This caused many skeptics to believe that this “hobbit” was an isolated incident of a modern human with some type of disease that stunted their growth. However, as more studies were completed, LB1 began to look more and more like other primitive, pre-erectus species. For example, LB1 had large feet, long, curved toes, and no arch. These type of feet would not be conducive to running long distances, and they would have to walk differently to keep their feet from dragging on the ground. LB1 also has a very small brain, similar in size to a chimpanzee. However, although LB1’s brain was extremely small, it still had some advanced features that allowed them to make stone tools and create fire. Other bones in the body, such as the wrist, pelvis, and clavicle, also appear more primitive than Homo erectus. However, many of the cranial features would make it appear that LB1 is a member of our genus. Due to the interesting mixture of characteristics, researchers have started to consider that the hobbit may actually have been a more primitive species, rather than one that evolved after Homo erectus. In the Journal of Human Evolution, Debbie Argue and her research team proposed two possible points in time at which the hobbit branched off from the rest of the hominins.…
Brain Size: Neanderthal people had a brain volume of about 1200 to 1800 cubic centimeters, equal to and even larger than modern human brains. Neanderthal skull reconstructions provide further evidence that they were a separate species to modern humans. Distinctive Neanderthal skull features were established in early infancy. Physical features in skull development, such as the Neanderthal’s receding chin and low, sloping forehead were fixed by the age of two years. Their hyoid bones, involved in speech, were basically identical to humans.…
The aim of this essay is to investigate the two major theories trying to explain why do primates have large brains. Even since the seminar study of Jerison in 1973 it has been acknowledged that primate brains are unusually large for their body size. There are three main groups of theories giving more or less persuasive explanations of the evolution of large brains and high cognitive skills in primates. The first group is a group of social theories, postulating that primate cognition is a result of complex social interactions between individuals, and in this essay this group will be represented by the Social Brain Hypothesis proposed by British anthropologist Robin Dunbar. The second group encompasses the ecological theories that are based on a premise that primate intelligence originated from complex interactions with the environment. A “delegate” from this group in my discussion will be the Visual Specialisation Hypothesis introduced by Robert Barton (1998), who argues that primate encephalisation is connected to frugivorous diet and the need of advanced visual abilities. Finally, the Cultural Intelligence Hypothesis, which is a general name to multiple related views, proposes that large-brained primates possess “general intelligence” due to their great behavioural flexibility. This final theory will be included in the comparison just to offer an alternative view to the two mainly discussed theories above.…
H. neandertal speech capabilities have proven in recent years to be a task capturing much of the time and research of anthropologist. In the 20th century it was commonly thought that H. neandertal was too brutish and simple to have evolved into modern humans, and had very little modern behavior or capabilities. As the fossil record grew and the technology progressed the scientific community found evidence of modern behavior and possibly speech capabilities, that would portray H. neandertal as the advance subspecies he was instead of the brutish, unintelligent being that had been reinforced through the 20th century.…
Over decades, many Americans reject the ideas of evolution and there were many arguments against the theory of human evolution. However, in order to understand how the human developed, we must look at the human evolution. For many centuries, we have been curious about our origins and our human bodies structure. How we got to be the kind of species we are today, such as the way we look; walking upright on two legs, our hands has five fingers, the size of our brain and teeth, and what makes us a unique species. Our animal ancestors have shaped our body structure in many ways, we humans have a lot in common than you might think with apes, reptiles and even fish.…
If earth were a field and evolution a farmer then the leading and the healthiest crop in his field would be the human or homo sapiens. But this human race would never had flourished into an above average species without assistance from outer space friends. The aliens initialized the primary phase of the advancement process about three million years ago. They did this by means of a monolith, planted on earth on a fateful night. The monolith probed the ape-man's (Austrapethicas Erectus) mind, studied their reactions and finally evaluated their potential. By carefully conducted experiments the monolith altered the molecular makeup of the ape-man's brain making them smarter and providing them with the necessary skills needed to survive in the hostile world. The ape-man changed its shape…
