Hi ATS.
I've been reading and learning a lot about human evolution, and how we cam to be as we are : Modern man.
I've found myself thinking about a slightly different path then what is presented to you as a consensus,
and I will share my alternative theory with you.
For those of you fully aware of what science has taught us about human history, please scroll down towards the second part of this thread where I will
start what I think has been different from what's commonly taken a what happened so many millions of years ago... Still I recommend checking out the
links posted in the first part of this thread.
Ok. Ready... ?
First let me get one thing out of the way first... Man evolved from chimps. Like in the following drawing.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8204d0b8b85c.jpg[/atsimg]
Please erase that image from your minds cause it's nothing more than a blatant lie. Probably brought in to this world by people who do not agree with
the theory of evolution. Most likely creationists however....
It doesn't matter one bit,. What matters is that it still is common to hear people use it as an argument...
It's a sign of utter ignorance, and it only proves that those that use it do
not, have the slightest clue of what they are talking about.
Nothing more... Nothing less...
Human development has been tracked down a path going back as much as 5.5 million years ago with a species called:
Ramapithecus which is regarded as the last common ancestor of both Homo sapiens sapiens or
modern man, and chimpanzees.
Please understand that it was neither Chimp or Man.
See the following list for all of the different species that appeared on earth from 5 million years ago to this day.
Ardipithicus ramidus 5 to 4 million years ago
Australopithecus anamensis 4.2 to 3.9 million years ago
Australopithecus afarensis 4 to 2.7 million years ago
Australopithecus africanus 3 to 2 million years ago
Australopithecus robustus 2.2 to 1.6 million years ago
Homo habilis 2.2 to 1.6 million years ago
Homo erectus 2.0 to 0.4 million years ago
Homo sapiens archaic 400 to 200 thousand years ago
Homo sapiens neandertalensis 200 to 30 thousand years ago
Homo sapiens sapiens 200 thousand years ago to present
The times of existence of the various hominid shown above are based on dated fossil remains. Each species may have existed earlier and/or later than
shown, but fossil proof has not been discovered
I need to add a new and only recently discovered species of man. So recently even that it's discovery is publicly spread in an article from which
references to Nature from the BBC that dates 22-December-2010.
Called:
Ancient humans, dubbed 'Denisovans', interbred with us
Also visit this thread by
Dragonmusic called:
New
type of Ancient Human found- Descendants live today?
Please be so considerate to pay some respect to the person that was the first one to share this amazing and sensational discovery right here on ATS.
If you please ?
Although I think that is unimaginably interesting, I'm wondering of the road I decided to show you.
Next on the list...
Genetic evidence.
Basically what I am about to show you are a line back to Adam and Eve...
African origin for modern humans
There is evidence that modern human mtDNA has an African origin: "We infer from the tree of minimum length... that Africa is a likely source of the
human mitochondrial gene pool. This inference comes from the observation that one of the two primary branches leads exclusively to African mtDNAs...
while the second primary branch also leads to African mtDNAs... By postulating that the common ancestral mtDNA... was African, we minimize the number
of intercontinental migrations needed to account for the geographic distribution of mtDNA types."
The broad study of African genetic diversity headed by Sarah Tishkoff found the San people to express the greatest genetic diversity among the 113
distinct populations sampled, making them one of 14 "ancestral population clusters". The research also located the origin of modern human migration in
south-western Africa, near the coastal border of Namibia and Angola.
Y chromosome findings
The Y chromosome is much larger than mtDNA, and is relatively homogeneous; therefore it has taken much longer to find distinct lineages and to analyse
them. Conversely, because the Y chromosome is so large by comparison, it holds more genetic information. Y chromosome studies show similar findings to
those made with mtDNA. The estimate for the age of the ancestral Y chromosome for all extant Y chromosomes is given at about 70,000 years ago and is
also placed in Africa; the individual who contributed this Y chromosomal heritage is sometimes referred to as Y chromosome Adam. The difference in
dates between Y chromosome Adam and mitochondrial Eve is usually attributed to a higher extinction rate for Y chromosomes due to greater differential
reproductive success between individual men, which means that a small number of very successful men may produce many children, while a larger number
of less successful men will produce far fewer children.
