Origin of Human - Essay Example

Introduction Anthropology is the scientific study of the origin of human, their behavioral changes, and the physical, social, and lifestyle development. It is a subject that forcuses on the human existence and their accomplishments. This study is concerned with the diversity of human race on the global scale. There are four branches of Anthropology this are; Physical, Cultural, Archeology and Linguistic. Scientists who are specialized in the study of Anthropology are called Anthropologists. The scientists simply study humanity; they tend to figure around how the human race has changed to the current state it is today. Cultural Anthropology is a branch that is concerned with the behavior patterns of the human race. This entails acts of man of clothing, religious activities, and land activities. The cultural branch of anthropology is divided into two, on is ethno linguists, which deals with the study of culture language and ethnomusicologists which is the study of music traditions. Archeology is also another branch of anthropology that deals with the study of society culture. This involves the study of artefacts which reflect the early mans culture and their daily life.Lingustic deals with the study of language. This branch tends to explain how man communicated both verbally or in written form. Physical Anthropology is a branch of anthropology that is concerned with the study of human evolution and the genetics of human race. Anthropologists study everywhere humans and their ancestors lived. The scientist through their investigations tend to answer the question ‘why are we what we are’ as biological organisims.The biological changes responsible for bringing humanity to its present state. The ancestral remains in bone form of the human race are called hominids. Anthropologists study the hominids on their physical appearance, intelligence change that makes man distinct from other creatures. The study of the genes in man and how they influenced by the environment. Environmental factors and the effect it has to man, this include climate. The scientists investigate on the reaction of man in relation to the climatic changes. The advantages and the disadvantages of climate on the social and cultural well being of man. The scientist study the human population in relation to climate. The difference of human beings to other creatures in relation to physical anthropology research have been identified. Man is a bipedal creature, he walks on two feet. The human race has a unique dental structure different from other creaturers.Human beings have a material culture, of which they use objects to manipulate a given environment. According to Anthropologists man has a developed thinking capacity compared to other creatures. Scientists have built a system of ideas to link thoughts explaining the result of an experiment. A fundamental theory on the origin of man was constructed by Charles Darwin. He was given the responsibility of collection, documentation and study of the natural world. Darwin succeeded in coming up with the variations of physical characteristics and their adaptations. He termed adaptation as Natural Selection; this is where the biological characteristics of species boost their survival. In his research he acquired information from scientific subjects which are taxonomy, geology, paleontology, demography and systematics. There were various contributions of scientists in coming up with a theory on evolution.Scientst Robert Hooke was the first in the discovery of cells using a simple microscope. Georges Cuvier discovered the concept of extinction by studying a fish fossil. James Hutton provided evidence is the construction of evolution life span. John Ray discovered the first scientific classification of plants and animals. Thomas Malthus came up with the survival characteristic concept. Carolus Linnaeus came up with a classification system by giving organisms unique names for easy classification. He came up with the taxonomic classification of; Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck constructed an early revolution theory that entails changes that involved inheritance of acquired characteristics. The discovery of DNA,a double stranded molecule responsible in providing a genetic code for organisims.It consists of four nitrogen bases, a phosphate and deoxybose sugar. The discovery of DNA has benefited in the identification of victims and criminals from samples of tissue, bone hair and blood.DNA sampling helps in identifying family relations as they are similar. A DNA has a sequence and each sequence has a protein generating code called gene. A complete set of genes in an individual cell is called genome. Genomics refers to a branch of genetics that deals with studies of species genomes. Cells is a basic unit of life for all organisims, this means each and every living organism has at least one cell. Somatic cells are type of cells that form tissues, organs and other parts of the organism’s body. Gametes are sex cells that are involved in the reproduction process. There are threads like structures of the DNA called chromosomes, the act as carriers of genes. They are responsible for transmission of hereditary information. There are different types of chromosomes e.g. the sex chromosome which is in a pair; responsible in determining organism’s biological sex.There are steps of protein synthesis. The first step is transcription; it involves the creation of mRNA basing on a DNA template. A mRNA are molecules used in making a chemical copy of a gene. Translation is the second step of protein synthesis it involves the transfer of amino acids by the tRNA to the ribosomes.The transfer RNA are molecules responsible in the transfer of amino acids Scientists have discovered an evolution in population based on genetics. One type is a micro-evolution a small scale type of evolution that notices changes in allele frequency occurring from one generation to the next (Vanier. 