Origin and evolution of man: summary

The human history It is very wide, being a long road that our ancestors have had to go to evolve to what we are today. The human being is the result of centuries and centuries of evolution of species, without which homo sapiens would not exist. Next in this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to offer you a summary on the origin and evolution of man.

The origin of the human beingit can be searched for many centuries as a consequence of a slow and long process of changes. It should be taken into account that, like all living beings, animals and plants, for example, human beings we come from the simplest creatures in the history of the planet whose evolution has made them evolve until they reach our species.

Moving a little further in time, it is believed that the human being comes from the anthropoids, that is, of the great apes. Scholars believe that it does 8 million years there was a common ancestor between anthropoids and our species because the two groups share very similar characteristics.

Some time later, the first hominid primates, that is, a group of primates characterized by their bipedal position and by going upright. This class of primates are considered ancestors of the human being, being the first species that possessed such a human characteristic as the upright position and the bipedal gait.

Therefore we can say that the origin of the human being is, like that of all living beings, that of the first bacteria on our planet. But the first ancestors in which we see common characteristics, are to a lesser extent anthropoids and to a greater extent hominids.

To continue with this lesson on the origin and evolution of summary man, we must talk about the different ancestor species of the human being that have evolved until reaching homo sapiens. Initially, human ancestors have few similar qualities, but the closer we get to homo sapiens, the greater the similarities.

Australopithecus

The first hominids of our planet and, therefore, ancestors of the human being. The main difference between these species and other primates of the same period is their upright position, their ability to move bipedally and their jaw similar to ours.

The Australopithecus they dominated their territory for millions of years, until a series of events made them evolve into two types of species. The Paranthropus, who based their diet on the intake of vegetables, and the Homos, who had a diet based on meat. Of the two species we are much more interested in the Homos, being our ancestors.

Homo habilis

One of the first Homos, inhabiting the planet around 2.4 million years ago. It is characterized by being able to create simple stone instruments, by a cranial increase compared to Australopithecus and by being able to walk in a bipedal way much better than its predecessors.

Homo rudolfensis

A species so similar to Homo habilis that many scholars consider that they are really the same species, inhabiting similar times on the planet. It differs from Homo habilis in a flatter face and in the presence of larger canines.

Homo erectus

This species was a descendant of Homo habilis, living between 1.8 million years and 300,000 years ago. Homo erectus was able to leave africa, crossing to other continents such as Europe. It was characterized by being able to create much more complex instruments than those of Homo habilis. It was also one of the first Homo species to socialize with other beings of the same kind.

Homo neanderthalis

Known as neanderthals, being one of the species best known to people. It is believed that it could be a descendant of Homo erectus. This species was characterized by a great ability to create tools and other items that the previous species were not capable of making.

Homo sapiens

All these species were evolving, having more and more qualities similar to ours, and after millions of years they managed to evolve to become our species, the Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens were able to spread across all continents, being much more skilled than previous species and creating tools that even Neanderthals were incapable of manufacture.