man
- Homo sapiens sapiens
The proconsul, this is the small and disputed mankind ancestor. It is believed that the proconsul must have existed in the Miocene period. According to (Beals and Hoijer 1965), the separation of the ancestry of man, monkeys and apes must have been done through the radiation of the species proconsul. The proconsul is believed to have been the simplest human beings. The species of proconsul could be the ancestor to the genus Dryopithecus.
The Australopithecines.
This is another stage of human evolution. The Australopithecines were the organism which initially contained varied features between men and apes. They had a grain capacity of approximately 400cc. This is very similar to the brain exhibited by the modern apes. Their teeth were not very different with that of the present humans. (According to the National Geographic Magazine, November 2006), the Australopithecus afarensis had a hydroid bone believed to have been the foundation of the voice box. This indicated the possible ability of the Australopithecus Afarensis to speak.
Homo habilis.
The term Homo habilis refers to the man with ability. It can sometimes be referred as the “handy man”. The Homo habilis had a jaw shaped like that of the modern man. This therefore could allow regular human speech patterns. In addition, it had a high domed skull which was very similar to that of the modern man. The Homo habilis had an estimated brain capacity of 850cc compared to that of the Australopithecus which was 400cc. This showed improvement in the evolution and development of human beings from simple to a more complex form. They also had a modern human foot. They also had the ability to make and use different tools.
Homo erectus
Homo erectus refers to the upright man. They had a low forehead with smaller brain capacity. They were very similar to the modern apes and had a brain capacity of 1225cc. This was a slight development compared to the Homo habilis. This implies that Homo erectus was more modern compared to the Homo habilis.
Homo neanderthalensis
They possessed the following characteristics: had a sloping forehead and massive supra-orbital arches over the eyes. It also had a thick boned skeleton. In addition, the Neanderthal had two variations in terms of the chin make up. For instance, one was underdeveloped and sloped back while the other one was fully developed and juts forward just like that of the modern Homo sapiens. The modern studies indicate that the Neanderthals stood and walked in an upright position as modern humans walk.
Homo sapiens sapiens
This represents the modern human being. His average brain capacity is approximately 1,200cc. The modern human being is able to speak and even walk in an upright manner. This is the form of human beings considered to be highly developed.
In conclusion, it is prudent to note that human evolution is a complex one. Not many people have been able to understand and believe the concept of evolution. Different people have their own believes concerning how humans evolved. For instance, some believe that human beings were created by a supernatural being after which they multiplied and fulfilled the Earth while other believe that humans evolved through natural processes which took place millions of years ago.
References
National Geographic Magazine, Tampa, FL, November, 2006.
Burenhult, G. E. (1993). The First Humans: Human Origins and History to 10,000 BC. San Francisco, CA: Harper San Francisco.
Schiller, J. (2010). Human Evolution: Neanderthals & Homosapiens. U.S.A: CreateSpace.
Wood, B. (2011). Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Human Evolution, 2 Volume Set. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
