Our Evolution
2005
Australopithecus
Creationism and Intelligent Design
Earliest Hominids
Future
Homo Erectus
Homo Floresiensis
Homo Habilis
Homo Sapiens
Homo Sapiens Sapiens
Neanderthals
Our Evolution
Also TryBooks
- Darwin, Charles - Origin of Species (Talk Origins - Darwin)
- Provides the book that started the controversy about the origin of species and the theory of evolution. 9-02
- Evolution and Physical Anthropology Lessons (Access Excellence)
- Provides simulations, exercises, resource materials, and lessons related to evolution and anthropology. 9-02
- Fossils and Migration Patterns in Early Hominids (Access Excellence - Banister-Marx)
- "Discoveries of fossil hominids around the world have helped scientists to determine not only a likely origin for the human species, but also a migration path throughout the world."
"Students need to have knowledge of latitude and longitude in order to plot the locations of the fossils sampled. Students would benefit greatly if they had some experience comparing the anatomy and relative ages of fossil hominids either from resin casts or from pictures." 9-02
- -Anthropology (Foley)
- Provides a cohesive set of fossil examples that support the theory of human evolution. Also, by fossil case, provides creationist arguments against the evolution explanation. 2-01
- -Genes Suggest Brain Still Evolving (New Scientist)
- "The human brain may still be evolving, new research suggests. New variants of two genes that control brain development have swept through much of the human population during the last several thousand years, biologists have found."
"Analysing variation in the gene suggests the new Microcephalin variant arose between 60,000 and 14,000 years ago, with 37,000 years ago being the team's best estimate. The new mutation is also much more common among people from Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas than those from sub-Saharan Africa."
"The team also sequenced the ASPM gene from the same original sample and again, among dozens of variants, found a defining mutation that alters the protein the gene codes for. Estimates are that the new variant of ASPM first appeared in humans somewhere between 14,000 and 500 years ago, with the best guess that it first arose 5800 years ago. It is already present in about a quarter of people alive today, and is more common in Europe and the Middle East than the rest of the world."
- Anthropology News (BecomingHuman.org)
- Summarizes key news every few months. 09-10
- Apes Point to Origins of Human Language (MSNBC News)
- "Our closest primate relatives, the bonobos and chimps, are more versatile when communicating with their hands, feet and limbs than with their facial expressions and voices."
"The finding, detailed online Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, supports the notion that humans were communicating with sign language long before they were speaking, an idea known as the 'gestural hypothesis.' "
- Chimpanzee Genome and Human Evolution (Nature.com)
- "What makes us human? We share more than 98% of our DNA and almost all of our genes with our closest living relative, the chimpanzee. Comparing the genetic code of humans and chimps will allow the study of not only our similarities, but also the minute differences that set us apart."
"Providing a resource for more than just genomics, Nature presents a special web focus to commemorate the genome of Pan troglodytes. Alongside the first unequivocal fossil evidence of the genus Pan, leading researchers have kindly supplied Nature with previously-unseen film of experiments and observations of chimps in the wild and from world-renowned sanctuaries."
- Classification of Hominids - How They Are Classified (Foley)
- Provides the criteria by which ancient fossils are classified as hominids or early humans.
- Classification of Hominids - What Has Been Found (Foley)
- Provides a history of findings, what was found, and pictures of skulls of early humans.
- Culture in Animals (NationalGeographic.com)
- "When researchers first saw something strange on the snout of a dolphin in Shark Bay, Western Australia, they thought it was a massive tumor. Now they say it provides the first evidence of a tool-use culture in marine mammals.” 6-05
- Evolution - Concept and Examples (Athro, Limited)
- Provides an explanation of evolution as fact and theory. Also provides some examples. 12-00
- Evolution - Theory and History (UCMP)
- Includes a history of different theories of evolution, organized by author, period, and subject.
