Human Evolution Timeline by Raisa Rranza

Lucy (1974)

rrranza6194 — 2024-11-26 12:58:44 UTC

Lucy was discovered in 1974, by Donald Johanson, a Paleoanthropologist, and geologist Maurice Taieb. The fossil is considered to be one of the known oldest ancestor to humans. The Australopithecus afarensis found on November 25th was nicknamed to be “Lucy”, after the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”. The song played during the celebration of her being found. Lucy stood at about a meter tall, and is around 3.2 million years old. Her long arms and curved toes suggested Lucy was able to walk upright and climb trees. This discovery helped the theory of bipedalism evolving first.

Darwin Descent of Man (1871)

rrranza6194 — 2024-11-26 12:59:00 UTC

Darwin’s Descent of Man challenged what prior notions were on human evolution. With Darwin’s limited evidence, he surmised that humans had evolved from a common species, that there were anatomical similarities between humans and African apes, namely chimpanzees and gorillas, and inferred that human ancestors probably lived in Africa. Darwin’s predictions were later confirmed, with new fossil evidence and biochemistry. Prior to the Descent of Man, it was thought that every animal, but humans had evolved. Darwin's hypothesis helped start the search for evidence on human evolution.

Norfolk Coastline (2013)

rrranza6194 — 2024-11-26 12:59:10 UTC

In Happisburgh, an archeological site in Europe, a storm was able to erode parts of the coastline, where a foot shaped impression was found. A team was able to quickly photograph the angles of the impression before it was lost to sea, which were used to make 3D models of the footprint, confirming that they were human. The footprints were measured, and the team was able to estimate the height and weight of the individuals, a small group of adults and children, about 90 to 170 centimetres tall. Pollen in sediment layers were able to date the footprints at about 850,000 to 950,000 years. These footprints are the oldest outside of Africa and are the earliest evidence of human ancestors in Britain.

Sima de los huesos (2016)

rrranza6194 — 2024-11-26 12:59:31 UTC

Sima se los huesos, or “Pit of Bones” marked recovery of old DNA of human ancestors. In Spain’s Atapuerca Mountains, scientists found thousands of teeth and bones at the bottom of the cave. There were 28 individuals at the bottom. Scientists teased out partial genomes of the 430,000 year old remains to find that the 28 at the bottom were the oldest known Neanderthals. Using the molecular clock, scientists estimated how long it took to accumulate differences between Neanderthals and modern humans, the results suggested that a common ancestor lived between 550,000 and 750,000 years ago. However, estimates like this are usually imprecise, it only gives a more accurate measure of where divergence could have started compared to fossil studies a few years ago.

Turkana boy (1984)

rrranza6194 — 2024-11-26 12:59:40 UTC

Lake Turkana, where the fossilized skeleton was found, is known as a cradle for human life, it carries many evidence for human life from 4.2 million years ago. Turkana boy was found to be a Homo Erectus, the teeth and skull helped identify the Turkana Boy. It was largely compared to other specimens to identify the skeleton. Homo erectus is important to human evolution because it was the one of the first skeleton to be found with modern-like human features.

Neanderthals (1886)

rrranza6194 — 2024-11-26 12:59:51 UTC

Neanderthals were found to be extremely closely related to humans, culturally and through DNA. In 1886, Neanderthal skeleton were found and compared anatomically to humans. Neanderthals were fully bipedal, they hunted with spears, used fire, wore clothes, and buried their dead. Markings on their skeleton indicated greater muscle and strength. Their brains were larger, their teeth and jaws robust, protruding noses, and prominent brow ridges, Neanderthals were extremely different anatomically from humans. Today, DNA evidence in the Neanderthal species turns out to be extremely different and heavily debated. Some researchers argue Neanderthals are different species, living down the lineage that connects them and us by about 500,000 years. However, other researchers point out that Neanderthal and modern samples are separated by at least 35,000 years. It is too soon to know what Neanderthal DNA means.

Piltdown Man (1912)

rrranza6194 — 2024-11-26 12:59:59 UTC

The piltdown man was found in England in a gravel-pit in Piltdown Common, Southern England. Charles Dawson discovered what was thought to be the “missing link” between humans and the apes, the skull was in pieces, making up a large brained skull with an ape-like lower jaw. The fragments were accepted by the British establishment, this is because they believed that the human brain was the first to develop, despite evidence suggesting otherwise. The skull was accepted for 41 years until it was found in 1953 that Piltdown Man was a fake. The mandible was stained with potassium bichromate and the teeth were filed down. The pieces of the skull were different ages and in 1959, it was confirmed the skull was about 600 years old. This mishap pulled back the faith and trust that paleoanthropologists had in spaces where evolution was heavily speculated.

Ardipithicus ramidus skeleton (1994)

rrranza6194 — 2024-11-26 13:00:18 UTC

A study the ardipithicus ramidus skeleton was published in 2009, but was first found in 1994. The skeleton provides fossil evidence for human-chimp relations and a common ancestor. The discovery of the fossil also provides confirmation that living African apes do not resemble this ancestor, proving otherwise of common thought that they did.