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The Evolution of Man
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The human evolution research always shocked by political problems especially racism and nationalism......this is the most serious trouble that following research field up to now
Perhaps the more important stages of human evolution in my ooinion are
1. Increased flexibility in body of humans including some primates due to fear of snakes . 2. Inbreeding of humans due to more cornering of human packs by wild animals due to his physical inferiority. And the important consequences thereafter. 3. Development of brain. As human ancestors had weaker bodiescompared to many wild animals, he had no option but to develop brain and hence his heart evolved to pump more blood to brain. 4. Technological advancements in some parts of the world due to necessity on their part to conquer wild animals and some other factors too.
It's not just apes that have similar DNA to humans, but also pigs (https://www.science.org.au/curious/peopl...s-and-pigs, https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/huma...atch-39590, https://www.globalfounders.london/blog/p...human-link, https://www.treehugger.com/pigs-and-huma...is-4863855, https://ansc.illinois.edu/news/human-pig...complete-0, https://phys.org/news/2015-09-hidden-evo...mates.html), and to think about it, even though humans are more physically similar to primates than other animals in general, humans and pigs have physical similarities, such as in having eyelashes:
(05-26-2019, 09:39 PM)BorneanTiger Wrote: It's not just apes that have similar DNA to humans, but also pigs (https://www.science.org.au/curious/peopl...s-and-pigs, https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/huma...atch-39590, https://www.globalfounders.london/blog/p...human-link, https://www.treehugger.com/pigs-and-huma...is-4863855, https://ansc.illinois.edu/news/human-pig...complete-0, https://phys.org/news/2015-09-hidden-evo...mates.html), and to think about it, even though humans are more physically similar to primates than other animals in general, humans and pigs have physical similarities, such as in having eyelashes: Speaking of primates and pigs, Chinese scientists have added monkey cells to 2 pig embryos, as part of their efforts to grow human organs in pigs, but you can imagine the outrage that it would generate, particularly as the 2 piglets died within a week of their birth: https://www.newscientist.com/article/222...-in-china/ Credit: Tang Hai  *This image is copyright of its original author
Modern humans are of the species Homo sapiens, which is believed to have derived from Homo erectus anywhere from 300–800 thousand years ago. Homo erectus or Homo ergaster represent the second earliest known specimens of the human race, dating as far back as approximately 2 million years ago, with Homo habilis (which is considered to have lived 2.3–1.65 million years ago, and might be the same as Homo rudolfensis and Homo gautengensis) being the first. Though Homo habilis is not confirmed to have had obligate bipedalism (like australopithecines and unlike Homo erectus / ergaster), the cranium of KNM-ER 1813 (from Koobi Fora in Kenya, dated to approximately 1.9 million years ago, in the early years of Homo ergaster / erectus) is too similar to the cranium of a human being to be belong to an ape, in my opinion:
Cast of the skull KNM-ER 1813 at Göteborgs Naturhistoriska Museum, Göteborg, Västra Götaland County, Sweden, by Gunnar Creutz (10th of November 2019), versions 8563, 8564 and 8807: Cast of the skull KNM-ER 1813 by The Smithsonian: https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/hum...mo-habilis, https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/hum...nm-er-1813 The skeleton of AL 288-1 or Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis), cast from Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, by User 120 (27th of March 2007): Whereas Homo sapiens is considered to have originated in Africa, fossils of Homo erectus / ergaster have been found in Eurasia and Africa, treating Homo erectus and Homo ergaster as belonging to the same species. Below is the skeleton of the "Turkana boy" of Kenya, who was of the species Homo erectus / ergaster, which shows that this race was bipedal like modern humans: https://evolution-outreach.biomedcentral...010-0247-8
Ardipithecus is a genus that lived during the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene epochs in the Afar Depression, Ethiopia. Originally described as one of the earliest ancestors of humans after they diverged from the chimpanzees, the relation of this genus to human ancestors and whether it is a hominin is now a matter of debate: https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.114...611-145724
