Development of Human Life

The purpose of this research is to examine human origins. The plan of the research will be to set forth the context in which the development of the species Homo sapiens can be elaborated and then to discuss theoretical and experimental work regarding such phenomena as "Lucy" and other extinct precursors of the family Hominidae, as well as theories that propose the onset of human evolution from 112,000 to 124,000 years ago.

The popular culture is full of controversy regarding divisions between modern man (as denoted in the professional literature) and extinct precursor species of it. Notwithstanding the sociocultural controversy surrounding Darwin's theory of evolution, scientific investigation of the origins of human beings has evolution at its core.

In the first quarter of the twentieth century, the generally accepted model of explanation for the emergence of the species Homo sapiens, distinguished by a greater cranial capacity than its morphological ancestors, revolved around classification of Pleistocene primate hominid fossils found in various parts of the world. A strict theory of the fully evolved Homo sapiens is based on strict anatomical criteria such as brain size and cranial capacity (1,350 cubic centimeters), rounded forehead, and fully upright posture capacity (Clark, 1955, passim). As more fossils have been uncovered, however, various, competing theories have arisen regarding human origins.

The term modern man is identified as the most paleontologically an

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plainly diverse from Homo. Other analysts assert that the Australopithecus fossils demonstrate that bone structures are closer to hominid than ape morphology (Kimbel, Johanson & Rak, 1994, pp. 449-50). Still others declare that Australopithecus afarensis is dimorphic, resembling hominids in bipedal locomotion and resembling apes in adaptation to "arboreality" (Aiello, 1994, p. 400). Such discoveries have also led some experts (e.g., Gould, 1994) to conclude that Homo and Australopithecus were not merely successive or related but also distinct species that shared a common genetic (ape) ancestor, in part because of the decisively smaller brain cavity of the Australopithecus compared to the Homo (McDonald, 1994; McAuliffe & Willis, 1994; Shreeve, 1994, pp. 345; Begley, 1994, p. 84). Such specimens-as Lucy from 1974 onward must be set beside such fossil discoveries as Java man (found in 1891) and Peking man (found in 1927). The latter two specimens are examples of the toolmaking group type initially classified as a genus, Pithecanthropus, but (based on anatomical observation) later as early examples of the bipedal Homo erectus, dated from 200,000 to 500,000 years ago, thus spanning the Early and Middle Quaternaries (Kennedy, 19

Category: Science - D