EARLY HUMANS

-

How far back does the human species go?

 "While our ancestors have been around for about six million years, the modern form of humans only evolved about 200,000 years ago. Civilization as we know it is only about 6,000 years old, and industrialization started in the earnest only in the 1800s."

 https://www.universetoday.com/38125/how-long-have-humans-been-on-earth/



Was Australopithecus a species of human?

 Yes.

 Australopithecus afarensis is one of the longest lived and and best known never heard of it) early human species.  Paleoanthropologists have uncovered remains from more than 300 individuals.  
"Similar to chimpanzees, Au. afarensis children grew rapidly after birth and reached adulthood earlier than modern humans. This meant Au. afarensis had a shorter period of growing up than modern humans have today, leaving them less time for parental guidance and socialization during childhood.
Au. afarensis had both ape and human characteristics: members of this species had apelike face proportions (a flat nose, a strongly projecting lower jaw) and braincase (with a small brain, usually less than 500 cubic centimeters -- about 1/3 the size of a modern human brain), and long, strong arms with curved fingers adapted for climbing trees. They also had small canine teeth like all other early humans, and a body that stood on two legs and regularly walked upright."

Was Homo Erectus a species of human?
Yes.
"Early African Homo erectus fossils are the oldest known early humans to have possessed modern human-like body proportions with relatively elongated legs and shorter arms compared to the size of the torso. These features are considered adaptations to a life lived on the ground, indicating the loss of earlier tree-climbing adaptations, with the ability to walk and possibly run long distances. Compared with earlier fossil humans, note the expanded braincase relative to the size of the face."

Compare Homo Erectus and Homo Sapiens in terms of the range and duration of their presence on the planet Earth. 
Homo Erectus came about 1.8 millions years ago, versus Homo Sapiens who have only been around for the last (about) 200,00 years.  
According to https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/homo-erectus-a-bigger-smarter-97879043/, Homo Erectus fossils were mainly found in Africa, China, Italy and Spain.
Homo Sapiens, have been around for 200,00-300,00 years.  Their fossils were mainly found in Africa.  

Comments

  1. CARIOCA BRAZILMay 16, 2020 at 4:03 PM

    Hi Kelsey,

    I prefer to think of Australopithecus as a distant ancestor rather than a species of human. While they were bipeds, in many aspects they were more ape than human. There actually is no species called human. Our genus is homo and our species is sapiens.

    Good luck in your classes. All the best to you,

    Claudia

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

QUIZ 4: FINAL!

-
1)     Umut Uras. “Turkey turning Hagia Sophia back into mosque divides social media.” Al Jazeera. July 11, 2020, This article is about Hagia Sophia; a cathedral turned mosque turned church turned back into a mosque, turned museum.  It wears a lot of hats clearly.  This majestic mosque has been standing since 537, under the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I.  It had been rebuilt many times, due to earthquakes, and major protests which led to its rebuild in the 14 th century.  Hagia Sophia has served as a landmark for Orthodox Christians and Muslims.    “ Hagia Sophia was built as a cathedral in the Christian Byzantine Empire and was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople in 1453 and changed the city's name to Istanbul, (AlJazeera).”  “The Hagia Sophia is so important because it served as the center for religion, politics, and artistic life for the Byzantine world, and has provided us with so ...
Read more

CH. 22: THE END OF EMPIRE

-
In what way(s) do you see the historical developments described in this chapter continuing to evolve in our world today?  One of the important historical developments that are still continuing to evolve today that I noticed was that of Mohandas Gandhi.  He was given the opportunity to study law in England, and returned as a very [not] so successful lawyer.  He then found a job in South Africa, where he first experienced racism.  This type of experience led him to become very involved in organizations including mainly Indians and Muslims, to protest the country's racial segregation.  He developed strategies to revolt against racism, which would be later applied in India as well.  He was very active in feminist movements, to improve their standings in marriage and society, as well as challenging traditional gender roles.   (Strayer, pg. 984-985).   "Non-violence means conscious suffering. It does not mean meek submission to the will of...
Read more