EDF 1005- Reflection 4

After I read, "Early Human Phylogeny," I learned how they represented the evolution of hominids through the different sculls that had been discovered around the world. The most interesting of hominid, to me, is the homo-erectus. These extinct hominids got their name because erectus meant to set up straight, and they were already standing on two legs. They are also known as neanderthals. The reason I find these interesting is because they remind me of the typical "cave-man." The article "Hominids," unlike the first article, represented the array of skulls that have been discovered in even more detail. For instance, it gives you an entire list and even categories the skulls into it's corresponding specie of hominid. The Taung 1 (AKA Taung Child) had been discovered in 1924 in Taung, South Africa by Raymond Dart who had estimated it to be three million years old. The skull was believed to be that of a 3 year old child's. It had teeth like a six year old's, and for this reason they believed that this hominid developed much faster than today's modern homo-sapien. The third article is titled after a four foot tall skeleton found in Ethiopia in 1974, "Lucy." Although the skeleton resembled an ape, researchers say that Lucy was bi-pedal and was able to walk up-right just like we do, because of her bone's structure. Because of Lucy, scientists now have an estimation of when it was that humans began to walk in our modern day's very familiar up-right position. The last article is called, "African Eve," and it is about the origin of humans. As Professor McNair explained in class, this article also explains that today's modern hominid originated from Africa. Although some people might feel close minded to the idea, researchers believe that we did originate from Africa and then spread throughout the rest of the world. The Homo erectus, which I had mentioned earlier as being the most interesting, to me, of hominids easily adapted to their environment and was able to live longer than other hominids. This explains why modern day humans come in different colors of skin. Our skin adapted to the environment. The remaining of the Homo erectus was about 500,000 years ago in Africa, and 250,000 in Asia. To be honest, this didn't really affect what I believe. I am very open-minded to everything, and had originally already believed in evolution. I am proud of how our species have migrated and spread out throughout all the world, and have made so many advancements and successes throughout all these years. Look at all the inventions modern-man has come up with.