One relatively complete skeleton of this genus that was recently discovered is that of "Ardi", a small-brained 50-kilogram (110.231 lbs) female from about 4.4 million years ago, which is considered to belong to the species Ardipithecus ramidus. It is not established that Ardi's species is related to Homo sapiens. With regards to Ardi's body composition, archaeologists note that she is unique in that she possesses traits that are characteristic of both extinct primates and early hominids. It is still a point of debate whether or not Ardi was capable of bipedal movement. Ardi's divergent big toes are not characteristic of a biped. However, the found remains of her legs, feet, pelvis, and hands suggested that she walked upright when on the ground, but was a quadruped when moving around trees. Her big toe, for example, spreads out quite a bit from her foot to better grasp tree limbs. However, unlike chimpanzees, her foot contains a unique small bone inside a tendon, which kept the big toe stronger. When seen along with Ardi's other bone structures, this unique bone would have helped her walk bipedally, though less efficiently than Lucy. Her wrist bones also provided her with flexibility, but the palm bones were short. This suggests that Ardi did not walk on her knuckles, and only used her palms to move along tree branches. Some of Ardi's teeth are still connected to her jawbone and show enamel wear, suggesting a diet consisting of fruit and nuts: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magaz...dle-awash/, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/...a-science/, https://australian.museum/learn/science/...s-ramidus/, https://science.sciencemag.org/content/326/5949/64/F3
Since this topic is dependant on archaeology and theories, it is worth mentioning that one theory behind the name of the western Saudi coastal city of Jeddah (which is locally pronounced as 'Jidda' or 'Jiddah' (جِدَّة), meaning 'Grandmother') is that the city has the grave of Eve. Thousands of tourists and religious pilgrims still come to see what is left of Maqbarat Ummina Ḥawa’ (مقبرة أمنا حواء, Cemetery of Our Mother Eve): https://samslifeinjeddah.wordpress.com/2...in-jeddah/, http://tripfreakz.com/offthebeatenpath/t...-in-jeddah
Plan of Eve's tomb by Sir Richard Francis Burton, from "Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Meccah" (1857): https://books.google.com/books?id=e8j_Mh...edir_esc=y Photo in The Heart of Arabia by H. St. John B. Philby in London, 1922, pages 230–231: Image in Pélerinage á la Mecque et á Medine, by Saleh Soubhi in Cairo, 1894, pages 56–57: Samuel Marinus Zwemer (1900), Arabia: the cradle of Islam, F. H. Revell Company: http://openlibrary.org/books/OL24232695M/Arabia The story of a Pilgrimage to Hijaz, by Nawab Sultan Jahan Begam, Calcutta 1913, pages 86–87: A photograph shown by Samuel E. Shropshire, from circa 1908: "The view of Hawa (our mother) in Gedda in 1321" (corresponding to a Gregorian year of 1903) in Mar'at Al-Haramein wa al-Rihlat al-Hijaziyyah wa al-Hajj wa Mashari'uh al-Diniyah by Ibrahim Rif'at Pasha (1925): Photograph of the cemetery by Hardscarf, on the 14th of February, 2020: Photograph by Samuel E. Shropshire, on the 13th of March, 2013: Photograph by Yousef Madari, on the 14th of May, 2010:  (07-15-2020, 07:48 AM)scilover Wrote: So because of the harsh environment, we had to evolve....but what about now?Haast's eagle became extinct as recently as 1400, after the tallest bird ever moa were hunted to extinction by the first Māori. It is used to prey on humans sometimes. Read the link for more details about relation with humans.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
(07-07-2020, 09:48 PM)BorneanTiger Wrote: Modern humans are of the species Homo sapiens, which is believed to have derived from Homo erectus anywhere from 300–800 thousand years ago. Homo erectus or Homo ergaster represent the second earliest known specimens of the human race, dating as far back as approximately 2 million years ago, with Homo habilis (which is considered to have lived 2.3–1.65 million years ago, and might be the same as Homo rudolfensis and Homo gautengensis) being the first. Though Homo habilis is not confirmed to have had obligate bipedalism (like australopithecines and unlike Homo erectus / ergaster), the cranium of KNM-ER 1813 (from Koobi Fora in Kenya, dated to approximately 1.9 million years ago, in the early years of Homo ergaster / erectus) is too similar to the cranium of a human being to be belong to an ape, in my opinion: Like I said there, Homo habilis might be the same species as Homo rudolfensis or Homo gautengensis, but we are not sure. Several specimens with insecure species' identification were assigned to H. habilis, leading to arguments for splitting, namely into H. rudolfensis and H. gautengensis, of which only the former has received wide support. 