Human Evolution: An Introduction
The subject of human evolution is a very much-debated matter. The only thing agreed upon is that the human evolution was not a linear one; it was more like an evolutionary tree. No one seems to agree on what hominid came from another, but as of now there is a commonly accepted human evolution tree.
Simpson in his book writes that evolution is one of the few basic facts; it is an unassailable fact. (p.151).
Human evolution began when human ancestral lines diverged about 5 million years ago. This evolution consists of all hominids, which are erect bipedal mammals including recent humans together with extinct ancestry and related forms. The earliest known hominid is the sole member to Ardipithecus ramidus genus, which dates to more than 4 million years ago (4.4 mya).
The ramidus was first placed with the Australopithecines kind until clear differences were noticed between the ramidus and the Australopithecines. As a result, the ramidus was given its own genus name- the Ardipithecus, making it the Ardipithecus ramidus. The ramidus was found in several locals throughout Ethiopia. It was the like out of all the ancestors but it did have hominid qualities to it. For example, differences in its teeth set it making it more similar to Australopithecines.
Following the Ardipithecus ramidus came the entire genus of Australopithecines, which included five different hominids within it i.e. anamensis, afarensis, africanus, and garhi. Out of the Australopithecus the anamensis was the first to evolve. The anamensis was just recently found in 1994 in Northern Kenya. The anamensis fossils have dates that vary from 4.2 million years ago to 3.9 million years ago. The anamensis is like than the ramidus but a far cry from looking anything close to a modern human.
The afarensis lived in a......
