human evolution

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While human evolution begins with the last common ancestor of all life, it generally refers to the evolutionary history of primates and in particular the genus Homo, including the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species of hominids ("great apes"). The study of human evolution involves many scientific disciplines, including physical anthropology, primatology, archaeology, linguistics, embryology and genetics.^[1]

Primate evolution likely began in the late Cretaceous, 85 Ma (million years ago) by genetic studies and no later than the Paleocene by the fossil record 55 Ma.^[2][3] The family Hominidae, or Great Apes, diverged from the Hylobatidae family 15-20 Ma. Around 14 Ma the Ponginae or orangutans diverged from the Hominidae family.^[4] Later the gorilla and chimpanzee would diverge from the lineage leading to the genus Homo, the latter around 5-6 Ma. Modern humans evolved from the last common ancestor of the Hominini and the species Australopithecines some 2.3-2.4 million years ago in Africa.^[5][6]

In the Hominini tribe, several species and subspecies of Homo evolved and are now extinct or introgressed, and only one species remains. Examples include Homo erectus (which inhabited Asia, Africa, and Europe) and Neanderthals (either Homo neanderthalensis or Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) (which inhabited Europe and Asia). Archaic Homo sapiens, the forerunner of anatomically modern humans, evolved between 400,000 and 250,000 years ago. Anatomically modern humans evolved from archaic Homo sapiens in the Middle Paleolithic, about 200,000 years ago.^[7] Behaviorally modern humans developed around 50,000 years ago according to many, although some view modern behavior as beginning with the emergence of anatomically modern humans.^[8]

One view among scientists concerning the origin of anatomically modern humans is the recent African origin of modern humans hypothesis (the "recent single-origin hypothesis" or "recent out-of-Africa" model),^[9][10][11] which posits that Homo sapiens arose in Africa and migrated out of the continent some 50,000 to 100,000 years ago, replacing populations of Homo erectus in Asia and Neanderthals in Europe. An alternative multiregional hypothesis posits that Homo sapiens evolved as geographically separate but interbreeding populations stemming from the worldwide migration of Homo erectus out of Africa nearly 2.5 million years ago. Evidence suggests that several haplotypes of Neanderthal origin are present among all non-African populations, and Neanderthals and other hominids, such as Denisova hominin may have contributed up to 6% of their genome to present-day humans.^[12][13][14]

History of ideas

Anaximander postulated that man was, originally, similar to a different animal, that is, a fish. ^[15]

The word homo, the name of the biological genus to which humans belong, is Latin for "human". It was chosen originally by Carolus Linnaeus in his classification system. The word "human" is from the Latin humanus, the adjectival form of homo. The Latin "homo" derives from the Indo-European root *dhghem, or "earth".^[16]

Linnaeus and other scientists of his time also considered the great apes to be the closest relatives of humans due to morphological and anatomical similarities. The possibility of linking humans with earlier apes by descent only became clear after 1859 with the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. This argued for the idea of the evolution of new species from earlier ones. Darwin's book did not address the question of human evolution, saying only that "Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history".

Fossil Hominid Evolution Display at The Museum of Osteology, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

The first debates about the nature of human evolution arose between Thomas Huxley and Richard Owen. Huxley argued for human evolution from apes by illustrating many of the similarities and differences between humans and apes, and did so particularly in his 1863 book Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature. However, many of Darwin's early supporters (such as Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Lyell) did not agree that the origin of the mental capacities and the moral sensibilities of humans could be explained by natural selection. Darwin applied the theory of evolution and sexual selection to humans when he published The Descent of Man in 1871.^[17]

A major problem at that time was the lack of fossil intermediaries. Despite the 1891 discovery by Eugène Dubois of what is now called Homo erectus at Trinil, Java, it was only in the 1920s when such fossils were discovered in Africa, that intermediate species began to accumulate. In 1925 Raymond Dart described Australopithecus africanus. The type specimen was the Taung Child, an Australopithecine infant which was discovered in a cave. The child's remains were a remarkably well-preserved tiny skull and an endocranial cast of the brain. Although the brain was small (410 cm³), its shape was rounded, unlike that of chimpanzees and gorillas, and more like a modern human brain. Also, the specimen showed short canine teeth, and the position of the foramen magnum was evidence of bipedal locomotion. All of these traits convinced Dart that the Taung baby was a bipedal human ancestor, a transitional form between apes and humans.

