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HOMO ERECTUS.   Term Paper ID:29290 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Importance in the human evolution process.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Importance in the human evolution process. Controversy concerning Homo erectus and scientific points of view. Discusses theory that human beings evolved from primates or ape-like ancestors. Anthropoligists' s view of role of Homo erectus in evolution. Link between Homo sapiens and Homo habilis. The multiregional/continuity hypothesis. Paper Introduction: Homo erectus: Importance, Evolution and Controversies Introduction Homo erectus is believed to have emerged about 1.8 million years ago during the Lower Pleistocene Epoch of the Quarternary Period of the Cenozoic Era (Adelphi, p. 4-4). This brief report will first examine the importance of Homo erectus in the context of human evolution. Next, the report will consider the evolution of Homo erectus. Finally, the report will discuss a controversy concerning Homo erectus and explain the various points of view presented by scientists on this issue; it will conclude with a discussion of this writer’s position on the issue, which centers on the theory that human being developed or evolved from primates or ape-like ancestors. The Importance of Homo erectus in Human Evolution Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. It was this species that began to walk upright. This new tool technology is seen as representing a new level ofcapacity to plan and solve problems. Themany discoveries that are now taking place have the potential to resolvethe controversy of whether or not human beings or Homo sapiens did in factdescend from the species known as Hominids. and Dorfman, Andrea. 4-12). 123). Charles Darwin: The Descent of Man. They grew bone-protected eye sockets in the front ofthe face and were differentiated from other creatures by enhanced visionand other capacities. "Erectus Rising." In E. James Shreeve (p. Though shorter than the averagemodern human and smaller, these creatures had bodies very much like thoseof human beings. Physical Anthropology. In the Miocene Epoch, the first hominoidsappeared to develop followed by the firs hominids in the Pliocene (Adelphi,p. Guilford, CT: McGraw Hill/ Dushkin, 2 2, pp. 2-3). The size of its brain case(85 -1 cc) approaches that of Homo sapiens. Guilford, CT: McGraw Hill/Dushkin, 2 2, pp. Homo habilis was the first species that could no longer be classifiedas bipedal apes. Its cranial bones are moremassive than either those of Homo habilis or modern humans. I believe that thiscontroversy will ultimately be resolved but not until more fossil remainsare found and analyzed. 134-139. Some apesfrom that time period such as Ramapithecus were once considered to behominids and possible ancestors of humans. There is evidence that Homo erectus was able to use and control fireand to adapt to the demands of a number of climates ranging from the colderand wetter conditions in northern Africa to the glacial environments ofEurope and Asia in the Ice Age. It seems reasonable to conclude that thisspecies, like many other species of living creatures, would adapt itself tothe climate, geography, and resources of any new region it penetrated. Bothanatomically and physiologically, Homo erectus looked like modern humanswith the exception of a stouter bone structure. 4-4). 113-117.Lemonick, Michael D. Homo erectus was the first hominid known to migrate and to flourishoutside of the African continent. "Early Hominid Fossils from Africa." In E. 4-12)."There are several reasons why this is said to be the case. Works CitedAdelphi, M.D. After the appearance of Australopithecus, the next major developmentwas the evolution of Homo Habilis slightly less than two million years ago(Lemonick and Dorfman, p. Available at http://tychousa2.umuc.edu/ANTH4 / 2 9/ 698 /class.nsf/ C1649E1EE34B2485256B9.Birx, James H. Homo erectus populations were found at a number of Europeanhabitation and hunting sites including Terra Amata, France and Terralba andAmbrona, Spain. 4-4). Scientists have proposed the Out of Africa/Replacement hypothesiswhich suggests that the transition to modern humanity occurred only in onearea (i.e., Africa) (Adelphi, p. "Fossil Evidence for Human Evolution." In BEHS 34 : Outlooks in Anthropology: Course Guide. It is believed thatHomo erectus was the ancestor of both Homo neanderthalensus and Homosapiens (Lemonick and Dorfman, p. This brief report will first examine theimportance of Homo erectus in the context of human evolution. Angeloni, Ed. 4-12). Homo erectusremains that were called "Peking man" were found in China at theZhoukoudian cave near Beijing in the late 192 s (http://www.Talkorigins.org/faqs/homos/species.html, pp. University of Maryland University College (1994). 134)believes that in most explanations for mankind's evolution, the role ofthis creature was to mark time between its emergence and its laterevolution into a form known as "sapiens." While this view was held formany years, and while creating the Acheulean stone tool culture andmigration out of Africa and into other parts of the Old World, there is newevidence that Homo erectus did far more than was once believed. This family consists of all species of the last common ancestorof humans and living apes. Finally, Homo erectus appears to have hadthe ability to create shelters for himself (Adelphi, p. Later fossil finds haveindicated that Ramapithecus may have been more closely related to theorangutan and new biochemical evidence supports the belief that the lastcommon ancestor of hominids and apes occurred between five and ten millionyears ago (http://www.talkorigins.org/saqs/homs/species.html, p. 4-11). Other scholars believe that small groupsof Homo habilis began to disperse throughout the world about two millionyears ago, adapting to different environments and ultimately evolving intoHomo sapiens (Adelphi, 4-12). Adelphi (p. The first true primates had flexible fingers that possessed tactilepads and flat nails. Finally, the reportwill discuss a controversy concerning Homo erectus and explain the variouspoints of view presented by scientists on this issue; it will conclude witha discussion of this writer's position on the issue, which centers on thetheory that human being developed or evolved from primates or ape-likeancestors.The Importance of Homo erectus in Human Evolution Anthropologists agree in general that "Homo erectus represents acritical period in the development of modern humans (Adelphi, p. 118-123.Shreeve, James. 