Angela Gregoire
Reflection 4
EDF 1005
Week 2
The recent discovery of the Hominid species, which lived in northeast Africa, in the Hadar region of Ethiopia, has changed the way we look at ourselves. Until 1995, the earliest known member of the Hominid family was discovered. This species lived approximately four to three million years ago along the northern Rift Valley of last Africa. Because pieces of over three hundred individuals of Australopithecus Afarensis have been discovered man is beginning to accept its evolution. Among the discoveries, was a remarkable complete skeleton of an adult female called ‘Lucy’? It is said that ‘Lucy’ was found in 1974 near Hadar in Ethiopia. ‘Lucy’s’ skeleton has provided evidence and knowledge about the ancestral line of human beings. It is said that Lucy was about three and eight inches tall. There is strong debate that the first humans came from Africa two millions years ago. During the last thirty years there have been evidence that a large number of fossils of early Homo sapiens have been uncovered. This has triggered a lot of interest and every year since then, the picture of our human evolutionary tree keeps growing clearer. It is believed that our ancestors were small in stature, with arms and legs and a skeleton similar to an ape. Anthropologists are convinced that human evolution has diverse branches and people are more convinced that our descendants came from Africa.
Even before the discovery of Lucy there were many others. Eugene Dubois discovered fossils of a larger brained species of Homo erectus in Java in 1891. He described his fossils as having long, straight legs. Many still believe that they were excellent walkers and they had large brains. More evidence of other fossils has been found in Java. The fossils of Homo erectus had features similar to modern man. The evidence provided helps us as human beings to understand the concept of evolution.
Recent findings in East Africa have helped to put pieces of the puzzle together. Discoveries in 1776 of a complete Homo erectus skull convinced us even further.This finding in Africa was the start of great human expansion. As modern human beings were emerging, they adapted to the different climatic conditions. This evolutionary process was ongoing and a final phase emerged when present day humans, Homo sapiens first appeared in Africa .The first fossil was found six hundred thousand years ago. in 1856 near the Neander Valley of Germany. Early Europeans called them Neanderthals. It is believed that they originated from Africa.
There is still a lot of debate about the origin of today’s human races. Biologists believe that Homo sapiens evolved only once in Africa and then migrated to Europe and Asia. I am somewhat skeptical about all this, although most of the evidence is documented. All that information about the evolution is very fascinating to me. I am still not convinced that Asian Homo sapiens evolved from Africa because they look so different and the adaptation process takes a long time. These races may have adapted to different environments, but looking at modern day man it is hard to believe. There are so many visible differences that one can easily doubt the evolution process.
Information from scientists in California claimed that human races originated from one Homo sapiens ancestor in Africa. In 1987, they chose mitochondrial DNA to study hominid evolution because females transmit the DNA with mitochondria. It is believed that female eggs carry many mitochondria that become part of a new baby, while sperm contribute no mitochondria to a new baby. Because mitochondrial gene can be traced back through family trees, there is evidence that chromosome 12 had existed in African humans much longer than in non-Africans. Because of the evidence of fossils of early races from Africa and Israel many are convinced that there is substantial information to support an African model of human origin. Although there is ongoing debate about the subject of evolution, it seems likely that Homo sapiens may have evolved from Africa then migrated out of Africa to Europe then Asia. Because of all the research done by scientists more people all over the world are beginning to accept the concept of evolution.