Start of the evolution of man

[Baron von Richthofen]

:stupid:What event sparked the start of the evolution of man in Africa and nowhere ells, there were other suitable places on earth for man to start there evolution

[TrevorW]

The dominant view among scientists concerning the origin of anatomically modern humans (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/wiki/Anatomically_modern_humans) is the "Out of Africa" (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/wiki/Recent_African_origin_of_modern_hum ans) or recent African origin hypothesis,[/URL] which argues that H. sapiens arose in Africa and migrated out the continent around 50-100,000 years ago, replacing populations of H. erectus in Asia and H. neanderthalensis in Europe. Scientists supporting the alternative multiregional hypothesis (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/#cite_note-3) argue that H. sapiens evolved as geographically separate but interbreeding populations stemming from a worldwide migration of H. erectus out of Africa nearly 2.5 million years ago.

good article of evolution of mankind

[URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_human_evolution

[Baron von Richthofen]

Your missing the point, what caused the start of the first predecessor of man, bolt of lighting, cosmic rays what?

[multiweb]

Ha... Nesti can answer that one I'm sure. ;)

[Terry B]

Maybe because thats where the primate ancestors happed to live. Tropical climate with an appropriate food supply.

[Baron von Richthofen]

Yes but there were other pleases on the planet that were even better but it didn't happen so I don't think that was the reason

[TrevorW]

Man percei did not evolve in Africa nor did life, I think you are missing the point, concensus is that varying breeds of primates developed all over the planet in varying termperate climates however the dominant breed that evolved into homo sapien (thats us) came out of Africa.

For what developed into man you have to back back millions of years and study the evoluton of the species from a single cell organism

Cheers

[Baron von Richthofen]

Hi
Primates and humans share a common ancestor, one branch developed into modern primates the other branch developed into us, what caused our branch,

[JimmyH155]

Ask Lucy, she'll know:D:D

[JimmyH155]

My son sometimes says "Look at that monkey on the train - not hard to guess where we came from!":lol:
Actually we came from some "Warm little pond"

[supernova1965]

I believe its because we came down from the trees and were able to use our hands more effectively instead of using them for climbing which led to development of our brains. And the reason for walking more upright was when we came out of the trees we had to stand tall to see over the tall grass.

[multiweb]

Poker games? :shrug: :lol:

[Coen]

Given that no-one was actually there, there is no definitive 1+1=2 type of answer which is what you seem to be after (?) there is speculation and theories.

What has any of this to do with Astronomy or an astronomical forum? :screwy::shrug:

[Baron von Richthofen]

Up to a few months ago I would have agreed with you but a recent find squashed all that, the common ancestry to man and primates walked upright and did not live in trees, primates developed independently like man, so man has never climbed out of the trees and always walked upright
It was on the news about 6 weeks ago

[dannat]

as for walking upright the only time most primates can walk comfortable on two legs is through water..so a major flood / water event - perhaps ice age melt meant primates had to walk erect for some time

[Baron von Richthofen]

I am sure that they looked at the stars way back then and I wonder what they thought of them, I am after theories as what might have caused

[Terry B]

This is incorrect. Man and apes are both primates. Whether you call the common ancester a "primate"is a bit irrelevant. The common ancester happened to be in Africa (or whatever continent existed at the time) and so that is where it occurred. it couls have been in antactica but wasn't. Call it happenstance.

[Baron von Richthofen]

I think this is what happened, our common ancestor had two kids one was hit by lighting but survived and started the human evolution the other went on to be normal and evolved into monkeys

[renormalised]

You have a few misconceptions which I will clear up for you. Firstly, the common ancestor of the chimpanzee and human line split from the rest of the apes around 8-10Ma (million years ago). Secondly, by around 6-8Ma, when the line that developed into us split from the chimps, we were already walking upright. The adaptation to walking upright, with the accompanying pelvic and spinal structure, was already well advanced by then and evident in the fossil record. Upright posture was an adaptation to walking along the branched in the trees. It allowed those early ancestors to move quickly through the trees (much faster than if they were on all fours) and to be able to see better over much longer distances. By the time we had migrated down to the ground semi-permanently, our spinal and pelvic structures were already fully adapted to walking upright (if a little clumsily compared to where we are now). Knuckle walking in chimpanzees is a secondary evolutionary trait that developed after the split with humans i.e. in the last 6-8Ma. It's a condition that was an adaptation to walking along the ground in those early primates and still is evident in the modern great apes.