- Evolution Concepts (PBS.org)
- Provides papers on change, extinction, survival, and other key concepts of evolution. 6-02
- Evolution Theory (Talk Origins)
- Provides key elements of evolution theory and arguments by creationists against the evidence provided. 9-02
- Family Tree (MSNBC News)
- Provides a chart showing the various branches of human evolution. 9-05
- Genes Suggest Brain Still Evolving (Scientific American)
- "The size and complexity of the human brain sets us apart from other creatures. Now results published in the current issue of the journal Science suggest that the evolution of our gray matter is ongoing."
"The research, led by Bruce T. Lahn of the University of Chicago, focused on two genes called microcephalin and ASPM."
"The microcephalin variant arose about 37,000 years ago; the ASPM one just 5,800 years ago, the team reports." 9-05
- Gigantopithecus (Pettifor)
- Provides a drawing and an article. This species is considered to be an ape rather than a hominid.
- Gorilla Using Tools (CBS News)
- "A young gorilla in a Congo sanctuary is smashing palm nuts between two rocks to extract oil, surprising and intriguing scientists who say they have much to learn about what gorillas can do, and about what it says about evolution."
"It had been thought that the premeditated use of stones and sticks to accomplish a task like cracking nuts was restricted to humans and the smaller, more agile chimpanzees." 9-05
- History of Humans (BBC News)
- Provides a history of humans. 6-04
- Hominids (Mr.Donn.org)
- Provides a chart of some of the better-known hominids. 03-06
- Hominids (Wikipedia.org)
- "Hominid is any member of the biological family Hominidae (the 'great apes'), including humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans." Provides definitions of the confusingly similar terms: Hominidae, hominine, Homininae, hominin, Hominini, hominan, and Hominina. 03-06
- Homo Genus or Humans (Wikipedia.org)
- "Homo is the genus that includes modern humans and their close relatives. The genus is estimated to be between 1.5 and 2.5 million years old. All species except Homo sapiens are extinct. " 03-06
- Human Evolution - First Humans (Liozos)
- Provides pictures of fossils and artifacts believed to be early forms of humans. 5-00
- Mammals - Evolution (EnchantedLearning)
- Provides a description of the evolution of mammals and includes links to key changes. 3-00
- Our Oldest Ancestor? (CBS News)
- "If you didn’t like the idea that humanity descended from apes, you’re going to hate this one. Scientists have found what they think is humanity’s earliest known ancestor, and the family resemblance is striking." 02-17
- Scopes Evolution "Monkey" Trial (University of Virginia)
- Study: Chimps More Similar to Humans than Apes (Astrobio.net)
- "The results also confirm that there is very little difference in the alignable regions of the human and chimp genomes. Taken together, the study's findings suggest that humans and chimps are more closely related to each other than the chimps are to the other great apes."
" 'I think we can say that this study provides further support for the hypothesis that humans and chimpanzees should be in one genus, rather than two different genus' because we not only share extremely similar genomes, we share similar generation time,' said Yi."
- The First Cattle Keepers (BBC News)
- " 'It happened during these 5,000 years of the savannah that people changed from hunter-gathers to cattle keepers,' he [Dr Rudolph Kuper] said.
" 'This important step in human history has been made for the first time in the African Sahara.' " 07-06
- Understanding Evolution (Evolution.Berkeley.edu)
- Provides an in-depth course. 02-14
- Were Human Ancestors Hunted by Birds? (MSNBC News)
- "An American researcher believes he has solved the mystery of how one of the most important human ancestors died nearly 2 million years ago: An eagle killed the 3˝-year-old ape-man known as the Taung child."
"The discovery suggests that small human ancestors known as hominids had to survive being hunted not only by large predators on the ground but by fearsome raptors that swooped from the sky, said Lee Berger, a senior paleoanthropologist at Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand." 01-06
- Evolution - Research on Mechanisms (Nature - Gee)
- Provides results of research to understand how species diverge over time. 5-00