The classification of humans and their relatives has changed considerably since the 1950s.^[18] For instance; gracile Australopithecines were thought to be ancestors of the genus Homo, the group to which modern humans belong.^[19] Both Australopithecines and Homo sapiens are part of the tribe Hominini.^[20]

Data collected during the 1970s suggests that Australopithecines were a diverse group and that A. africanus may not be a direct ancestor of modern humans.^[21] Reclassification of Australopithecines that originally were split into either gracile or robust varieties has put the latter into its own genus, Paranthropus.^[21] Taxonomists place humans, Australopithecines and related species in the same family as other great apes, in the Hominidae. Richard Dawkins in his book The Ancestor's Tale proposes that robust Australopithecines: Paranthropus, are the ancestors of gorillas, whereas some of the gracile australopithecus are the ancestors of chimpanzees, the others being human ancestors (see Homininae).^[20]

Progress during the 1980s and 1990s in DNA sequencing, specifically mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and then Y-chromosome DNA advanced the understanding of human origins.^[22][23][24] Sequencing mtDNA and Y-DNA sampled from a wide range of indigenous populations revealed ancestral information relating to both male and female genetic heritage.^[25] Aligned in genetic tree differences were interpreted as supportive of a recent single origin.^[26] Analysis have shown a greater diverse of DNA pattern throughout Africa, consistent with the idea that Africa is the ancestral home of mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam.^[27] The word homo, the name of the biological genus to which humans belong, is Latin for "human". It was chosen originally by Carolus Linnaeus in his classification system. The word "human" is from the Latin humanus, the adjectival form of homo. The Latin "homo" derives from the Indo-European root *dhghem, or "earth".^[16]

Evidence

Family tree showing the extant hominoids: humans (genus Homo), chimpanzees and bonobos (genus Pan), gorillas (genus Gorilla), orangutans (genus Pongo), and gibbons (four genera of the family Hylobatidae: Hylobates, Hoolock, Nomascus, and Symphalangus). All except gibbons are hominids.

The evidence for human evolution is found in many fields of natural science. Much of this evidence is in the fossil record, although genetics is now playing an ever-increasing and complementary role. The studies of ontogeny, phylogeny and especially evolutionary developmental biology of both vertebrates and invertebrates offer considerable insight into the evolution of all life, including how humans evolved. The specific study of the origin and life of humans is anthropology, with paleoanthropology of particular interest.^[28]

In hominids, the fossil record shows the progressive straightening of the spine, the increase in brain volume, changes in facial features towards being more gracile, and a reduction in the muscles of mastication with a concomitant change in dentition.

The tail becomes incorporated into the pelvis as the sacrum in higher primates. All vertebrates have a tail at one point in their development; in humans, it is present for a period of four weeks, during stages 14 to 22 of human embryogenesis.^[29] Humans have a non-functional third eyelid, the plica semilunaris. Humans also have external ear muscles,^[30] which animals use to swivel and manipulate their ears (independently of their head) to focus their hearing on particular sounds. Humans still have remnants of such muscles, but they are now feeble and now are capable only of slightly wiggling the ear.^[31]

The plantaris muscle also serves as evidence of human evolution. The plantaris muscle is used by animals in gripping and manipulating objects with their feet, for example apes, who can use their feet as well as their hands for gripping. Humans have a corresponding muscle, but it is now so underdeveloped that it is often taken out by doctors when they need tissue for reconstruction in other parts of the body. The muscle is so unimportant to the human body that 9% of humans are now born without it.^[32] Other evidence includes Jacobson's organ, which is a part of animal anatomy, and which could figure in the sexual prehistory of humans. This organ, located in the nasal passage, detects pheromones (the chemical that triggers sexual desire, alarm, or information about food trails). This organ allows some animals to track others for sex and to warn of potential dangers. Humans are born with the Jacobson’s organ, but in early development its abilities dwindle to a point that it is useless.^[33] In some cases, structures once identified as vestigial simply had an unrecognized function.^[34] Wisdom teeth serve as evidence of evolution; human ancestors ate a lot of plants, and they needed to eat them quickly enough that they could eat a sufficient amount in one day to get the necessary nutrition. For this reason they had an extra set of molars to make the larger mouth more productive. This was particularly essential as the body lacked the ability to sufficiently digest cellulose. As evolution made its selections, human dietary patterns changed, the jaw became smaller, and the third molar was not as necessary.^[35]

Before Homo

Evolution of the great apes

Evolutionary history of the primates can be traced back 65 million years.^[36] The oldest known primate-like mammal species,^[37] the Plesiadapis, came from North America, but they were widespread in Eurasia and Africa during the tropical conditions of the Paleocene and Eocene.

Notharctus

David Begun^[38] concluded that early primates flourished in Eurasia and that a lineage leading to the African apes and humans, including Dryopithecus, migrated south from Europe or Western Asia into Africa. The surviving tropical population of primates, which is seen most completely in the upper Eocene and lowermost Oligocene fossil beds of the Faiyum depression southwest of Cairo, gave rise to all living species—lemurs of Madagascar, lorises of Southeast Asia, galagos or "bush babies" of Africa, and the anthropoids: platyrrhine or New World monkeys, catarrhines or Old World monkeys, the great apes, and humans.