Have a look at the way gibbons move through the trees when they're not swinging from branch to branch. They actually walk upright, supporting themselves using their arms to hold overhead branches. They then walk along the branches using their legs. When a gibbon comes down to the ground, they walk upright and hold their arms in the air above their heads to balance themselves. That's how it was most likely done in the first place, much like the gibbons.

[Nesti]

Can I ask a simple question right here; what do you define as being the thing or things which make us as a species so special ?

Be aware that there are in fact three species, us included, which are conscious of our own existence (self recognition test), and therefore conscious of our own mortality, so that certainly doesn't make us special. May species have ongoing fights, nothing new there either. Many species use tools; Crows can even open buckles on bags.

The only clear distinctions that I see between say, Great Apes and ourselves, is that we are egotistical and have no equilibrium with the environment...no cause for celebration there!

What is the key attribute that YOU see in us, that makes us stand out from all other life? THEN, there is perhaps a chance of defining a point and reason as to why this separation occurred.

(please don't say language!)

Cheers
Mark

[Nesti]

LOL, how about a nice big asteroid wiped out all those big nasty lizard things 60 million years ago, and THAT was the the thing that gave us a chance to compete...how's that?

[renormalised]

Actually the primate like animals were already in existence then...the oldest fossils which show fairly clear primate anatomical structure are around 80-90 million years old. Granted, the animal looked like a mouse, but it was the start of the evolution towards the primates proper (which developed around 60-64Ma), as we know it.

[Gerald Sargent]

Whilst some interesting fossils have been found in Africa, a significant part of the
Northern Hemisphere was wiped/ground down to bedrock during the last ice age,
this removed any fossil evidence that may otherwise have been found there. It is
most interesting to note that a lot of "recent" human effort seems to have bourne
fruit along the edge of the receeding ice front. Work along the silk road and about
the tarum depression north of tibet had produced interesting stuff. Likewise the
ancient shoreline, now beneath the waters, of the black sea are producing results.
In my opinion there is mounting evidence that "technological advances" from
primitive agricuture onwards seem to move north to south not from africa (where
I have spent some time E, W and Central). Gerald.

[Nesti]

Ergo my use of the word "compete" and not 'evolve'...:P:D

A sideways wiggling dog-sized RAT!!!

[renormalised]

We're talking about a lot earlier time, Gerald...millions of years before this. But I am aware of what you're talking about.

[renormalised]

Actually it was smaller...more like a mouse to a squirrel in size:D

[adman]

in biological systems, populations reach an equilibrium when the birth rate and the death rate are balanced. The death rate includes causes like disease, old age, predation etc. Humans are no different from any other group of animals - its just that for better or worse, the death rate is not yet equal to the birth rate. But it will come. Quite simply, at some point there will not be enough food or water. Continuous exponential population growth is not possible. Whether it will be a "soft landing", with the growth flattening out naturally, or a "hard-landing" with a sharp decline in population remains to be seen....

[xelasnave]

The answer is simple.
It was not "humans" or any "human" species we would link to our tribe that can take credit for the path we now find ourselves on...
Our evolvement ..everything we are..speech , writting etc can be traced to our best friend..the humble faithful dog....
There was a point where many humaniods could have stepped forward to claim the world but if not for the dog our tribe would have never got on top... Neanderthals were stronger and as much as folk hate the next statement..Neanderthals were better placed to over come us than we could overcome them...enter the dog... the dog let us let go our reliance upon the sence of smell ..something that took up much of our brain potential... dogs smelt for us..and being able to usxe that particular sence was at one point more critical to survival than sight or hearing... dogs befriended our ancestors... for what ever reason they selected our ancestors as the species they would support..and support us they did... whilst the Neandathals had no daogsd they had to reserve a large section of their brains to manage the sence of smell... try and comprehend what it was like way back then..smell was so important and yet the wonderful dog decided to do this job for us..and so we were able to leave that job to our dogs and release brain power to address the next level..speech... without the dog we would have been wiped out by the Neandathals ..they were stronger and as much as all hate to believe it..at that point they were better than our tribe... but with our new abilities of communication and a permanent gaurd with us at all times we got so far up on the Neandathals we finally pushed them out of the Universe... but without the dog they would have beat us and we would be extinct not them...so I say this... in answer to the question outlined in the post... the answer you seek is the humble dog... without the humble dog humans would never have survived and never would have had brain space to develope speech..and of course communication etc...so I say it was the dog that got us going to develope the power of speech so as to eliminate other competing humaniods

alex