Simon+Lelouche

=//**__Hominids Evolution Essay 5__**//=

**//__Introduction__//**
Our early ancestors wandered around the earth approximately 3 million years ago. They were called hominids, but who were they really? and why were they the first step towards humanity? That is what I will explain to you through this essay. What we think is that each time a hominid evolved it looked more like us, and with a superior level of intelligence if you compared it to the hominids that came before it, but my essay will be focused on 5 different hominids including us. These Hominids are: 1.Australopithecus 2.Homo Habilis 3.Homo Erectus 4.Homo Sapiens 5.Homo sapiens sapiens Although Human evolution is only a theory some of it is thought as 100 percent accurate by scientists but some of the information has been made up. But the last question still hangs around, it is still unanswered.... Are we the final version of Humanity?.......
 * __According to theories of human evolution many changes in humanity have enabled us to make progress towards society.__**



Important factors about evolution of Hominids:
 * Bipedalism
 * Discovery of Fire
 * First known tools
 * Proper use of fire
 * Tribe Leaders
 * Change of Climate

//**__Australopithecus__**// Life was quite difficult for Australopithecus because they did not really know how to either use or make tools although some scientists say A. Garhi did use tools, and to add on to that A.Garhi was a preys for wild animals, that fact that they were not tool users made life harder for them because they could only rely on their physical strength to survive.The only advantage that Australopithecus had was their abilities to move in trees. Australopithecus was not the cleverest Hominid Specie that was found, they were not the cleverest hominid specie by at least a thousand cm3 of brain. Australopithecus behaved more human-like than we previously thought. To hunt Australopithecus had to work together and living in a forest could have affected their social ways / Behavior. Australopithecus stood 3.5 feet tall to 4 feet tall (depending on their gender) and weighted about 110 pounds.Australopithecus's teeth could roughly indicate their age. That is how we know that Lucy (A.Afarensis) reached adulthood before her death but she never reached old age.

Australopithecus were suited to their environment but they were also not suited. They were suited to their environment because they could move easily from places to places. Trees were probably the main things that suited them to their environment because of their abilities to move from one tree to another.

I think that the main changes from Australopithecus that led to humans are:
 * **Bipedalism**
 * Some Australopithecus had more "Modern Brains" (Theory)

__**//Homo Habilis//**__

Life was not vey easy for Homo Habilis because of their small teeth. Homo Habilis would eat anything that came their way as long as their teeth were not too small to eat it, and they were also preys. They were preys of a large wild animal called dinofelis which is a large leopard/cat, the Homo Habilis also had to rely on their physical strength.

The Homo Habilis's physical features are similar to the features of Australopithecus. They were 110 - 130 cm tall but other than that the limb proportions, shape of skull and a lot of other features are similar to the ones of Australopithecus.

Homo Habilis made the first known tools, those tools were very simple tools that were made from pebbles. Their tools became more advanced though. They found better tool-making materials, but these materials were very difficult to use. Fire adapted Homo Habilis because the fire kept them warm. The food in their environment didn't help them suvive very easily because the food was tooo hard for their small teeth. I think that the most significant achievment from the Homo Habilis is the developpment of tools and the discovery of fire.

Homo Erectus lived in good conditions because wild animals feared them, they were feared and they could use fire and other tools properly.
The postcranial skelton if the Homo Erectus is similar to our postcranial skeleton. The differences between Homo habilis and Homo Erectus are the increased brain size, brow ridges, shortened face and the structure of the nose. The Homo Erectus were a hunter gatherer society, which was good for them because they were sort of feared. R.Leakey thinks that the Homo Erectus was socially closer to us tha we thought. The increased brain size may have helped them to developp tools. All H.erectus were not adapted to their environment because they lived in 4 differentt places in the world which might mean that some h.erectus were adapted to their environment without having to use fire but some still had to use fire to adapt using fire. Homo Erectus was a hominid that used a lot of tools. They may have used oldowan tools, and later started to use Acheulan tools which was firstly used 1.6 million years ago. Also Homo Erectus may have been the first of all hominids to have used rafts to travel by ocean. The most significant change/achievement is that they mastered how to use fire to defend themselves but to hunt as well. Also the developpment of tools is also very important.