The earliest known catarrhine is Kamoyapithecus from uppermost Oligocene at Eragaleit in the northern Kenya Rift Valley, dated to 24 million years ago.^[39] Its ancestry is thought to be species related to Aegyptopithecus, Propliopithecus, and Parapithecus from the Fayum, at around 35 million years ago.^[40] In 2010, Saadanius was described as a close relative of the last common ancestor of the crown catarrhines, and tentatively dated to 29–28 million years ago, helping to fill an 11-million-year gap in the fossil record.^[41]

Reconstructed tailless Proconsul skeleton

In the early Miocene, about 22 million years ago, the many kinds of arboreally adapted primitive catarrhines from East Africa suggest a long history of prior diversification. Fossils at 20 million years ago include fragments attributed to Victoriapithecus, the earliest Old World Monkey. Among the genera thought to be in the ape lineage leading up to 13 million years ago are Proconsul, Rangwapithecus, Dendropithecus, Limnopithecus, Nacholapithecus, Equatorius, Nyanzapithecus, Afropithecus, Heliopithecus, and Kenyapithecus, all from East Africa. The presence of other generalized non-cercopithecids of middle Miocene age from sites far distant—Otavipithecus from cave deposits in Namibia, and Pierolapithecus and Dryopithecus from France, Spain and Austria—is evidence of a wide diversity of forms across Africa and the Mediterranean basin during the relatively warm and equable climatic regimes of the early and middle Miocene. The youngest of the Miocene hominoids, Oreopithecus, is from coal beds in Italy that have been dated to 9 million years ago.

Molecular evidence indicates that the lineage of gibbons (family Hylobatidae) diverged from Great Apes some 18-12 million years ago, and that of orangutans (subfamily Ponginae) diverged from the other Great Apes at about 12 million years; there are no fossils that clearly document the ancestry of gibbons, which may have originated in a so-far-unknown South East Asian hominoid population, but fossil proto-orangutans may be represented by Ramapithecus from India and Griphopithecus from Turkey, dated to around 10 million years ago.^[42]

Divergence of the human lineage from other Great Apes

A reconstruction of a female Australopithecus afarensis

Species close to the last common ancestor of gorillas, chimpanzees and humans may be represented by Nakalipithecus fossils found in Kenya and Ouranopithecus found in Greece. Molecular evidence suggests that between 8 and 4 million years ago, first the gorillas, and then the chimpanzees (genus Pan) split off from the line leading to the humans; human DNA is approximately 98.4% identical to that of chimpanzees when comparing single nucleotide polymorphisms (see human evolutionary genetics). The fossil record of gorillas and chimpanzees is limited. Both poor preservation (rain forest soils tend to be acidic and dissolve bone) and sampling bias probably contribute to this problem.

Other hominines likely adapted to the drier environments outside the equatorial belt, along with antelopes, hyenas, dogs, pigs, elephants, and horses. The equatorial belt contracted after about 8 million years ago. Fossils of these hominans - the species in the human lineage following divergence from the chimpanzees - are relatively well known.

The earliest are Sahelanthropus tchadensis (7 Ma) and Orrorin tugenensis (6 Ma), followed by:

• Ardipithecus (5.5–4.4 Ma), with species Ar. kadabba and Ar. ramidus;
• Australopithecus (4–1.8 Ma), with species Au. anamensis, Au. afarensis, Au. africanus, Au. bahrelghazali, Au. garhi, and Au. sediba;
• Kenyanthropus (3–2.7 Ma), with species Kenyanthropus platyops;
• Paranthropus (3–1.2 Ma), with species P. aethiopicus, P. boisei, and P. robustus;
• Homo (2 Ma–present), with species Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, Homo ergaster, Homo georgicus, Homo antecessor, Homo cepranensis, Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, Homo rhodesiensis, Homo neanderthalensis, Homo sapiens idaltu, Archaic Homo sapiens, Homo floresiensis.

The hominoids are descendants of a common ancestor.

Genus Homo

A reconstruction of Homo habilis

Craniums
1. Gorilla 2. Australopithecus 3. Homo erectus 4. Neanderthal (La Chapelle aux Saints) 5. Steinheim Skull 6. Euhominid. Notice the decreasing prognathism and thickness of the browridge, and the increasing size of the forehead.

