Human Evolution

 Archaeopteryx

SKULL ORDER Modern Man

Neanderthal

(32,000-150,000)

Cro magnon ( 100,000 )

Homo Erectus Pekinensis Broken Hill(200,000- 1.6 million)

Australopithicus Boisei (1.3-2.5 million)

Australopithicus Africanus

(2.3 – 3 million)

Comparison of skulls

CHIMPANZEE GORILLA HUMAN SKULL

UNIQUE FEATURES OF A HUMAN SKULL

• Top of the skull (ie cranium) is smooth. There is no anterior-posterior crest to hold huge jaw muscles

• No protruding brow• No protruding jaw or teeth (ie the teeth

are vertical)• No protruding nose bone• Teeth are arranged in a parabolic shape

rather than a narrow u shape• Small canines and small incisors • Foramen magnum (hole for the spine) is

positioned directly underneath the skull not in the back of the skull

What do we share in common with other hominins?

• This is what your  research will include.• Investigation

Evidence for explaining theory of evolution

• Natural Selection• Fossil Evidence• Comparative Anatomy• Comparative Embryology• Biogeography• DNA Hybridisation

Natural SelectionExample of Peppered Moths

In country the industrial revolution has killed the lichen and you can see the light peppered moth is easier to see. 

Unpolluted woodlands where white lichen still around harder to see then dark coloured moth.

Some controversy with this due to some fraud in Science but new evidence has determined still an example of natural selection

Fossil evidence

Evidence that many of the species existed in the past can be see from the fossilised remains of plants and animals that were trapped during the process of rock formation.

faculty.evansville.edu geography.berkeley.eduwww.albion-swords.com

Comparative anatomy• Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of organisms.• Homologous structures are similar in different species because the species have common 

descent• Analogous structures are similar in different organisms because they evolved in a similar 

environment. E.g. the torpedo body shape of porpoises and sharks.

Homologous structures

http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/Ec&Ev_Distance_learning/Evidence/evidence_pix.htm http://www.citruscollege.edu/pic/46/0345l.jpg

Analologous structures

Comparative Embryology• Closely related organisms go through similar stages in their embryonic 

development• (Example see figure 7.31 of text book)

nitro.biosci.arizona.edu/.../lect2.html

Biogeography• Clues to past evolution can be found in the 

natural geographic distribution of related species.

• Major isolated land areas and island groups often evolved their own distinct plant and animal communi

• 200 million years ago all the continents were joined together in a giant land mass called Panagea.

• 20 million years ago Panagea broke up into 2 different land masses. Gondwana included Antartica, Australia, India, Africa and South America

• 45 million years ago Antartica and Australia seperated.

• http://www.youtube.com./watch?v=NYbTNFN3NBo&feature=related

weblogs.madrimasd.org/.../2007/01/04.aspx

http://earthscience.wordpress.com/2007/04/13/day-143-continental-drift-puzzle/

DNA hybridisation• All plants and animals 

receive their specific characteristics from their parents by inheriting particular combinations of genes.

• Modern technology is able to use techniques such as sequencing and DNA of organism and hybridisationof DNA as tools in the investigation of the similarity

DNA hybridization generally refers to a molecular biology technique that measures the degree of genetic similarity between pools of DNA sequences. It is usually used to determine thegenetic distance between two species. When several species are compared that way, the similarity values allow the species to be arranged in a phylogenic tree

Relationship between humans and their close relatives using DNA hybridisation techniques