AIM: DID HUMAN LIFE ORIGINATE IN AFRICA



HANDOUT #4

Focus topic: Theories of where humans came from

Key words: Origin, Theory, Out of Africa, Multi-Regionalism, Hominid, Archeologist, Paleolithic Age

Objective Questions: How do scientists learn about the origin of human life?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the theories of the origin of man?

Key words:

Homo Sapiens: the species name for modern humans, including extinct hominid species such as Homo erectus.

Hominid: a term that is used to describe early humans, in the family of humans.

Multi-regionalism: the theory that all modern humans developed in different parts of the world starting 2.5 million years ago and all of these groups developed into modern humans separately.

Out of Africa: that modern humans developed in Africa 100-200 thousand years ago and that about 60,000 years ago they left Africa and spread to different parts of the world.

Theory: a idea a scientists has based on evidence they found, that has not been proven wrong. Give example (people had a theory that the world was flat.

1. Discoveries Breathe New Life into Human Origins Debate

Where did humans come from? This is a question many have tried to answer, but it is not close to being solved. With the help of modern science, this question has brought about many arguments regarding the origin of modern humans. The two strongest origin theories seem different, yet each continues to return evidence supporting their own theory. Scientists have used ancient skeletons as evidence to support their theories. These scientists have used a method called carbon dating to find out how old these skeletons are. The most important hominids are Ardi (Ardipithecus), Lucy (Australopithecus), and Homo-Erectus. Skeletons of Ardi, and Lucy are the oldest and rarest, only fragments of a full skeleton have been found. Both Ardi and Lucy were found in Africa. While skeletons of Homo-Erectus have been found in different locations throughout the world. Scientists use the shape and size of these skeletons and compare them to those of modern humans. They use the similarities between the skeletons as evidence to support their theories. And on the other hand many do not believe in either of the two theories above, instead they believe God (s) created the world, this is the belief of many religions around the world.

Two of the main theories about the origin of humans are:

1. Out of Africa: the theory that all modern humans originated from a common ancestor that lived on the continent of Africa and have one common ancestor that migrated across the continents.

2. Multi-Regionalism: the second theory is that modern humans originated from common ancestors that lived in different parts of the world, and these ancestors developed into humans separately.

How do scientists learn about the origin of human life?

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What is the difference between the Out of Africa Theory and the Multi-Regionalism Theory?

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LAST COMMON ANCESTOR OF HUMANS AND CHIMPS

6-7 4.4 mya 3.2 mya 1.8 mya present

Millions of Years Ago Ardi Lucy Homo-Erectus Humans

Hominid Descriptions: Below are the descriptions to the human like creatures Ardi, Lucy, and Homo-Erectus. These hominids are used by scientists to support the theory that humans and chimps come from a common ancestor and have developed into what they are through a process called evolution.

Ardi:

Height: 4 ft tall estimate based on one partial female skeleton

Fossils Found: Eastern Africa (one partial skeleton found, fragments from 100s)

Similarities to humans: Walked upright

Differences: Tree climber , smaller brain, scientists believe they only ate fruit based on size and shape of their teeth

Time: 4.4 million years ago (too old for carbon dating, used age of lava rocks found near Ardi)

Lucy:

Height: 3.6 Feet tall

Fossils Found: Eastern Africa (two partial skeletons have been found, including Lucy; in addition a set of footprints name the Laetoli footprints have been found are most likely Australophithecus footprints these footprints show this species walking upright.)

Similarities to humans: walked upright

Differences: smaller brain, only ate fruit, nuts, insects, eggs (based on teeth)

Time: 3.85 to 2.95 million years ago

Homo-Erectus:

Height: Ranges from 4 ft 9 inches to 6ft 1 inch

Fossils Found: Northern, Eastern, and Southern Africa, Western and East Asia, Indonesian islands (many)

Similarities to humans: walked upright and could run, first to use stone tools, loss of tree climbing ability, hunt, ate meat, fruit, and vegetables

Differences: still smaller brain but larger than Ardi, and Lucy, did not live in cities/towns

Time: Between 1.89 million and 143,000 years ago

LAST COMMON ANCESTOR OF MAN AND CHIMP

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