Homo sapiens is the only extant species of its genus, Homo. While some other, extinct Homo species might have been ancestors of Homo sapiens, many were likely our "cousins", having speciated away from our ancestral line.^[43][44] There is not yet a consensus as to which of these groups should count as separate species and which as subspecies. In some cases this is due to the dearth of fossils, in other cases it is due to the slight differences used to classify species in the Homo genus.^[44] The Sahara pump theory (describing an occasionally passable "wet" Sahara Desert) provides one possible explanation of the early variation in the genus Homo.

Based on archaeological and paleontological evidence, it has been possible to infer, to some extent, the ancient dietary practices of various Homo species and to study the role of diet in physical and behavioral evolution within Homo.^{[35][45][46][47][48]}

H. habilis and H. gautengensis

Homo habilis lived from about 2.4 to 1.4 Ma. Homo habilis evolved in South and East Africa in the late Pliocene or early Pleistocene, 2.5–2 Ma, when it diverged from the Australopithecines. Homo habilis had smaller molars and larger brains than the Australopithecines, and made tools from stone and perhaps animal bones. One of the first known hominids, it was nicknamed 'handy man' by discoverer Louis Leakey due to its association with stone tools. Some scientists have proposed moving this species out of Homo and into Australopithecus due to the morphology of its skeleton being more adapted to living on trees rather than to moving on two legs like Homo sapiens.^[49]

It was considered to be the first species of the genus Homo until May 2010, when a new species, Homo gautengensis was discovered in South Africa, that most likely arose earlier than Homo habilis.^[50]

H. rudolfensis and H. georgicus

These are proposed species names for fossils from about 1.9–1.6 Ma, whose relation to Homo habilis is not yet clear.

• Homo rudolfensis refers to a single, incomplete skull from Kenya. Scientists have suggested that this was another Homo habilis, but this has not been confirmed.^[51]
• Homo georgicus, from Georgia, may be an intermediate form between Homo habilis and Homo erectus,^[52] or a sub-species of Homo erectus.^[53]

H. ergaster and H. erectus

The first fossils of Homo erectus were discovered by Dutch physician Eugene Dubois in 1891 on the Indonesian island of Java. He originally named the material Pithecanthropus erectus based on its morphology, which he considered to be intermediate between that of humans and apes.^[54] Homo erectus (H erectus) lived from about 1.8 Ma to about 70,000 years ago (which would indicate that they were probably wiped out by the Toba catastrophe; however, Homo erectus soloensis and Homo floresiensis survived it). Often the early phase, from 1.8 to 1.25 Ma, is considered to be a separate species, Homo ergaster, or it is seen as a subspecies of Homo erectus, Homo erectus ergaster.

In the early Pleistocene, 1.5–1 Ma, in Africa some populations of Homo habilis are thought to have evolved larger brains and made more elaborate stone tools; these differences and others are sufficient for anthropologists to classify them as a new species, Homo erectus. ^[55] This was made possible by the evolution of locking knees and a different location of the foramen magnum (the hole in the skull where the spine enters). They may have used fire to cook their meat.

A famous example of Homo erectus is Peking Man; others were found in Asia (notably in Indonesia), Africa, and Europe. Many paleoanthropologists now use the term Homo ergaster for the non-Asian forms of this group, and reserve Homo erectus only for those fossils that are found in Asia and meet certain skeletal and dental requirements which differ slightly from H. ergaster.

H. cepranensis and H. antecessor

These are proposed as species that may be intermediate between H. erectus and H. heidelbergensis.

• H. antecessor is known from fossils from Spain and England that are dated 1.2 Ma–500 ka.^[56][57]
• H. cepranensis refers to a single skull cap from Italy, estimated to be about 800,000 years old.^[58]

H. heidelbergensis

Reconstruction of Homo heidelbergensis which may be the direct ancestor of both Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens.

H. heidelbergensis (Heidelberg Man) lived from about 800,000 to about 300,000 years ago. Also proposed as Homo sapiens heidelbergensis or Homo sapiens paleohungaricus.^[59]

H. rhodesiensis, and the Gawis cranium

• H. rhodesiensis, estimated to be 300,000–125,000 years old. Most current researchers place Rhodesian Man within the group of Homo heidelbergensis, though other designations such as Archaic Homo sapiens and Homo sapiens rhodesiensis have been proposed.
• In February 2006 a fossil, the Gawis cranium, was found which might possibly be a species intermediate between H. erectus and H. sapiens or one of many evolutionary dead ends. The skull from Gawis, Ethiopia, is believed to be 500,000–250,000 years old. Only summary details are known, and the finders have not yet released a peer-reviewed study. Gawis man's facial features suggest its being either an intermediate species or an example of a "Bodo man" female.^[60]