17). 4-4). The discovery of the skull led some scientists,including Ernst Heinrich, to claim that if such a half-human, half-apecreature were to be found, it should be named Pithecanthropus erectus("Upright ape-man"). Physical Anthropology. Although it has been stated that the fossil recordis not complete for hominids, it is possible to identify a partial outlineof the evolutionary history of Homo erectus. According to Adelphi (p. The most likely explanation of how Homo sapiens evolved appears to bethe Multiregional/Continuity hypothesis in which the migration of Homoerectus led to the development of what has become the contemporary humanbeing. It is further suggested thatHomo erectus and our species evolved in Africa from an unidentified commonancestor of these other species. The first primates and prosimians emerged in the Paleocene Epoch ofthe Tertiary Period of the Cenozoic Era (Adelphi, p. This was not widelyaccepted until Charles Darwin proposed a theory of human evolution statingthat "the physical traits of an organism are selected according to theenvironment in which it lives" (in Birx, p. Homo erectus demonstrated that he wascapable of exhibiting these characteristics in his development of a "new,more sophisticated Acheulean tool technology also testifies to the Homoerectus ability to solve the problems posed by new environments" (Adelphi,p. Many of the traits of this species foreshadowedthose that would appear in later species. The creatures occupied these sites on a seasonal basiswhile pursuing an annual subsistence cycle based on big-game hunting andthe gathering of shellfish and foods(http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/species.html, pp. In theOligocene Epoch, some 17 million years later, the first proto-apes oranthropoids were to emerge. Before the discovery of this skull, some people imagined that therewas a transmutation that took place between species. This creature was the first member of thegenus Homo. Homo erectus is important because he not onlypossessed the ability to walk upright and make tools, he also had aphysiology more closely resembling that of Homo sapiens. Guilford, CT: McGraw Hill/Dushkin, 2 2, pp. 123).Controversies Involving Homo Erectus The controversy regarding Homo erectus that caught my attention isthe theory stating that humans or Homo sapiens developed from primates orape-like ancestors. This creature wasable to scavenge and engage in basic hunting and gathering activities. Ed. Though relatively small-brained,the species of Australopithecus appeared to have been represented inseveral different species. Some of the key traits or characteristics thatdistinguish human beings from other higher order primates is the humancapacity for problem-solving, abstract thought, and rational thoughtleading to specific behaviors. 4-9), "these were begins capableof identifying the rocks that would shatter leaving sharp edges, bashingthem against one another to create the edges, and using both the core andthe flakes to process softer materials such as wood, bone, or animalflesh." It appears that the use of technology to create tools and usetools distinguished Homo habilis from other species. Angeloni, Ed. 2-3). 4-1 ) maintains that "the Oldowan toolindustry lasted for at least a million and a half years and was used byHomo habilis as well as by a later form of hominid called Homo erectus fortheir thoroughly modern upright posture." Homo erectus lived between 1.6 million and 25 , years ago. The hominoids of the Miocene developed a movementknown as brachiation, or the ability to use their arms by rotating them intheir sockets (Adelphi, p. This specimen, commonly called "Javaman," was first classified as Pithecanthropus erectus. New York: Great Mind Series, 1998.Leakey, Maeve and Walker, Alan. 1). 4-5). 17). 4-6). 4-12).The Evolution of Homo Erectus The word "hominid" is used to refer to members of the family ofHominidae. As more and more information hasbecome available, the entire Homo lineage has been subjected to an identitycrisis with some paleontologists arguing that three early variants of Homoevolved in Africa two million years ago (i.e., Homo habilis, Homo ergaster,and Homo rudolfensis) (Adelphi, p. The skeleton of athree million year-old female nicknamed Lucy and the bones of 13 otherchild and adult members of the species have been studied after theirdiscovery in Africa (Adelphi, p. The technology isknown as Oldowan, a name based on the discovery of implements at theOlduvai Gorge. Meave Leakey and Alan Walker (p. Angeloni, Ed. The species migrated to Asia about onemillion years ago and then moved into Europe about 4 , years ago.Fossils of the species were first discovered in 1891 by Eugene Dubois, aFrench anatomist working in Java. This controversy dates to the discovery in 1856 of askull in the Neander Valley in Germany. This wasparticularly true in the area known as the cerebral cortex, which plays avital role in reasoned behavior, memory and the capacity for abstractthought (Adelphi, p. Hominids are included in the family of allapes, the Hominoidea. Homo erectus appears to have been the ancestorof Neanderthal and archaic Homo sapiens, which emerged about 7 , yearsago (Adelphi, p. 4-4). The skull led some people tobelieve that it may have belonged to a human being who had suffered fromrickets (Birx, p. "One Giant Step for Mankind." In E. 4-11). The split between the evolution of humans and apes was oncebelieved to have occurred 15 to 2 million years ago though some scientistsconsider it may have occurred up to 3 or 4 million years ago. Homo erectus was important because he served as a link between Homosapiens and Homo habilis. This hypothesis has the advantage of providing a fairlycomprehensive explanation of why anthropologists and other scientists findmany variations on Homo erectus. Next, thereport will consider the evolution of Homo erectus. 113) state that "scientists classifythe immediate ancestors of the genus Homo (which includes our own speciesHomo sapiens) in the genus Australopithecus." These species appear to havehad a striding and bipedal or two-footed way of movement that is thehallmark of humans among living animals. Physical Anthropology. First, thebrain of the creature was beginning to develop and to expand. Homo erectus: Importance, Evolution and ControversiesIntroduction Homo erectus is believed to have emerged about 1.8 million years agoduring the Lower Pleistocene Epoch of the Quarternary Period of theCenozoic Era (Adelphi, p. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.