The following link is a wonderful and informative round up of human history presented to you by National Geographic.
The Genographic project.
Human ancestry: Species
Human Evolution Timeline
Ok...
I hope you are still with me cause all of the above was only to give those of you whoa are uneducated or misinformed about human evolution and
development a basic idea of on the matter which you need for the following part.Part two so to say...
Part 2
Walking upright.
One Step at a Time
The earliest humans climbed trees and walked on the ground. This flexibility helped them get around in diverse habitats and cope with changing
climates.
From at least 6 to 3 million years ago, early humans combined apelike and humanlike ways of moving around. Fossil bones like the ones you see here
record a gradual transition from climbing trees to walking upright on a regular basis.
Benefits
As environments changed, walking on two legs helped early humans survive by:
making it easier to pick fruits and other food from low-lying branches;
freeing hands for carrying food, tools, or babies;
enabling early humans to appear larger and more intimidating;
helping early humans cover wide, open landscapes quickly and efficiently.
I've encountered another theory that explains early hominids to start walking up right over time.
This is the sole reason for me to write this thread and I'm eager to learn fom what ATS has to offer on this subject.
The theory is called:
Aquatic ape hypothesis
Africa once was a lush and futile continent full of water an immense forests covered the lands along with a massive water system and giant lakes.
Maybe it looked like the Amazon rain forest who knows.
We do no that a couple of ice ages and dramatic climate changing events happened that caused the continent to become a dry and barren place with
inside the biggest dessert on earth called the Sahara.
It was not always like it present days.
There is no reason to assume early man was not living in a wet and moist evironment some parts of its evolution.
Reasons for me to think we actually did have a wet start.
1. We walk up right. Only one other species today does this these days a primate called : Big nose monkey.
Watch a video in the following link to see it wading through the water after about a little more then half of the vid has passed.
www.arkive.org...[/ur
l]
Looks familiar does it not ?
2. Skin extensions between fingers and toes and feet that have become strangly flipper like.
3. The brain that developed faster and more efficient do to walking up right and an aquatic diet.
4. The loss of body hair what makes one more streamlined in the water.
5. The focus of male interest from butt to breasts as a sexual eye catcher.
6. The capability to store on body fat under the skin, just like other marine mammals but unlike any other mammal.
7. The easy and instinctive reaction of a baby or new born under water.
8 head hair to grow longer and longer as it's easy to grab on to for any siblings...
And then disaster struck... An ice age started, a super volcano called : Lake Toba blew and caused mankind to almost got wiped out from the face of
the earth, and of course massive changes in climate that cause the creation of desserts and huge grass lands. Where man kinds latest developments
proof to make them easily adjust to grass lands and standing up right and intelligent enough to adjust to any situation thrown at them.
Visit the following links to read all about the Aquatic ape hypothesis.
[url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WN2-4C35VSG-N7&_user=10&_coverDate=01%2F31%2F1985&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_orig
in=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1588645165&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=3be196467f1b
6c59c1576c23d14f02f4&searchtype=a]The Aquatic Ape Theory: Evidence and a possible scenario
The aquatic ape theory by Elaine morgan
Aquatic ape theory
I wouldn't be me if didn't post a sceptics perspective as well.
Scientific qritigue by James more
Please share with me your thoughts on the matter.
Sources:
~
The Evolution of the Human
~
Human evolutionary genetics
An aquatic origin driven away from a path taken by a changing climate. It seems very plausible to me.
Edit : To say that I am fully aware science isn't always right and mistakes are made as well as assumptions that prove incorrect over time. These
things will get corrected and changed when they come to light...Usually that is.
Kind regards
~ Sinter
edit on 12/25/2010 by Sinter Klaas because: (no reason given)