Biology & Life Sciences Science

Human evolution: Some interesting facts

Human Evolution, One of the most interesting topic in science. Which holds many indepth theories and findings which make the knowledge seeker more curious. Evolution is one of the most curious and fascinating processes in nature. Shaped by sex, death and happenstance over the course of millennia, evolution is the essence of what caused our species to stand upright on the plains of Africa six million years ago. But the evolution of Homo sapiens, from our discovery of fire to our development of sophisticated technologies, is a tale as long and complicated as the evolutionary process itself. Till now scientists are trying to find out more indepth facts behind the evolution of humans. Here on this article we can just discuss the important and amazing facts about human evolution.

Human evolution

Human evolution is the lengthy process of change by which people originated from apelike ancestors. Scientific evidence shows that the physical and behavioral traits shared by all people originated from apelike ancestors and evolved over a period of approximately six million years.

One of the earliest defining human traits, bipedalism — the ability to walk on two legs — evolved over 4 million years ago. Other important human characteristics — such as a large and complex brain, the ability to make and use tools, and the capacity for language — developed more recently. Many advanced traits — including complex symbolic expression, art, and elaborate cultural diversity — emerged mainly during the past 100,000 years.

Human evolution is the evolutionary process that led to the emergence of anatomically modern humans, beginning with the evolutionary history of primates—in particular genus Homo—and leading to the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species of the hominid family, which includes the great apes. This process involved the gradual development of traits such as human bipedalism and language,  as well as interbreeding with other hominins, which indicate that human evolution was not linear but a web.

The study of human evolution involves several scientific disciplines, including physical anthropology, primatology, archaeology, paleontology, neurobiology, ethology, linguistics, evolutionary psychology, embryology and genetics. Genetic studies show that primates diverged from other mammals about 85 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous period, and the earliest fossils appear in the Paleocene, around 55 million years ago.

Within the superfamily Hominoidea, the family Hominidae diverged from the family Hylobatidae some 15–20 million years ago; subfamily Homininae (African apes) diverged from Ponginae (orangutans) about 14 million years ago; the tribe Hominini (including humans, Australopithecus, and chimpanzees) parted from the tribe Gorillini (gorillas) between 8–9 million years ago; and, in turn, the subtribes Hominina (humans and extinct biped ancestors) and Panina (chimpanzees) separated 4–7 million years ago.

 Interesting facts about human evolution

•             It took Charles Darwin, an English naturalist, 20 years to write and publish his original book On the Origin of Species that explained the process of evolution.

•             No two animals are the same, even if they belong to the same species.

•             There are over 340 breeds of dog, yet they all come from one kind of wild wolf that existed many years ago.

•             Eighty-five percent of the population cannot wiggle its ears or control the Auricularis muscles that surround the outer ear. Scientists believe this muscle allowed human beings’ primate ancestors to move their ears in different directions to pinpoint the locations of sounds. They lost the need to move their ears when they started to live in groups.

•             Scientists believe that wisdom teeth and the appendix are leftover “equipment” from when humans ate a primarily leaf-based diet. As the human diet changed, these appendices have become essentially useless.

•             The term “Junk DNA” refers to regions of DNA that are noncoding—or, in other words, they do not code for a protein. Scientists note that evolution is messy, incomplete, and inefficient and, consequently, it results in DNA sequences with varying degrees of function or no function at all. In the human genome, almost all (98%) of DNA is noncoding.

•             Hiccups may date back to humans’ watery ancestors. Wiring in the brain that pushes water over fish gills and makes amphibians gulp air has been imperfectly rewired in mammals. It can make the diaphragm go into spasms, which causes hiccups.]

•             Because of evolution, many animals lay hundreds of eggs each year to ensure that even a few reach adulthood. If all the froglets survived, the world would be knee-deep in frogs within 10 years.

•             The plantaris muscle in the foot is used by animals to grip and manipulate objects with their feet. For example, apes seem to be able to use their feet as well as their hands. In humans, however, this muscle is so underdeveloped that doctors often remove it when they need tissue for reconstructing other parts of the body. About 9% of humans are now born without it.

•             Humans share the same five-fingered bone structure in their hands with lots of other animals that have paws, wings or flippers, such as lemurs and bats.

•             Many of the pets, farm animals and garden flowers we see today are the result of human choice. For example, farmers would have chosen to breed the chickens that lay the best eggs, and gardeners would have encouraged the most beautiful plants to grow.

•             The slightest difference in colour or design can help an animal or plant live, survive and reproduce better in the wild. This is known as natural selection.

•             Instinct is another important part of natural selection. For example, most birds know they must travel to warmer places to survive during winter.

•             If animals and plants did not compete to survive, the earth would be covered by the offspring of a single pair.

•             Little changes within one species can add up and create a whole new species.

•             But often these changes happen over thousands of years. So, it’s hard to see evolution happening with our own eyes.

•             Most people had brown eyes until about 10,000 years ago when a single genetic mutation from the Black Sea switched the eyes from brown to blue. Approximately 8% of the world’s population now has blue eyes.

•             The penises of human ancestors were covered in hard spines. Theorists believe these spines possibly helped a man’s sperm overtake that of his competitors. As humans became more monogamous, the spines became obsolete

•             A pair of parents would have to have 1,000,000,000,000,000 (a quadrillion) babies before they possibly might have a child with the same genes as any of their other children. This genetic variation between individuals is the key to how species have evolved

•             Humans share about 31% of their genes with yeast, a single living cell that replicates every 90 minutes. They share about 50% of their genes with a banana

•             The discovery of DNA (strands of hereditary material) provides the strongest proof for biological evolution. By comparing genomes of different living things and observing the changes in the coding of genes, scientists can figure out how closely different species are related to each other and identify how long ago a common ancestor lived

•             Researchers believe that goose bumps are a remnant of thick hair that covered early humans.

•             A descended larynx, which allows humans to speak, evolved roughly 350,000 year ago. Humans also possess a descended hyoid one, which allows humans to articulate words. In contrast, the larynx in a chimp, for example, sits higher in the throat than in a human.

•             A hobbit-like species of human lived about 18,000 years ago. About the size of a 3-year-old, they lived with pygmy elephants and 10-foot-long lizards.

•             The changes in a human pelvis that allow humans to walk upright also made bearing children unusually more dangerous than the rest of the animal kingdom. Additionally, the lumbar curve in the lower back, which helps humans maintain balance, is more vulnerable to pain and injury.

•             A square inch of human skin on average has as much or more hair-producing follicles as other primates. The difference is that human hair is thinner, shorter, and lighter.

•             While other primates have opposable thumbs, humans are unique because they can bring their thumbs across the hand to their ring and little fingers. Humans can also flex the ring and little fingers toward the base of the thumb. This allows humans to have a powerful grip and dexterity to hold and use tools

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