Neanderthal and Denisova hominin

Dermoplastic reconstruction of a Neanderthal

H. neanderthalensis, alternatively designated as Homo sapiens neanderthalensis,^[61] lived in Europe and Asia from 400,000^[62] to about 30,000 years ago. Evidence from sequencing mitochondrial DNA indicated that no significant gene flow occurred between H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens, and, therefore, the two were separate species that shared a common ancestor about 660,000 years ago.^[63][64][65] However, the 2010 sequencing of the Neanderthal genome indicated that Neanderthals did indeed interbreed with anatomically modern humans circa 45,000 to 80,000 years ago (at the approximate time that modern humans migrated out from Africa, but before they dispersed into Europe, Asia and elsewhere).^[66] Nearly all modern non-African humans have 1% to 4% of their DNA derived from Neanderthal DNA,^[66] and this finding is consistent with recent studies indicating that the divergence of some human alleles dates to one Ma, although the interpretation of these studies has been questioned.^[67][68] Competition from Homo sapiens probably contributed to Neanderthal extinction.^[69][70] They could have co-existed in Europe for as long as 10,000 years.^[71]

In 2008, archaeologists working at the site of Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia uncovered a small bone fragment from the fifth finger of a juvenile member of a population now referred to as Denisova hominins, or simply Denisovans.^[72] Artifacts, including a bracelet, excavated in the cave at the same level were carbon dated to around 40,000 BP. As DNA had survived in the fossil fragment due to the cool climate of the Denisova Cave, both mtDNA and nuclear genomic DNA were sequenced.^[12][73]

While the divergence point of the mtDNA was unexpectedly deep in time,^[74] the full genomic sequence suggested the Denisovans belonged to the same lineage as Neanderthals, with the two diverging shortly after their line split from that giving rise to modern humans.^[12] Modern humans are known to have overlapped with Neanderthals in Europe for more than 10,000 years, and the discovery raises the possibility that Neanderthals, modern humans and the Denisova hominin may have co-existed. Pääbo noted that the existence of this distant branch creates a much more complex picture of humankind during the Late Pleistocene.^[72] Evidence has also been found for as much as 6% of the genomes of some modern Melanesians to derive from Denisovans, indicating limited interbreeding in Southeast Asia.^[75]

Alleles thought to have originated in Neanderthal and the Denisova hominin have been identified at several genetic loci in the genomes of modern humans outside of Africa. HLA types from Denisovans and Neanderthal represent more than half the HLA alleles of modern Eurasians,^[14] indicating strong positive selection for these introgressed alleles.

H. floresiensis

Reconstruction of the head of a female Homo floresiensis

H. floresiensis, which lived from approximately 100,000 to 12,000 before present, has been nicknamed hobbit for its small size, possibly a result of insular dwarfism.^[76] H. floresiensis is intriguing both for its size and its age, being an example of a recent species of the genus Homo that exhibits derived traits not shared with modern humans. In other words, H. floresiensis shares a common ancestor with modern humans, but split from the modern human lineage and followed a distinct evolutionary path. The main find was a skeleton believed to be a woman of about 30 years of age. Found in 2003 it has been dated to approximately 18,000 years old. The living woman was estimated to be one meter in height, with a brain volume of just 380 cm³ (considered small for a chimpanzee and less than a third of the H. sapiens average of 1400 cm³).^{[citation needed]}

However, there is an ongoing debate over whether H. floresiensis is indeed a separate species.^[77] Some scientists hold that H. floresiensis was a modern H. sapiens with pathological dwarfism.^[78] This hypothesis is supported in part, because some modern humans who live on Flores, the island where the skeleton was found, are pygmies. This, coupled with pathological dwarfism, could possibly create a hobbit-like human. The other major attack on H. floresiensis is that it was found with tools only associated with H. sapiens.^[78]

The hypothesis of pathological dwarfism, however, fails to explain additional anatomical features that are unlike those of modern humans (diseased or not) but much like those of ancient members of our genus. Aside from cranial features, these features include the form of bones in the wrist, forearm, shoulder, knees, and feet.

H. sapiens

H. sapiens (the adjective sapiens is Latin for "wise" or "intelligent") have lived from about 250,000 years ago to the present. Between 400,000 years ago and the second interglacial period in the Middle Pleistocene, around 250,000 years ago, the trend in skull expansion and the elaboration of stone tool technologies developed, providing evidence for a transition from H. erectus to H. sapiens. The direct evidence suggests there was a migration of H. erectus out of Africa, then a further speciation of H. sapiens from H. erectus in Africa. A subsequent migration within and out of Africa eventually replaced the earlier dispersed H. erectus. This migration and origin theory is usually referred to as the recent single origin or Out of Africa theory. Current evidence does not preclude some multiregional evolution or some admixture of the migrant H. sapiens with existing Homo populations. This is a hotly debated area of paleoanthropology.

