Human has done a lot of things to change this earth to a better place: improving technologies, a great transportation system, education system, and others. A marvelous quality of brainpower is excruciatingly needed in order to do these. Putting aside the fact that those improvements consume numerous decades, human has proven that they possessed the brainpower to change the world. Asserting that bonobos, orangutans, gorillas, and monkeys are in the same order, with a lot of similar physical structures, are they smart as well? There are some sides that say no, some say their intelligences are just totally overestimated; however, I believe that apes are smart.
To better understand our history of evolution we will have to go back three point two million years ago where one of the first species of upright walking apes or hominids were discovered. Lucy, a female Australopithecus afarencis is well known for being part of the earliest species of hominids and was discovered containing forty-seven out of two hundred six bones in a full skeleton. During Lucy’s time the Earth’s plates were shifting causing the environment and climate to change. The rift valleys were forming and the rain forests were dying. In this new environment they found it more efficient to move about on two legs.
Lucy the Beginnings of Humankind is a novel about the impressive discovery of our ancestors by Donald Johanson and Maitland Edey. This discovery changed the way scientists thought about the origins of humankind. The discovery of Lucy proves that humans evolved from apes millions of years ago. It also provides further evidence that supports the fact that bipedalism preceded increase in brain size in human evolution. Finding 40% of the bones from Lucy was extremely impressive to scientists and especially to a paleoanthropologist because of the simple fact that these bones are over 3 million years old.
However, throughout history, human beings have done more than just believe based on observation. The faith in a higher power and superstitions have driven Civilizations from the very beginning of time. Due to the advances made by Nobel Peace prize winner, Williard Libby, carbon-dating has enabled us to date artworks back to the Upper Paleolithic Period hinting the creation of icons, sympathetic magic, entoptic designs, and most importantly totemic imagery; the belief that humans can adopt animal like characteristics. The lion-human in the Upper Paleolithic Period and the jade Kunz Axe from the Olmecs are two interesting sculptures proving the existence and variety of totemic beliefs in history. The lion-man is a statuette made out of mammoth tusk and it is a combination of human and animal characteristics during the Upper Paleolithic period.
Unit 6 -- Evolution Through Time Lesson Goal: Describe the development of life on Earth. Describe the major types of life that dominated the Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras. Evidence through fossils state that the earliest life forms were that of microscopic microorganisms. Fossils are a wonderful agent in aiding scientist in the research of past organism existences. Fossils have allowed us to understand some of major types of life that dominated the early Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras.
Ascending from lower life forms, the human brain emerged through the natural selection process from randomly occurring changes to make the brain in which we have today. Three separate brains, the reptilian, mammalian brain, and the neocortex brain all work together to form the “triune” structure of the brain and formed a piece called the neocortex that allow us as humans to have sophisticated cognitive abilities. Paul D. MacLean introduces his evolutionary view of the brain in three stages. The reptilian brain, the primitive is the innermost core that consists of the upper brain stem, basal ganglia and the reticular system, the mammalian brain, which is characterized by the limbic system added new functions and ways in which we control the body, and lastly the neo-cortex brain, with the development of the neocortex, the grey matter is the bulk of the brain introduced by the two symmetrical hemispheres, the left and right (Miller, E. 1974; Reardon, M. 1998). This allows and enables us to act as human beings.
So, what helped humans to evolve and flourish all over the world while chimps and bonobos stay relatively unchanged? Our ancestors were highly adaptable to the fast changes of the climate. They developed bipedalism, the most energy efficient way of movement that was crucial for survival; they invented complex tools, which gave them access to the more diversified food; and finally, big brain, which gave our ancestors possibility to live complex social life, which includes: language, tight social bonds, collective learning, etc. Analyzing animal’s fossils we can define what kind of environment and climate was in this or that territory at a particular period of time. If we find the bones of hippopotamus or zebra in the desert it is obvious that this territory was savanna with lakes and rivers before.
Statements of what and who you are refer to your knowledge of your identity. The notion of what you are is certainly a more simple concept in terms of analysis. At the most very basic level I am a biological carbon based construct, my body is an efficient machine which has evolved over time to provide the best possible prospects for the preservation of my human life. I would certainly reason that I can confirm myself to be a product of the human race, but what does this mean in terms of who I am? The human race is a species that has evolved rapidly and many would consider that although the human is indeed a product of evolution, it has evolved so far beyond the realms of the animal world.
Placental mammals are a rather diverse group, with nearly 4000 described species, mostly rodents and bats (photos at left). The placental mammals include such diverse forms as whales, elephants, shrews, and armadillos. They are also some of the most familiar organisms to us, including pets such as dogs and cats, as well as many farm and work animals, such as sheep, cattle, and horses. And humans, of course, are also placental mammals. Placental mammals all bear live young, which are nourished before birth in the mother's uterus through a specialized embryonic organ attached to the uterus wall, the placenta.
What makes humans so distinct? Introduction When brainstorming the term human one the first associations that might come to one’s mind are walking, talking, creativity, reasoning and war. A more sophisticated definition taken from the dictionary suggests that within a biological system the human is considered eutherian and belongs to the family of primates. The modern human, also Homo sapiens, is the only remaining species of the genus Homo. When compared with other animals it is especially the complexity of the human brain, capable of language, problem-solving, introspection and abstract reasoning, as well as the upright posture that stand out.