WHAT IS EVOLUTION?

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Evolution is a phenomenon by which species gradually change over generations by way of natural selection. For example, the evolution of modern humans (Homo Sapiens) from apes. This happens by genetic variations which even changes the appearance (phenotype) of the species. Individuals possessing characteristics which are more conducive to the environment survive for longer years and hence carry forward their genes to the next generation. Those individuals who are poorly adapted to their environment have lesser chances of survival & hence it is less likely that their genes would be transferred to the next generation. Scientific evidence shows that the physical and behavioral traits shared by all people originated from apelike ancestors and evolved over a period of approximately six million years.

For example, the longevity of the dark colored moths increased after the onset of Industrial Revolution in Britain. The Industrial Revolution had resulted in a rise in pollution levels due to which the leaves of the tress in the vicinity also turned to blackish texture. Since the color of the dark colored moths blended with that of the color of the leaf, the dark colored moth was less susceptible to an attack by predators. Subsequently, light colored moths were an easy target for the predators & their populations dwindled. This change in the environment resulted in darker moths being more common than the lighter moths. This is called as the theory of natural selection. Nature favours those genes which are the best (Survival of the fittest).

Scientists have found out many physical & genetic similarities between the primates & humans. Human beings, more specifically, are very similar to apes. Humans & the great Apes of Africa share a common ancestor which existed about 8 to 6 million years ago. Evolution is believed to have first happened in Africa because all the fossils of early humans have been discovered there. About 15 to 20 species of early humans have been discovered by the scientists. Early humans first migrated out of Africa into Asia probably between 2 million and 1.8 million years ago. They entered Europe somewhat later, between 1.5 million and 1 million years. People first came to Australia probably within the past 60,000 years and to the Americas within the past 30,000 years or so. The beginnings of agriculture and the rise of the first civilizations occurred within the past 12,000 years. 
One of the earliest known humans is Homo habilis, or “handy man,” who lived about 2.4 million to 1.4 million years ago in Eastern and Southern Africa. Others include Homo rudolfensis, who lived in Eastern Africa about 1.9 million to 1.8 million years ago (its name comes from its discovery in East Rudolph, Kenya); and Homo erectus, the “upright man” who ranged from Southern Africa all the way to modern-day China and Indonesia from about 1.89 million to 110,000 years ago.

Scientists have also found a “superarchaic” group of humans that separated from other humans in Africa around 2 million years ago & mated with the ancestors of Neanderthals & Denisovians. The “archaic” group of humans includes the Neanderthals & Denisovians who are known to have been mating with each other & also with modern humans. One of the earliest defining human traits, bipedalism, the ability to walk on two legs evolved over 4 million years ago. Other important human characteristics such as a large and complex brain, the ability to make and use tools, and the capacity for language developed more recently. Many advanced traits including complex symbolic expression, art, and elaborate cultural diversity emerged mainly during the past 100,000 years.  
That’s why; human evolution is called as a “braided stream” rather than a classical lineage.

WHAT IS EVOLUTION I ANTHROPOLOGY CONCEPT SERIES I ARTICLE – I

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