Disclaimer: All the information in this article comes from the Internet and books, and I am not a professional, the content written only represents personal views, there may be errors and omissions, welcome to correct and add, thank you!
Hello everyone, I am Shu Yi Ang, in the last article, we talked about the origin of humans, ape-related content, this article will make up the rest of the unspoken, human origin from apes to human evolution of the whole process. (At the end of the article, I have a personal summary of the key points of the article, if you are in a hurry, you can jump directly to the end to see the summary.) ）
In addition to Lucy, the first family found in a site named 333 near Lucy was discovered, with a total of 13 fossil bones, a total of 333 pieces. There are also Serram girls. They all belong to the Australopithecus alpha species.
Fossils such as The Towne Child and Mrs Price were also found in their descendants, australopithecus African species, expanding the Australopithecus family. The discovery of Australopithecus continues, with many new fossils being discovered and the emergence of Australopithecus species.
Fossil skull of Toyn child
Nohs who appeared 2 million to 1.75 million years ago and craftsmen who appeared between 1.8 million and 1.3 million years ago are believed to be descendants of Australopithecus.
The first reaction when I heard the names of these two races was not to think that there was probably a sense of skilled craftsmanship. Yes, these two races have been shown to be able to make and use tools, which is definitely a qualitative leap forward for human development.
Fossilized human skulls
Even later Homo erectus, he was able to make and use more tools. In fact, this also shows that not all "technology" and "technology" can be preserved and passed on. The craftsman may already have language skills, but it is only speculation, and even if he can, he can say very limited.
However, in 1985, China discovered the Wushan people, Wushan people lived 2.01 million to 2.14 million years ago, after the study confirmed that the Wushan people are the earliest able people in China. (It can also be said that it is the world's earliest capable person.) This discovery is still quite controversial, because it shakes the theory that human origins originated in Africa. (Human origins in China are not out of thin air, and foreigners are reluctant to admit it.) ）
Fossil teeth of the Wushan people
Next, let's talk about the Homo erectus just mentioned. Homo erectus is also called late ape man, living between 2 million and 200,000 years ago, divided into early Homo erectus and late Homo erectus. Homo erectus is very widely distributed, and has been found in Asia, Africa and Europe.
The first Homo erectus to be discovered was in Java, Indonesia, hence the name Javanese. More than 30 years later, in 1929, Homo erectus was also found in China, and the place of discovery was Beijing Zhoukoudian, so it was called Beijinger. In addition to the most famous Beijingers, China has also found Yuanmou people, Lantian people, Beijing people, Hexian people, Yunxian people, Yiyuan people, Miaohoushan people, Nanjing ape people and so on.
Fossil peking man skull
Not only did Homo erectus make and use tools, Homo erectus was the first to use fire. Whether it's making and using tools or using fire, both of these behaviors are one of the important things that differentiate humans and animals.
However, studies have shown that Homo erectus is not a direct ancestor of humans, and may have been extinct long before homo sapiens appeared, or it may have been exterminated by Homo sapiens.
Fossil teeth of Yuanmou man
The last link in human evolution was Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens lived between 250,000 and 10,000 years ago, divided into early Homo sapiens and late Homo sapiens. Early Homo sapiens are also called ancients, living 250,000 to 40,000 years ago, the Maba people, Dali people, Jinniushan people, Changyang people, Dingcun people and Xujiayao people found in China belong to the ancients.
There were two earliest discoveries of Homo sapiens, the first being Gibraltar in Spain, which was discovered in 1848, but this discovery was not taken seriously at the time. It was not published until 1864. The second is the Neanderthal Valley near Diserdorf, Germany, where Neanderthals who nearly became human ancestors were found.
Late Homo sapiens are also called newcomers, living 50,000 to 10,000 years ago, the most famous newcomers found in China are the cave people on the top of the mountain, in addition to the Liujiang people, Qilin Mountain people, Ziyang people, Zhiyu people, Hetao people and cave people. The newcomers are very close to modern humans and have begun to divide into four major human races.
Homo sapiens fossils
Neanderthals need to say a little bit that they have ruled all of Europe, west Asia, and northern Africa since 120,000 years ago. Until 20,000 or 30,000 years ago, they suddenly disappeared. There are three theories for the disappearance of Neanderthals, one is to evolve into a new person, the other is to be wiped out by the new person, and the other is to disappear because of bad weather and rapid climate change. Yet there is not enough evidence to date as to why Neanderthals disappeared.
None of these three accounts alone can be the cause of neanderthals' disappearance, but it is the combination that combines them. Because of the fact that Neanderthals had mated with newcomers. Studies have shown that modern Eurasians, with the exception of Africans, contribute 1%∼4% to Neanderthal gene components per capita. In 2017, Science published the "Study of Late Pleistocene Paleoanthropteran Skulls Unearthed in Xuchang, China", which said that the Xuchang people found in China may be the descendants of ancient humans in China and European Neanderthals. This phenomenon shows that Neanderthals and newcomers had coexisted and communicated.
Neanderthal
The first statement is evolutionary inaccurate, and at best assimilated. And the second impossibility is because since there is coexistence, it is unlikely to be exterminated, and even if it is to be exterminated, it is impossible to make neanderthals disappear all at once. So only by adding a third condition, which ultimately leads to the survival of the strong.
Evolution advocates the survival of the fittest, and the ape to the human race has gone through tens of millions of years, and finally became a member of nature and became the culprit of the destruction of nature. Whether this chain of evolution is true or not, we cannot say with great certainty that it is, and we can only rely on the evidence we can get and see, and then study and draw conclusions.
At least this is the most mainstream view, and by far the closest to the truth. But I will definitely not be a person who believes in all this without thinking, I will take my thinking to understand the world!
Personally feels like a summary of the focus:
1. Very many Australopithecus fossils have been found.
2. Capable people and craftsmen can already make and use tools.
3. Homo erectus is very widely distributed, but is not a direct ancestor of humans.
4. Homo sapiens is divided into early Homo sapiens and late Homo sapiens, early Homo sapiens are also called ancients, and late Homo sapiens are also called newcomers. The newcomers are already very close to modern humans and have begun to divide into four major races.
5. Neanderthals ruled all of Europe, west Asia, and northern Africa. The fact that modern Eurasians, with the exception of Africans, has a 1% to 4% Neanderthal gene composition contribution per capita, is evidence that Neanderthals have mated with new people. But Neanderthals suddenly disappeared for unknown reasons.
I am Shu Yi Ang, I hope you like, welcome to leave a message to discuss, thank you for watching!