Current research has established that humans are genetically highly homogenous; that is, the DNA of individuals is more alike than usual for most species, which may have resulted from their relatively recent evolution or the possibility of a population bottleneck resulting from cataclysmic natural events such as the Toba catastrophe.^[79][80][81] Distinctive genetic characteristics have arisen, however, primarily as the result of small groups of people moving into new environmental circumstances. These adapted traits are a very small component of the Homo sapiens genome, but include various characteristics such as skin color and nose form, in addition to internal characteristics such as the ability to breathe more efficiently at high altitudes.

H. sapiens idaltu, from Ethiopia, is an extinct sub-species from about 160,000 years ago.

Use of tools

"A sharp rock", an Oldowan pebble tool, the most basic of human stone tools

Fire, one of the greatest human discoveries and important in human evolution

Acheulean hand-axes from Kent. Homo erectus flint work. The types shown are (clockwise from top) cordate, ficron and ovate.

Venus of Willendorf, an example of Paleolithic art

The use of tools has been interpreted as a sign of intelligence, and it has been theorized that tool use may have stimulated certain aspects of human evolution, especially the continued expansion of the human brain. Paleontology has yet to explain the expansion of this organ over millions of years despite being extremely demanding in terms of energy consumption. The brain of a modern human consumes about 20 watts (400 kilocalories per day), a fifth of body's total energy consumption.^{[citation needed]} Increased tool use would allow hunting for energy-rich meat products, and would enable processing more energy-rich plant products. Researchers have suggested that early hominids were thus under evolutionary pressure to increase their capacity to create and use tools.^[82]

Precisely when early humans started to use tools is difficult to determine, because the more primitive these tools are (for example, sharp-edged stones) the more difficult it is to decide whether they are natural objects or human artifacts. There is some evidence that the australopithecines (4 Ma) may have used broken bones as tools, but this is debated.^[83]

It should be noted that many species make and use tools, but it is the human species that dominates the areas of making and using more complex tools. The oldest known tools are the "Oldowan stone tools" from Ethiopia, 2.5-2.6 million years old, which predates the earliest known "Homo" species. There is no known evidence that any "Homo" specimens appeared by 2.5 Ma. A Homo fossil was found near some Oldowan tools, and its age was noted at 2.3 million years old, suggesting that maybe the Homo species did indeed create and use these tools. It is a possibility but does not yet represent solid evidence. Bernard Wood noted that "Paranthropus" co-existed with the early Homo species in the area of the "Oldowan Industrial Complex" over roughly the same span of time. Although there is no direct evidence which identifies Paranthropus as the tool makers, their anatomy lends to indirect evidence of their capabilities in this area. Most paleoanthropologists agree that the early "Homo" species were indeed responsible for most of the Oldowan tools found. They argue that when most of the Oldowan tools were found in association with human fossils, Homo was always present, but Paranthropus was not.^[84]

In 1994 Randall Susman used the anatomy of opposable thumbs as the basis for his argument that both the Homo and Paranthropus species were toolmakers. He compared bones and muscles of human and chimpanzee thumbs, finding that humans have 3 muscles which are lacking in chimpanzees. Humans also have thicker metacarpals with broader heads, allowing more precise grasping than the chimpanzee hand can perform. Susman posited that modern anatomy of the human thumb is an evolutionary response to the requirements associated with making and handling tools and that both species were indeed toolmakers.^[84]

Stone tools

Stone tools are first attested around 2.6 Ma, when H. habilis in Eastern Africa used so-called pebble tools, choppers made out of round pebbles that had been split by simple strikes.^[85] This marks the beginning of the Paleolithic, or Old Stone Age; its end is taken to be the end of the last Ice Age, around 10,000 years ago. The Paleolithic is subdivided into the Lower Paleolithic (Early Stone Age, ending around 350,000–300,000 years ago), the Middle Paleolithic (Middle Stone Age, until 50,000–30,000 years ago), and the Upper Paleolithic.

The period from 700,000–300,000 years ago is also known as the Acheulean, when H. ergaster (or erectus) made large stone hand axes out of flint and quartzite, at first quite rough (Early Acheulian), later "retouched" by additional, more subtle strikes at the sides of the flakes. After 350,000 BP (Before Present) the more refined so-called Levallois technique was developed, a series of consecutive strikes, by which scrapers, slicers ("racloirs"), needles, and flattened needles were made.^[85] Finally, after about 50,000 BP, ever more refined and specialized flint tools were made by the Neanderthals and the immigrant Cro-Magnons (knives, blades, skimmers). In this period they also started to make tools out of bone.