Answer 2: Humans have large brains that have evolved over time. The large brain had developed enough that during the Great Ice Age, humans were able to find food and shelter. It also allowed humans to be able to create warm clothing. These skills were made possible by the large brain and intelligence that goes with it.…
Since the dawn of time, Homo Sapiens have developed and evolved in a short time, relative to Earth’s history, into a advanced and special civilization we know today as present day society. The beginnings of civilization 2.5 million years ago was known as the Paleolithic Age which ends at 12,000 BCE and leads directly into the Mesolithic Age which ends at 8,000 BCE. These two eras, Paleolithic Age and Neolithic Age, although share similar developments such as new technologies and dominion, they also differ in major new developments such as sedentary agriculture and pastoralization.…
- There are definite archeological signs that early hominids were hunting or scavenging animals at least as far back as Lower Pleistocene times (12,000 B.C.)…
The earliest hominids have traits that include ability to walk upright as well as smaller teeth, flatter faces and larger brains than earlier primates. Hominid evolution began in in…
Along with a big brain, opposable thumbs, bipedalism is one of the characteristics that makes the human species unique. The dictionary defines bipedalism as “a condition of using two feet for standing or walking”. Walking on two legs allowed our ancestors to see better, have freed up hands, and eventually become erect. Bipedalism is one of the initial driving force of the human evolution.…
After 300,000 y.a. tools become more complex and are labeled in Europe as the Middle Paleolithic or in Africa, as the Middle Stone Age (Ambrose 2001). Regional variation is great enough that cultural traditions become evident. Tools composed of two or more materials that require complicated preparation become common and suggest increasingly complex brains. The tool tradition associated with the Neanderthals in western Europe is called the Mousterian (Klein 1999). All are eventually replaced by the blade industries of the Upper Paleolithic which are associated with modern humans. Encephalization, Language and Speech; brain sizes expressed as estimated cranial capacities are commonly reported for various species of hominin. Australopithecus afarensis and A. africanus have the smallest averages to date at 410 and 440 cubic centimeters (cc.), respectively (Collard & Wood 1999). Chimpanzee cranial capacity also averages 410 cc. But chimpanzees weigh about 24% more than the australopiths, thus complicating this simple comparison. The cranial volume of the robust hominins such as P. robustus and P. boisei were in the 500’s and H. habilis, H. rudolfensis and H. ergaster averaged 610, 750, 850 cc.,…
The greatest achievement and jump in evolutions was mans bipedality, suddenly we were faster, taller, able to bring and eat food for efficiently, it was a marvel. We were mobile, energy efficient, we could migrate and avoid the incredibly harsh weather, it also allowed for bigger brains, which improved out intelligence. Tools were also a great help to Neanderthal men, it made life easier and able to compete with the…
Three critical biological traits, bipedalism, a very large brain, and the location of the larynx, are due to natural selection. Bipedalism evolved because it provided australopithecines with some advantage for survival. Larger brains had greater survivability such as enabling Homo habilis to locate things to eat throughout the seasons of the year. Homo sapiens are believed to be connected to the emergence of language with the intellectual and social capabilities that humans we have.…
There has been much debate concerning the origins of bipedalism. Bipedalism, or the ability to move on two legs (eLucy, 2007) was said to have emerged due to climate change in East Africa, for sexual display purpose, to reduce exposure to sunlight, the need to use weapons and tools and many more (NOVA, 2013). There are numerous arguments associated with bipedalism as no one can be entirely sure as to what constituted to the emergence of this trait, which was first present in hominins Australopithecus Afarensis. Anthropologists claim that there is a missing link in the evolutionary lineage that makes it hard to confirm the real cause of bipedalism emergence. However, there are some models which are widely accepted by scientific world, such as the climate change model, and model which was just recently being introduced, but is supported by convincing arguments. Next, climate change model and rugged terrain model will be discussed in the rest of this writing.…