Human Evolution

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Human Evolution

• Review of knowledge

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Finding the evidence for evolution

• Right conditions few examples. Once have them
  need to date them, potassium-argon dating, C14,
  relative dating all used.

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• Human evolution is divided into two strands
• Biological evolution the transmission of factors
  by genes, what is inherited.
• Cultural evolution transmission of ideas,
  beliefs, what is learned.

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• KPCOFGS
• Animalia
• Chordata
• Mammalia
• Primates
• Hominidae
• Homo
• sapiens sapiens

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Humans are Mammals

• Hairy and sweat glands
• animals that suckle young on secreted milk.
• viviparous
• Are homeothermic (maintain a constant body
  temperature)
• Give birth to live young
• External ear
• Four chambered heart
• Diaphragm
• Differentiated teeth
• Higher intelligence

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Humans are primates

• Primate classification
• Divided into two main suborders
• Suborder Prosimii tarsiers, lemurs, lorises
• Suborder Anthropoidea monkeys, apes, humans

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• Primates developed in the three dimensional world
  of trees. Ancestors probably had a good sense of
  smell but lost it as not a good way to
  communicate in the trees. Sight and colour
  vision developed as the dominant sense.
  Characteristics are related to being in an
  arboreal environment.

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Characteristics of primates

• Prehensile grasping hands (and tails)
• Nails not claws, sensitive finger pads
• 5 functional digits on feet
• Retention of collar-bone
• Binocular, stereoscopic vision and improved
  retina
• Good eye hand coordination
• Oestrus cycle
• Bony eye ridges
• Mobile arm joints
• One young per pregnancy (usually)
• Strong social groupings

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Primate Locomotion -Some are arboreal and some
adapted to ground

• ABOREAL
• Quadrupedalism
• Walking on four limbs. Arms and legs are of more
  or less equal length and importance. Most
  primitive form lived in trees (lemurs)
• Modifield quadrapedilism
• Leaping and clinging. Torso is vertical after
  each leap and in resting position. When on
  ground hop on back legs. (some prosimians)

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• Brachiation
• Involves use of the arms, which become longer and
  are used to suspend body during feeding and to
  move by swinging. Can be full (gibbons) or semi
  (spider monkeys).

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• GROUND
• Quadrapedilism baboons
• Knuckle walking chimps and gorillas. Walking on
  the backs of the middle parts of fingers.
  Fingers hands and wrists are adapted to this from
  of locomotion.
• Bipedalism (habitual) hominin (humans). This
  involves major changes to the pelvis, backbone
  and foot.