Modern humans and the "Great Leap Forward" debate

Until about 50,000–40,000 years ago the use of stone tools seems to have progressed stepwise. Each phase (H. habilis, H. ergaster, H. neanderthalensis) started at a higher level than the previous one, but after each phase started, further development was slow. These Homo species were culturally conservative, but after 50,000 BP modern human culture started to evolve more rapidly. Jared Diamond, author of The Third Chimpanzee, and other anthropologists characterize this as a "Great Leap Forward".

Modern humans started burying their dead, using animal hides to make clothing, hunting with more sophisticated techniques (such as using trapping pits or driving animals off cliffs), and engaging in cave painting.^[86] As human culture advanced, different populations of humans introduced novelty to existing technologies: artifacts such as fish hooks, buttons and bone needles show signs of variation among different populations of humans, something that had not been seen in human cultures prior to 50,000 BP. Typically, H. neanderthalensis populations do not vary in their technologies.

Among concrete examples of Modern human behavior, anthropologists include specialization of tools, use of jewellery and images (such as cave drawings), organization of living space, rituals (for example, burials with grave gifts), specialized hunting techniques, exploration of less hospitable geographical areas, and barter trade networks. Debate continues as to whether a "revolution" led to modern humans ("the big bang of human consciousness"), or whether the evolution was more gradual.^[87]

Models of human origins

Today, all humans belong to one population of Homo sapiens sapiens, undivided by species barrier. However, according to the "Out-of-Africa" model this is not the first species of hominids: the first species of genus Homo, Homo habilis, evolved in East Africa at least 2 Ma, and members of this species populated different parts of Africa in a relatively short time. Homo erectus evolved more than 1.8 Ma, and by 1.5 Ma had spread throughout the Old World.

Anthropologists have been divided as to whether current human population evolved only in East Africa, speciated, then migrated out of Africa and replaced human populations in Eurasia (called the "Out-of-Africa" Model or the "Complete-Replacement" Model) or evolved as one interconnected population (as postulated by the Multiregional Evolution hypothesis).

Out of Africa

Divergence of mitochondrial DNA, passed on only through mothers.^[88]

According to the Out-of-Africa model, developed by Chris Stringer and Peter Andrews, modern H. sapiens evolved in Africa 200,000 years ago. Homo sapiens began migrating from Africa between 70,000 – 50,000 years ago and eventually replaced existing hominid species in Europe and Asia.^[89][90] Out of Africa has gained support from research using female mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and the male Y chromosome. After analysing genealogy trees constructed using 133 types of mtDNA, researchers concluded that all were descended from a female African progenitor, dubbed Mitochondrial Eve. Out of Africa is also supported by the fact that mitochondrial genetic diversity is highest among African populations.^[91]

There are differing theories on whether there was a single exodus or several. A multiple dispersal model involves the Southern Dispersal theory,^[92] which has gained support in recent years from genetic, linguistic and archaeological evidence. In this theory, there was a coastal dispersal of modern humans from the Horn of Africa around 70,000 years ago. This group helped to populate Southeast Asia and Oceania, explaining the discovery of early human sites in these areas much earlier than those in the Levant. A second wave of humans dispersed across the Sinai peninsula into Asia, resulting in the bulk of human population for Eurasia. This second group possessed a more sophisticated tool technology and was less dependent on coastal food sources than the original group. Much of the evidence for the first group's expansion would have been destroyed by the rising sea levels at the end of each glacial maximum.^[92] The multiple dispersal model is contradicted by studies indicating that the populations of Eurasia and the populations of Southeast Asia and Oceania are all descended from the same mitochondrial DNA lineages, which support a single migration out of Africa that gave rise to all non-African populations.^[93]

A broad study of African genetic diversity, headed by Sarah Tishkoff, found the San people had the greatest genetic diversity among the 113 distinct populations sampled, making them one of 14 "ancestral population clusters". The research also located the origin of modern human migration in south-western Africa, near the coastal border of Namibia and Angola.^[94]

According to the Toba catastrophe theory to which some anthropologists and archeologists subscribe, the supereruption of Lake Toba on Sumatra island in Indonesia roughly 70,000 years ago had global consequences,^[95] killing most humans then alive and creating a population bottleneck that affected the genetic inheritance of all humans today.^[96]

Multiregional model

One current view of the temporal and geographical distribution of hominid populations^[97] Other interpretations differ mainly in the taxonomy and geographical distribution of hominid species.