1) Here is a reconstruction of the skull KNM-ER-1470 (which had been assigned to H. rudolfensis), displayed at Museum of Man, San Diego, by Durova (4th of December, 2007): A cast of the skull at Göteborgs Naturhistoriska Museum, Göteborg, Västra Götaland County, Sweden, by Gunnar Creutz (10th of November, 2019): 2) On its own, KNM-ER-1470 may not look extraordinary, but if you put it next to KNM-ER 1813 (which is depicted in my post above, and was assigned to both H. habilis and H. erectus) then it becomes more interesting. Note that they were both found in Koobi Fora, Kenya, and dated to approximately 2 mya (million years ago): https://science.sciencemag.org/content/198/4312/13, http://mr.crossref.org/iPage?doi=10.1144...492010-188 Conty (26th of July, 2011): Gunnar Creutz (10th of November, 2019): KNM-ER-1470 is visibly bigger than KNM-ER 1813. Is it because they belong to different species, or is this a mere case of sexual dimorphism being prominent in the same species, in which case they could be treated as belonging to a male and female from the species H. habilis? Not only were fossils which were classified under H. habilis contemporaneous with those classified under H. rudolfensis, but also those classified under H. erectus / ergaster, and Paranthropus bosei (also Zinjanthropus bosei or Australopithecus bosei). 3) Now for fragments of skulls that were assigned to H. gautengensis, respectively STW-53 (which was discovered in Swartkrans, South Africa, and dated to approximately 1.8–1.5 mya) and SK-847 (found in Krugersdrop, Transvaal, South Africa, and dated to approximately 1.78–1.43 mya): http://www.isita-org.com/jass/contents/2...011933.pdf, https://www.nature.com/articles/265310a0, https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/hum...ils/sk-847, https://orsa.sitehost.iu.edu/Sk847_details.html, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8296872/ STW-53, by Rhuangagabi (2nd of July, 2015): SK-847 at the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, 1st of January 1980, by Ryan Somma: Note that SK-847 is part of a larger collection of skulls, credit: Ryan Somma
Here is a skull belonging to Australopithecus sediba, which was considered to be ancestral to humans (genus Homo), like Lucy's species (Australopithecus afarensis). The problem is that fossils of the former autralopithecine were dated to about 1.98 million years ago, which is too late to make it ancestral to all members of the genus Homo (which is believed to have appeared over 2 million years ago): https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/04/...man-family
Image by Brett Eloff, Professor Lee R. Berger and Wits University: Lee R. Berger and the cranium of MH1 (Malapa Hominid 1), the type specimen of Australopithecus sediba. Photograph by Brett Eloff, courtesy of Lee Berger and the University of the Witwatersrand (2009): Malapa Hominin 1 (MH1, left), Lucy (AL 288-1, centre), and Malapa Hominin 2 (MH2, right). Image compiled by Peter Schmid, courtesy of Lee R. Berger and the University of the Witwatersrand (8th of September, 2009): Mandibular and dental anatomy in Homo naledi compared to other species of the genus Homo, and Australopithecus sediba. Right demi-mandibles attributed to A. sediba, H. rudolfensis, H. habilis, H. naledi, H. erectus, and H. sapiens are pictured. All mandibles are aligned using the line marking the distal edge of the first molar. Each of the six horizontal lines corresponds to the edges of teeth in the DH1 mandible, the holotype specimen of Homo naledi, with corresponding teeth labelled to the left. Credit: Hawks et al. (19th of May, 2017): https://elifesciences.org/articles/24232
The northwestern Saudi region of Tabuk has come in the news over the discovery of human footprints which were found in the lake-bed of Al-Athar (meaning “The Trace”), and dated to approximately 120,000 years ago! Footprints of elephants and other animals were also identified alongside 233 fossils, and these are considered to be the earliest footprints in the Arabian Peninsula: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/...091120.php, https://news.sky.com/story/120-000-year-...a-12075198, https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/...ans-arabia, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-new...180975874/, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/scien...om-africa/
Researchers identified seven prehistoric human footprints at Al-Athar, a dried-up lake bed in Saudi Arabia, credit: Palaeodeserts Project Sediments, footprints and fossils at Al-Athar Paleo-lake, by Stewart et al. (2020): https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/38/eaba8940 A) Plan view of the Alathar paleolake deposits with researchers indicated by white arrowheads. B) First stratigraphic section (units FS1 to FS3). C) Second stratigraphic section (units SS1 to SS3) overlying the first but located toward the center of the paleolake. D and E) Example of an elephant track and trackway, Proboscipeda isp. F) Camelid trackway, Lamaichnum isp. G) Camelid forefoot. H) Camelid hindfoot. I) Equid track, Hippipeda isp. J) Bovid axis vertebra eroding out of the paleolake sediment. Photo credit: Gilbert Price, The University of Queensland and Richard Clark-Wilson, Royal Holloway, University of London. However, contrary to what Sky News and the National Geographic said, it is not necessarily the earliest evidence for humans in the Arabian Peninsula, because the U.A.E. Emirate of Sharjah has an archaeological site that is dated to as far back as 125,000 years ago, at Jabal Al-Fayah near Al-Madam, on the border with Oman: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/331/6016/453, https://www.livescience.com/10340-lost-c...