Lucas+Judson

Lucas Judson Have you ever wondered where you came from? Why you are tall, short, fat skinny or just having curly hair, or the more complex questions, why do you have two eyes and not one, or walk upright?. Everyone asks these questions, it’s only natural to feel curious or to want some answers. So I would guess you would want an answer, and that goes back almost eight million years.  // Australopithecus // was probably the first type of primate that had human characteristics and lived about seven million years ago. They were about four and a half feet tall, had brains that were a little bit bigger that apes but a lot smaller than modern humans, they used tools and they walked on two legs, as well as crawled, using their knuckles to support their bodies. The first remains found of //Australopithecus// have been dated to be 6.4 million years old. The sort of tools that they used were stones that had been shaped and carved until they were sharp, and then would be used like a knife. This is probably the main reason that people think that these were the first ancestors of modern humans. // Homo habilis // was next in the chain of evolutionary humans. They were very short but had very long arms, like primates. But, the main things that separate them from primates are that their faces did not stick out as much and that they used tools. // Homo erectus // was next. They were the first of our ancestors to walk completely upright and were the first to show a control over fire. They averaged about five feet ten inches and were a lot stronger than modern humans. Also, they had brains that were almost the same size as humans. The //Neanderthal// first appeared around 350,000 years ago in Europe. They averaged five foot five and were extremely strong. They were built with incredibly strong bones and were made to survive the harsh conditions of prehistoric Europe. Their eyebrows stuck out more than humans and they had flat noses. They also had much wider jaw bones than people. But, after about thirty thousand years, all traces of //Neanderthal// disappeared. Finally we have reached modern humans. Human beings average about five feet eleven inches and weigh about one hundred seventy pounds. We walk fully upright and are the dominant species on the planet. Humans cook food before eating it, as well as dress in clothes and most importantly are bipedal. Those are what truly separate us from primates. So, you can see that the story of human evolution is a long and eventful one! And if you did not get the answer to your question during the reading, I will try to explain. The reason that we are all the same is because we all come from a common ancestor. What this means is that if you trace your family tree back eight million years ago, there would be only a handful of //Australopithecus// in the world. Over the period of ten million years, a handful of //Australopithecus// would become a hundred, and then there would be a thousand //Homo habilis//, then ten thousand, than fifty thousand //Homo erectus//, then one hundred thousand //Neanderthal// and humans, then two hundred thousand humans but no Neanderthals. So, there you go, this is the story of our evolution, all the way from orangutans to humans. We have gone through so much as a species, and as a result of that we have come out as the dominant species on earth.

http://web.educastur.princast.es/proyectos/grupotecne/archivos/investiga/Australopithecus.jpg http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2005/03/18/evolution_1903_wideweb__430x328,1.jpg http://www.accordingtothescriptures.org/pictures/hoax/homohabilus.jpg http://www.teachersnetwork.org/powertolearn/web/Prehistory%20Web%20Quest/images/Homo_Erectus.gif http://a.abcnews.com/images/Technology/nm_neanderthal_071018_mn.jpg http://www.systemsbiology.org/images/HumanBody.jpg