Multiregional evolution, a model to account for the pattern of human evolution, was proposed in 1988 by Milford H. Wolpoff.^[98][99] Multiregional evolution holds that human evolution from the beginning of the Pleistocene 2.5 million years BP to the present day has been within a single, continuous human species, evolving worldwide from Homo erectus into modern Homo sapiens. According to the multiregional hypothesis, fossil and genomic data are evidence for worldwide human evolution, and they contradict the recent speciation postulated by the Recent African origin hypothesis. The fossil evidence was insufficient for Richard Leakey to resolve this debate.^[100] Studies of haplogroups in Y-chromosomal DNA and mitochondrial DNA have largely supported a recent African origin.^[101] Evidence from autosomal DNA also predominantly supports a Recent African origin. However evidence for archaic admixture in modern humans had been suggested by some studies.^[102] Recent sequencing of Neanderthal^[103] and Denisovan^[104] genomes shows that some admixture occurred. Modern humans outside Africa have 2-4% Neanderthal alleles in their genome, and some Melanesians have an additional 4-6% of Denisovan alleles. These new results do not contradict the Out of Africa model, except in its strictest interpretation. After recovery from a genetic bottleneck that might be due to the Toba supervolcano catastrophe, a fairly small group left Africa and briefly interbred with Neanderthals, probably in the middle-east or even North Africa before their departure. Their still predominantly-African descendants spread to populate the world. A fraction in turn interbred with Denisovans, probably in south-east Asia, before populating Melanesia.^[105] HLA haplotypes of Neanderthal and Denisova origin have been identified in modern Eurasian and Oceanian populations.^[14]

Recent and current human evolution

Natural selection occurs in modern human populations. For example, the population which is at risk of the severe debilitating disease kuru has significant over-representation of an immune variant of the prion protein gene G127V versus non-immune alleles. The frequency of this genetic variant is due to the survival of immune persons.^[106][107] Other reported evolutionary trends in other populations include a lengthening of the reproductive period, reduction in cholesterol levels, blood glucose and blood pressure.^[108]

It has been argued that human evolution has accelerated since, and as a result of, the development of agriculture and civilization some 10,000 years ago. It is claimed that this has resulted in substantial genetic differences between different current human populations.^[109]

Genetics

Human evolutionary genetics studies how one human genome differs from the other, the evolutionary past that gave rise to it, and its current effects. Differences between genomes have anthropological, medical and forensic implications and applications. Genetic data can provide important insight into human evolution.

Notable human evolution researchers

Louis Leakey examining skulls from Olduvai Gorge

• Robert Broom, Scottish physician and palaeontologist whose work on South Africa led to the discovery and description of the Paranthropus genus of hominins, and of "Mrs. Ples"
• Raymond Dart, Australian anatomist and palaeoanthropologist, whose work at Taung, in South Africa, led to the discovery of Australopithecus africanus
• Charles Darwin, British naturalist who documented considerable evidence that species originate through evolutionary change
• Richard Dawkins, British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author
• Henry McHenry, United States anthropologist who specializes in studies of human evolution, the origins of bipedality, and paleoanthropology
• Donald Johanson, United States paleoanthropologist, credited with discovering Australopithecus afarensis
• Jeffrey Laitman, United States anatomist and physical anthropologist who explored evolution of the vocal tract and speech
• Louis Leakey, Kenyan archaeologist and naturalist, who helped establish human evolutionary development in Africa
• Mary Leakey, British archaeologist and anthropologist whose discoveries in Africa include the Laetoli footprints
• Richard Leakey, Kenyan paleontologist and archaeologist, son of Louis and Mary Leakey
• Svante Pääbo, Swedish biologist specializing in evolutionary genetics
• David Pilbeam, paleoanthropologist, researcher and writer on a range of topics involving human and primate evolution
• Jeffrey H. Schwartz, United States physical anthropologist and professor of biological anthropology
• Chris Stringer, anthropologist, leading proponent of the recent single origin hypothesis
• Alan Templeton, United States geneticist and statistician, proponent of the multiregional hypothesis
• Philip V. Tobias, South African palaeoanthropologist is one of the world's leading authorities on the evolution of humankind
• Erik Trinkaus, United States paleoanthropologist and expert on Neanderthal biology and human evolution
• Milford H. Wolpoff, United States paleoanthropologist, leading proponent of the multiregional evolution hypothesis

Species list

This list is in chronological order across the page by genus.

See also

Evolutionary biology portal

References

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Human evolution

• BBC: The Evolution of Man
• Illustrations from Evolution (textbook)
• Smithsonian – Homosapiens
• Smithsonian – The Human Origins Program
• Becoming Human: Paleoanthropology, Evolution and Human Origins, presented by Arizona State University's Institute of Human Origins
• species
• Bones, Stones and Genes: The Origin of Modern Humans, Howard Hughes Medical Institute 2011 Holiday Lecture Series.
• DNA Shows Neandertals Were Not Our Ancestors
• BBC: Finds test human origins theory. 2007-08-08 Homo habilis and Homo erectus are sister species that overlapped in time.

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