Hominin: Man's Closest Ancestors & Relatives - Essay Sample

Introduction

Hominin are referred to as a primate of a taxonomic tribe. They are the composition of the species that are considered to be of the same origin as man or have the same ancestry or closely related to man or are for man. For a something to be referred to as hominin it should be made up of modern or extinct human species or any other close ancestor to humans like Ardipithecus, Australopithecus, genera Homo or Paranthropus. According to the Smithsonian national museum of national history Homoerectus lived in the eastern, southern and northern parts of Africa, east and western parts of Asia, Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia, Indonesia and china to be precise a long time age ago which is said to be in between one million, eight hundred thousand years ago and one hundred and forty-three years ago.

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The fossils of early African homo eructus which is a known by the name "homo ergaster" are referred to the oldest humans who had the structure almost similar to the current man but had very long legs with short arms as compared to the physique of a torso. The features make scientists to believe that they were for the adaptations of them living on the ground and not in trees as earlier, as they were possible to walk around and even move around for long distances on the ground and even capable of running. This was being compared to the fossils of earlier humans and it was identified that with their extended braincase was parallel to the face size. There is a full skeleton which is more complete than the others which is called the "Turkana boy" though it has no leg and hand bones that is said to be one million, six hundred years old. According to a study that was conducted by scientist in a microscope the growth of the boy was similar to that of an ape according to its teeth. According to evidence that is gathered from fossil, there is prove that this species minded the old as well as the weak. According to the shape and appearance of the fossil the Homo erectus species is identified with the first hand axes which were tools that had two faces. The tools are said to be used for the longest time in the history of man and were the first inventions that led to the birth of Stone Age technology. The tool was used in different ways like cutting other materials, skinning animals, and also for hunting purposes.

The first Homo erectus fossil was discovered in 1891 in Indonesia by a surgeon from Dutch by the name of Eugene Dubois. After two years from discovery the surgeon named the discovered fossil Pithecanthropus erectus or in another name "erect ape-man" at that time of the naming which was later changed to become Homo erectus there were no kind of discoveries done in Africa and to that point the Pithecanthropus erectus was stated to be the species that had the smallest brain and also very primitive as to other human like species that had been discovered by 1894. The species was said to be able to weight from forty to sixty-eight kilograms and the height of between one hundred and forty-five centimeters to one hundred and eighty-five centimeters.

According to the Smithsonian national museum of national history there very many unanswered questions about the Homo erectus but there are ongoing studies and researches by Paleoanthropologists to learn more about the species. The technology is helping in learning more about the evolution and the scientist are still in the grounds trying to discover more and more discovering are being made every now and then.

According to the study from the fossils the Homo erectus had tall bodies and a large brain that made them need a lot of energy to operate. For their survival the homo erectus needed and had to take in substances that would be easily digested for energy purposes which was seen to be mostly meat but they also consumed other kinds of proteins. According to speculations made by some scientists the species might have been consumers of honey and also underground tubers. This kinds of food helped them to get energy faster in their bodies. According to the archeological records the first tool to be invented was one million, seven hundred and sixty years ago and that was the time that the Homo erectus species is believed to be have in existence according to results from the fossils. The tools were very helpful in the lives of the species as it simplified work. The ability to make such a tool it is seen that they had the ability to think and reason and that they also performed duties such as hunting and skinning. They had the ability to cut things. The creation of the first tool proves that the ability of the species to think and be creative was one trait close to modern man and this helped them to maneuver around, perform chores and simplify work. The type of tool was referred to as to cleavers and hand axes and they were very essential to the Homo erectus as they helped him in surviving the changes in the climate. The first evidences of campfires which is referred to as "hearths" was also invented during the era of the Homo erectus or in other words was invented by the Homo erectus. There is enough evidence that fire had been used to cook but it is also believed that the Homo erectus used the fire as a tactic to survive. They used the fire to scare away predators, to keep their bodies warm and also the campfires acted as places where the species would meet socially to relax and interact.

There have been disagreements between scientists about the African and Asian fossils of the Homo erectus. The African fossil is known as "homo ergaster" and the Asian goes by "homo erectus sensu stricto", become some differentiate them while others just refer to all of them as "Homo erectus sensu lato". Though there are some disagreement on them there is one common agreement that all scientists confirm that the Homo erectus is a descendant of the Homo habilis which is an earlier species of the human evolution. The Homo erectus shows how the early humans had spread during the time of evolution. There is prove in the fossils that were discovered in Asia and others in Africa which represented the same species meaning that the Homo erectus had scattered around. The ability to move around by having strong long leg and short arm, and an ape like erect physique helped in better movement of the early humans. The ability to move and have a brain to thinks, as well and the invention of the tools helped the early man to move around and scatter. The study of the fossils and the widespread of the Homo erectus is believed to have led to the emerging of other species like the Homo sapiens that later led to the emergence of the modern man.

Study of the fossils by scientists have proven that in over one million, nine hundred years ago the homo erectus were in coexistence with others species like the homo habilis, the Homo rudolfensis, and the Paranthropus boisei because in several cases they were discovered in singular sites. The findings also show that the species might have also at some time been in coexistence with Homo floresiensis and Homo sapiens in Indonesia one hundred and forty-three years ago. The fossils being found in Indonesia shows how spread the Homo erectus was around the globe. A fossil of an elderly homo erectus that had scattered to the mountains of western Asia from Africa had no teeth and a worsened jaw. The jaw deteriorated because he had died with no teeth which showed that the Homo erectus took care of each other, mostly the sick and elderly as I had stated earlier. The condition of the fossils shows that in life it was hard for it to vend and take care of itself so others had to look after it. According to what has been discovered up to now that care of case was the first to be experienced between the human like descendants. This kind of care helped in surviving.

Bibliography

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