**//__Homo Sapien__//** Homo Sapiens first appeared when Neanderthals were disappearing. Homo Sapiens brought a deadly sickness with them as they migrated and they passed the sickness on to the Neanderthals who disappeared in important numbers. Trees were starting to grow again and the Ice was melting away. They had more advanced tools (light spears that they could throw). They buried their deads and they also wore pendants/necklaces. Homo Sapiens were straight had a straight body compared to earlier Hominids. They were maybe 166 - 171 cm tall and some of their other features may have been similar to the features of Neanderthals. As the Homo sapiens tribes evolved so did their needs for orders. The tribes had to develop rules/laws, and every tribe had their own ways to choose leaders. Later on after the rules were made leaders were chosen through fights or religious beliefs. Some tests on DNA may definitely prove that Basque people come from them. Homo Sapiens were not adapted to their environment, because the Ice Age had just finished and the cold weather was still their. They had clothes and fire though to keep themselves warm.

Life is really easy for us because we don't need to hunt to eat, we just go to the supermarket, but we destroy the environment by polluting and now we have global warming. Also we are not threatened by wild animals every day, and because of us and partly because of the global warming some types of animals are becoming extinct. Human looks are a very important factor towards social relations, and human changes are either genetic or they are caused by age or diseases. We are not adapted to our environment at all although we try to adapt to it but we can't because our clothes adapt us.
 * //__Homo Sapiens Sapiens - Humans__//**

Our most significant changes/characteristic are :
 * cooperation
 * how we judge others

Brain Size Timeline
[] Some theories tell us that human intelligence came first and Bipedalism followed but other theories say that without Bipedalism human intelligence would not have developped. The brain sizes of Australopithecus were 420cc - 500cc.

Homo Habilis had brains that are bigger than brains of Australopithecus 500 - 800 cc.

The brains' of Homo Erectus were bigger than the brain sizes of homo habilis it measured about 850cc.

Life may have been easy for Homo Sapiens because they were the cleverest Hominid so far with a brain size of 1600cc it is 15 - 20 percent larger than our brains (human brain has been shrinking)

**Contributors To Research On Hominids**

//**Donald Johanson**//


**Born:** 28th of June 1943 **Nationality:** American **Fields:** Paleonthropology **Institution:** Arizona State Univerrsity **Known For:** Discovery Of A New Hominid, the Australopithecus Afarensis

Donald Johanson is known for discovering one of the most famous fossil. That hominid discovered by Johanson was from the Australopithecus afarensis, that hominid was named Lucy after the Beatles song "Lucy in the sky with diamonds. Lucy was found on the 30th of November 1974 in Hadar, Ethiopia.

Louis Leakey
Louis Leakey was born on the 7th of August 1903 in Kenya and died on the 1st of october 1972 at the age of 69. Leakey was Kenyan Paleonthrologist/Archeologist.

Louis Leakey had a very important job because he had to establish human evolution in Africa. He also had a very big role in creating organizations for future research in Africa nd for proctecing the wildlife there as well.

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Human Evolution had a big impact on both environment and Hominids, especially since we humans appeared, because we have made the global warming worse and worse.There was a lot of proof found but more is needed to clear the points where scientists argue. We humans have made the world a very difficult place to live in, although we don't feel it or see it we have damaged the environment much more than any hominid ever did. For now we humans live comfortable lives but how much longer will we live that kind of life? When we humans become extinct (if we do), the specie that will replace us will have extreme difficulties living on the earth, I think that there is even a possibility that when the earth reaches that point a new planet will have to be discovered. A planet where human life will be possible, and if that new planet is found the types of lives that we live could be lived for quite some time.I think that Human Kind will continue to evolve until our solar system dies / sun dies, I think that it is important that we continue to evolve because if we evolve new ways to preserve the environment will be put to the test but if we don't evolve our environment will be more and more polluted and we will continue to destroy the environment and I think that that would be the point where human life will become extinct on earth. I think that if that happens the earth would be cloud of pollution if you looked at it from the moon.======