7). The second type of evolution is the macro evolution a large scale of evolution that is as a result of speciation event, occurs after hundreds or even thousands of generations. According to the discoveries new alleles are the only reason for mutation. A point mutation is a change that involves the replacement of a nitrogen base with another base. A synonymous point of mutation refers to a neutral point of mutation which is done with the substitution of a nitrogen base creating a triplet code to produce the same ammonia acid as the original triplet. There is the nonsymonymous point of mutation which creates a triplet code containing a different amino acid than that of the original triplet. Finally is the frame shift mutation that involves a deletion or an insertion of one or more nitrogen bases casing a rearrangement. Human beings belong to one of the three races which are the Caucasoid, the Negroid and the Mongoloid (Wellmon. 12). The Caucasian race refers to Europeans and the Western Asians, the Negroid race being the Africans and the Mongoloids being the rest of the Asians and Native Americans. Racial classification was discovered after the analysis of different skulls in different geographical location. Cline is a change of some phenotypic characteristic from population to population. There are geographical clines which are not racially based. There are growth stages of the human race from fertilization. The first is the prenatal stage; this stage is the pregnancy to birth period. The second stage is the postnatal stage, a stage after birth it includes the neonatal period, infancy, childhood, juvenile, puberty and adolescent. The third and final stage a reproductive period. The human race is believed to have originated from the primates. Primates are the ancestral link of the human race .The primates have a same characteristic of adaptation to the environment. The primates have similar characteristic to humans which are the intelligence levels, their variable diets, their long lives, and their social behavior. The classification of primates according to their taxonomic group, their living environment which is ecology, and the physical characteristic which is anatomy. A comparison of man and primate is that man has an enhanced touch, an enhanced vision, a diverge dietary and improved brain capacity. Primates have a social arrangement, they can be polygamous this arrangement of one adult male and several adult females. The second type of social arrangement is polyandrous type, with this arrangement there is one adult female and several males of the same species (Wellmon. 33). The last type is the monogamous arrangement this includes one adult male and an adult female and their off springs. Primates have a social characteristic of making tools, communication which is mostly vocal, unity in the acquirance of food and a moral maintenance of discipline of off springs. The study of fossils is the basic knowledge source on determining evolution. The skulls provide the only available link of the past and its evolution. The fossil study focuses on two major guidelines of time and environment. Paleontologist are a group of scientists that study fossls, they are also known to be time keepers of the past. Fossils are a result rock after a transformation process which involved chemical replacement. The replacement process is done where minerals in bones and teeth (Calcium and Phosphorus) replaced with rock forming minerals (iron and silica) Taphonomy is a type of study of plant and animal remains and the environment influencing their preservation. Though fossil study is reliable it is also challenging this comes to the dating of the fossils (Vanier. 74). At times the fossils have disappeared due to some geological activities of sedimentation or fossilization. The study of fossils is also restricted to certain areas of Africa yet logically early man might have inhabited most parts of the continent. The origin of primate is still a mystery; scientists are coming up with hypothesis of their origins. There are various types of hypothesis. They include an arboreal hypothesis; the thesis is that primates have a unique suite of traits with the adaptation to living on trees. Visual predation hypothesis, this is the idea that the unique adaptation of primates come about to preying on insects and small animals. Angiosperm radiation hypothesis revolves around the thought the visual ability of primates was in response to the availability of fruits and flowers as a result of the spread of angiosperms. Anthropologist’s research on early man is concluded that man developed in stages. The changes of man from a simple creature to the complex creature now was done in stages. This stages of change was experienced with a given time frame. This is evidence with the dating of fossils which have been estimated to exist at different times. Conclusion In conclusion the book gives a clear view of the development of man, the environment man is and the influence it has. The knowledge of the changes in man is done through research done by scientific experts as explained in the book. Work Cited Vanier Jean. Becoming Human: New York. Paulist Press. 2008. Print Wellmon Chad. Becoming Human: Romantic Anthropology and the Embodiment of Freedom. New York. Penn State Press. 2011. Print Read More