The Last Ape Standing

A new book published by Chip Walter examines our history as upright,bi-pedal beings and what our future holds.

Over the past 180 years scientists have sifted through evidence that at least twenty-seven human species have evolved on planet Earth. And as you may have noticed, twenty-six of them are no longer with us, done in by their environment, predators, disease, or the unfortunate shortcomings of their DNA. What enabled us to survive when so many other human species were shown the evolutionary door? Last Ape Standing: The Seven-Million-Year Story of How and Why We Survived by acclaimed science journalist Chip Walter tells the intriguing tale of how against all odds and despite nature's brutal and capricious ways we stand here today, the only surviving humans, and the planet's most dominant species.Drawing on a wide variety of scientific disciplines, Walter reveals how a rare evolutionary phenomenon led to the uniquely long childhoods that make us so resourceful and emotionally complex. He looks at why we developed a new kind of mind and how our highly social nature has shaped our moral (and immoral) behavior. And in exploring the traits that enabled our success, he plumbs the roots of our creativity and investigates why we became self-aware in ways that no other animal is. Along the way, Last Ape Standing profiles other human species who evolved with us and who have also shaped our kind in startling ways - the Neanderthals of Europe, the "Hobbits" of Indonesia, the Denisovans of Siberia, and the recently discovered Red Deer Cave people of China, who died off just as we stood at the brink of civilizations eleven thousand years ago.Last Ape Standing is an engaging and accessible story that explores the forces that molded us into the peculiar and astonishing creature that we are.

www.amazon.com...

We are currently in the New Man Epoch,the Anthropocene.
digitaljournal.com...
So,does this age of man see an end?
It's possible.
Did the dinosaurs live forever?
No.
Will we? Depends on if we can populate another world before ours becomes inhospitable.

As a species,we are pretty adaptable and resilient.Let's hope that it is true.

I expect this book to be a good read.

Enjoy and as always,
Peace,
K

Proud of us.
We have made it so long

But its time we create a super evolved race which will be stronger, better and smarter.

I certainly do like the term "Anthrocene".

I'd obviously prefer the "Homocene".

Then we have over-bred certain species of plants and especially animals to suit our tastes, and we've artificially boosted their numbers, like chickens or cows, or even pets.

Along with the Anthrocene comes the kitty-cat-o-scene.

Never even mind all the vermin that thrives on our global culture, like rats or roaches.

As for the other species of relatives in prehistory - I think we've humanized them far too much based on very little evidence and political correctness.

Neanderthal coprolite was found to be closer to wolves than us, and they were almost exclusive carnivores.

I would think we were often highly endangered by these other species that were more physically robust.

A lot of our subconscious horror tropes of giant apes and wolf-men probably stems from that time.

We were probably the underdog, and only the most paranoid or powerful could survive.

But eventually we learnt to organize and fight back, and somehow we evolved in that struggle.
First we were afraid and we were petrified ... but we survived!

It's probably because we had to defend ourselves against more robust ape-like creatures at times that we became so aggressive.

reply to post by kdog1982


The problem is we really might be the last ape standing because nonhuman primate populations are being severely threatened and driven to precariously low numbers due to deforestation, habitat destruction, and human presence.

While the human population continues to increase at a rapid rate, other species are teetering on the brink of extinction.

I just finished a book that actually got me to thinking, is it possible we aren't the only species of human left? Who's to say others haven't cropped up throughout recent history and we just can't pick them out yet. Granted, our knowledge of DNA and such is great but we are also finding new things about ourselves everyday. Maybe there are other species who all resemble each other but with minor difference. "Psychics" perhaps?

May it have been that we became so fearful of anything different than us that we slaughtered them on sight.?