If so, humanity will not evolve. In fact, it is a miracle that human beings can save words, and we have experienced many incredible events to be what we are today. I will count these events, which have been decisive and influential since the time of the dinosaurs.
Humans evolved from prehistoric primates, and primates evolved from mammals. During the Mesozoic reptile era, mammals evolved from a group of small reptiles --- foramen ---. They become small, warm-blooded, fluffy, burrowing creatures that only come out at night to feed. They are not noticed by large dinosaurs, but are considered delicacies by some small dinosaurs. As a result, they live in hiding and remain small. Apparently, their way of survival was effective and they survived with dinosaurs for millions of years.
During the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction period, reptiles were the overlords of the earth. Most of them are predominant in size, and they are all associated with a large food network. This system works. While dinosaurs are unlikely to survive climate change in the near future, the reptile age is also unlikely to come to an end.
The first to die during the mass extinction was large tracts of forest, as the global dust blocked enough sunlight. This means that herbivorous dinosaurs lost a large number of food sources, and their huge food intake has already made the forest resources unable to make ends meet. Later, carnivorous dinosaurs also died because they lost their food source.
In the ocean, the food chain has also been devastated, with plants and plankton bearing the brunt of the impact, as they also need sunlight for photosynthesis. Fish survive because of their diverse diets, but large numbers of crustaceans have also died because of their poor adaptability.
This extinction event brought devastation to all large creatures and fast-running animals. Many cold-blooded animals also died one after another, because most of them could not actually regulate their body temperature and died of the harsh winter that followed. This description is perfectly in line with the situation of dinosaurs at that time, and there are many other reptiles in the same way. Pterodactyls, ichthyosaurs, and many other flying and marine reptiles are also going extinct.
While many factors contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs, many other reptiles survived, such as turtles, crocodiles, small reptiles, and snakes. This may be because they were either small or crawled slowly, ate small amounts, and were subordinate to most dinosaurs, intricately intertwined into large food webs.
However, there is one group that is least affected, and that is mammals. Mammals have been small since almost the moment they began to evolve, and most of them have burrowed underground to hide themselves. Because they are thermostatic animals that can hibernate or curl up in caves through the winter, heat poses no threat. Some feed on small plants and thus survive in environments that lack light, while others survive by preying on other mammals and small animals.
When the dust settles and the sun returns to earth, mammals find themselves in much the same position as they were before the mass extinction, with the only difference being that there are no longer any large predators of all kinds, which means that their biggest food competitors have been eliminated.
Herbivores began to grow in size due to overneating, just like the dinosaurs before them. As a result, the size of predators has increased accordingly. However, mammalian breeding methods, combined with the nature of thermostatic animals, prevented them from having the dinosaur-like body type.
At the same time, the surviving reptiles are much inferior to those that dinosaurs once had, thanks to extraordinary traits that survived extinction: smaller size, slower movement, and cold-blooded traits. Mammals adapted faster than reptiles and seized the place dinosaurs once had. And these surviving reptiles have always adhered to their own way of survival, so that they evolved in different ways and became what they are today.
The whole world is completely new. This time, The earth's forests and trees are no longer subjected to periodic bare branches due to the movement of large herbivorous dinosaurs. Even the largest mammals were not tall enough to have the same influence as the sauropods that preceded them. As a result, the entire ecosystem has opened up a whole new situation, and the situation where there was little animal activity because of the danger on the ground is no longer there.
Mammals don't reproduce on large eggs so they don't have to stay on the ground. The fetus in their abdomen can move with the mother. They also do not have the skin scales that most reptiles have. Gradually, some light-bodied and athletic herbivores began to use the shelter of the bushes to defend against predators. Because of their climbing skills, they can always save themselves and turn the danger into a disaster. Trees provide an abundant source of food, which in turn makes them feel unnecessary to return to the ground. So they became the ancestors of primates.
As mentioned earlier, primates grew in size as predators and their threats were eliminated. They inhabit trees and their climbing ability and body shape are enhanced to accommodate weight gain. As a result, they have flexible hands and feet, and a long, flexible tail to help maintain balance and sensitivity. Eventually, animals such as cats and birds of prey evolved, occasionally hunting primates for food. However, none of them have the ability to climb and maneuver in the woods, and thus have no way to use primates as their main food source.
The whole earth looks perfect and harmonious, and the forest rarely witnesses the vicissitudes of change, animals large and small grazing leisurely on land, predators feed on them, some animals still live in seclusion underground, and new creatures inhabit trees or soar in the sky. Every corner is full of life, and for a long time, the food web is almost in a balanced and stable state.
However, no system can remain unchanged. In eastern Africa, continental plate movements have led to the uplift of East African mountains, blocking the water source on which ecosystems depend.
Large areas of forest inland are degraded and eventually replaced by pastures and grasslands. Primates in this region must find ways to live on land or die.
Food resources have become distant, and the only way to survive is to come down from the few remaining trees.
Gradually, our ancestors began to walk upright, and had to do so more frequently because of the increasing distance between forests. The degradation of forests proceeds slowly, satisfying all breeding groups to adapt. Long legs, long arms, and short necks make no sense of staying on all fours, so natural selection began to favor species that walked upright. This frees our upper limbs to do other work, such as hunting with sticks and stones. At the same time, we can stand taller, as far as possible, above and farther away from the weeds that cover the earth.
Primates derive their dominant form from a class of animals that once inhabited trees, and although our ancestors had better endurance, they were vulnerable to predators who ran fast over short distances. Our ancestors used every possible method to resist them and found that the most effective method was the convenience of using free upper limbs, so they often held a sharpened stick in their hands to defend themselves when moving long distances, so that they were less susceptible to injury. These very practical weapons were also used for hunting after they were discovered, and these tools became an important part of survival.
Many years have passed, and the knowledge of handmade weapons and tools has been passed down from generation to generation. New tools are invented, and sometimes they work better than the ones before. Tools change and advance quickly, beyond what any life form can possibly achieve, and no living thing can adapt as quickly. Although physiologically weaker, the weapons and tools of our ancestors, like the higher intelligence they possessed, propelled themselves to the top of the food chain.
Another ability that sets our ancestors apart is language. Primates use sounds to warn of the presence of a companion threat and to return to the bushes when it is necessary to escape. Since then, our ancestors have retained a vocal cord that can make more complex sounds than all other animals.
Since early humans left the woods and began walking upright, cooperation has become a valuable ability to resist predators and team hunting. Their voices, which used to serve only a single purpose, have evolved so complex that they can contain meanings that could not have been expressed before. Influenced by language, knowledge is transmitted precisely,
Thought is no longer a simple instinct but has logic and structure. These further ensured the dominance of our ancestors in the world.
Many changes followed, from ice ages, small extinction events, forced migration to difficult terrain, and the territory of other organisms. However, tools and weapons of all shapes and forms for each situation emerged, giving early humans a speed of adaptation never seen before. In the blink of an eye on the evolutionary timeline, our ancestors have spread to every continent on Earth. This is the moment to take over the earth completely.
Only ten thousand years ago, the last Ice Age receded. We began to develop agriculture and domesticate animals. We no longer have to chase food, instead we can put them in one place, and that's what we do. Humans, like their early primate ancestors, preferred to live in groups. Since we settled down, people have become interconnected and have evolved great civilizations, reaching a level of power that even the dinosaurs could not have imagined in their golden age.
That's where we come from. All of this has led us to this day, until you are reading this article.
That's why we humans are who we are today after all these events. If any of these links are missing, it will be like tearing down a domino. Pushing one piece down, the remaining events on the chain may fall apart.
Author: quora
FY: Patrick
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