Lil+Pierce

Have you ever heard someone say that humans are **//direct descendants//** of chimpanzees? Well that’s not exactly true, we didn’t... But there is a theory that supports the idea that humans, apes, and monkeys share a **//common ancestor//**… So chimps are more like our cousins than our great, great, great, great, great, great, grandparents. Okay, we got that down. But what “stuff” makes us truly human? Humans are classified as **//primates//**. Primates are a group of //mammals// including humans, apes, monkeys, and lemurs. The earliest ancestors of primates might’ve lived in the era of the dinosaurs! These early primates were probably mouse like mammals that lived high up in the trees, at insects, and were active during the nighttime hours. Around 45 million years ago primates with larger brains began to appear. These larger brained creatures were the first primates that had **//traits//** similar to modern monkeys, apes, and humans. That was a lot to digest so let’s talk about something fairly easy to understand. Just because we aren’t direct descendants of chimps, doesn’t mean that we aren’t related to them. In fact chimps are our closest relatives! We share a common ancestor with them. Somewhere around 6-30 million years ago the ancestors of humans, chimps, and other **//species//**5 of apes began to evolve along different lines. That’s why we aren’t the same as chimps, or gorillas, or any other type/species of ape, or monkey. Got it? Humans may have a common ancestor with a monkey, but we are special. =] We are classified in our own little group that’s separate from primates called **//hominids//** The group of hominids only includes humans and our human-like ancestors. The main characteristic that separates humans from other primates is **//bipedalism//**. Evidence of bipedalism can be found in a primates skeletal structure. Scientists believe that hominid evolution began in AFRICA. There are at least 18 different types of hominids. Fossils are classified as hominids when they share some of the characteristics of modern human beings. Each type of hominid is unique in the way it walked, the shape of its skull etc. The earliest recoded hominids were more like modern humans than apes. They were able to walk upright; they had smaller teeth, flatter faces, and larger brains than earlier primates. Many of the early hominids are classified as A**//ustralopithecines.//** Members of this group were similar to apes, yet different in other ways. Australopithecines had slightly larger brains, and may have used stone tools. They might’ve also walked and climbed in two legs. Fossil evidence of australopithecines has been found in several different sites in/on the continent of Africa. Some of which have been found near what seems to be simple stone tools. Now that may not seem very modern or great to us, but it is a vital piece of info for paleontologists all around the world! Around 2.4 million years a new type of hominid appeared. These hominids were more human like. They had larger, more complex brains, rounder skulls, flatter faces, and they showed advanced tool-making abilities. These new hominid species were classified into a group called **//Homo.//** A member of this group, **//Homo Habilis//** lived around 2.4 million years ago. Another member **//Homo Erectus//** lived around 1.8 million years ago. No one knows exactly what early hominids looked like//…// As recently as 300,000 years ago two new types of hominids appeared. Both had the largest brains ever recorded in hominid evolution research. These hominids made advanced tools, clothes and art!! Scientists think that modern humans may have evolved from one of those two recent hominids. One if the more recent hominid discovered is called a **//Neanderthal.//** Neanderthals lived in Europe and Western Asia. These hominids may have lived as early as 230,000 years ago! They hunted large animals, wore clothes, and made fires. They may have also cared for their elderly and sick, and buried their dead with a certain type of religious ritual thing. About 30,000 years ago, the Neanderthals disappeared. No one knows what caused the extinction of the Neanderthals. Almost done I promise… Modern humans are classified as **//Homo Sapiens.//** The earliest homo sapiens lived around 100,000 to 160,000 years ago. The group migrated out of Africa somewhere between 40,000 and 100,000 years ago… Out of all the known hominids, only the Homo sapiens still exist. Early homo sapiens produced large amounts of art. They made sculptures, carvings, paintings, and clothing. You’ve pretty much got what we know of as a caveman… ] Okay WE’RE FINISHED!!!! That is human evolution in a nutshell… An extremely small nutshell.. =] I hope I havn’t blown over your minds, and I hope you understood at least some of what I was saying… THANKS FOR TRYING!! Ahaha lol Still Curious? Want to know more? Here are some links to other websites that have more information on human evolution... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_evolution

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/evolution/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/07/3/l_073_06.html

Lily Pierce 8th grade Beaver Country Day School ‘13

Picture References In Order: http://www.zgapa.pl/zgapedia/data_pictures/_uploads_wiki/h/Homo_erectus_tautavelensis.jpg http://www.kidspast.com/images/homo-sapien-sapien.jpg