-gulf.html, https://www.nature.com/news/2011/110127/...11.55.html Hand-axes like this one found in the U.A.E. indicate that humans left Africa 125,000 years ago. Credit: Science / AAAS Close-up of the site of Jabal Al-Fayah. Courtesy: Knut Bretzke It is worth mentioning that Jabal Al-Fayah was considered to be the oldest settlement of anatomically modern humans outside of Africa, since the time of its discovery in 2011, until an adult upper jawbone, dated to 170,000–200,000 years ago, was found in the cave of Misliyah, in the northern Israeli region of Mount Carmel: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6374/456, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20...140923.htm, https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg2...years-ago/, https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-01261-5 To quote the Times of Israel: https://www.timesofisrael.com/jawbone-fo...evolution/ “Based on fossils found in Ethiopia, for the past 50 years scientists have believed that modern humans appeared in Africa, the “cradle of humanity,” roughly 160,000-200,000 years ago. The earliest record of migration outside of Africa was dated to around 90,000-120,000 years ago, through fossils discovered at digs in Israel’s Skhul and Qafzeh caves almost 90 years ago. With this Misliya cave jawbone, however, the history of human evolution is being rewritten. “The entire narrative of the evolution of Homo sapiens must be pushed back by at least 100,000-200,000 years,” said Hershkovitz, the head of the Dan David Center for Human Evolution and Biohistory Research at TAU’s Steinhardt Museum of Natural History. The Misliya fossil not only resets the date for Homo sapien evolution and migration, but also spurs the mind-blowing implication that modern humanity did not evolve independently but rather alongside — and intermingled with — many other hominin groups, such as Neanderthals, he said.” The 177,000 to 194,000-year-old maxilla (upper jaw) of Misliya-1 hominin, credit: Israel Hershkovitz, Tel Aviv University Typical Early Middle Paleolithic flint points found together with Misliya-1, credit: Mina Weinstein Evron, University of Haifa Misliyah Cave, where a jawbone complete with teeth was recently discovered dating to 177,000–194,000 years ago, credit: Mina Weinstein-Evron, University of Haifa The cliff of Megadim, with the cave in the middle, by Hanay (5th of December, 2009): Location of early modern human fossils in Africa and the Middle East, credit: Rolf Quam, Binghamton University, USA/NASA image
Spain (the country of Pablo Picasso) has the oldest known works of art, dating back to the dating back to the age of our long-lost cousins, the Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis or Homo sapiens neanderthalensis), at about 65,000 years ago, see the thread "Pleistocene Cave Art".
(07-07-2020, 11:04 PM)BorneanTiger Wrote: Since this topic is dependant on archaeology and theories, it is worth mentioning that one theory behind the name of the western Saudi coastal city of Jeddah (which is locally pronounced as 'Jidda' or 'Jiddah' (جِدَّة), meaning 'Grandmother') is that the city has the grave of Eve. Thousands of tourists and religious pilgrims still come to see what is left of Maqbarat Ummina Ḥawa’ (مقبرة أمنا حواء, Cemetery of Our Mother Eve): https://samslifeinjeddah.wordpress.com/2...in-jeddah/, http://tripfreakz.com/offthebeatenpath/t...-in-jeddah Like I said, this topic is dependent on archaeology (hence tombs or graves) and theories, so here are additional graves or tombs of interest, and note how long they are: 1) Habil (Abel, the son of Adam and Eve who was murdered by his brother Qabil (Cain) in Abrahamic belief), in the area of Wadi Baradah in Syria (northwest of Damascus, near the border with Lebanon): https://www.arabamerica.com/searching-en...bels-tomb/, https://www.islamiclandmarks.com/syria/tomb-of-habil Photograph by Toushiro (August 2004): Abu Huzaifah: 2) Shayth (Seth, who was born after the murder of his brother Abel, and succeeded Adam as the leader of his family), in the village of Al-Nabi Shayth (النبي شيث, meaning "The Prophet Seth"), in Beqa' Valley and Ba'albek District (eastern Lebanon, near the border with Syria): Photograph by Baalbek1371 (20th of September, 2011): Mahdimadi (2nd of January, 2018): |
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