Is human evolution over - Essay Example

The creature referred to as the pre-hominoid primate was of the primate species; the same category of mammals as monkeys, apes and humans. It had a canning semblance with the animals that are today known as monkeys, but was neither a monkey nor an ape. Scientists have over the years endeavoured to provide evidence that these higher order primates are the species that in a gradual process developed into humankind. In retrospect, this theory poses the important question of whether human evolution continues to date or not.

This paper seeks to shed light on this matter, through a detailed analysis of various literatures. Keywords: Theory of evolution, human evolution, species, primate. Introduction Evolution refers to the process of a string of natural modifications that result in a species of a population of organisms and the process that causes the species to develop, adjust to their surroundings, and eventually die out of becoming extinct (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.). All species including humans have developed through the process of biological evolution.

In species such as humans and other organisms that undergo sexual reproduction, the term species is used in the description and identification of a cluster whose mature members frequently reproduce bringing about fertile offspring. These offspring also have the ability to reproduce (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.). Evolution follows when the genetic material that makes up an organism and is received from parents changes; that is, the chemical molecule known as the DNA. Genes are the portion of the DNA that is responsible for the production of proteins (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.).

Information borne in the DNA changes through a process of mutation, and as a result of this mutation, there is influence on particular genes in the body or the conduct of an organism. As a result of this, the survival and reproduction of an organism is influenced by its genetic make-up and its genetically acquired attributes (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.). Human evolution refers to the drawn-out progression of change, which facilitated the development of people from apelike progenitors.

Scientific evidence has revealed that the physical and developmental attributes shared by the entire human species originated from apelike predecessors and evolved over a period of time (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, n.d.). According to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), the first affiliates of the human species began the evolution process in Africa, roughly six or seven million years ago (n.d.). This species was known as the Hominidae. Their behaviour and way of life was similar to that of the primates from which the species of gorillas and chimpanzees evolved.

They could often be found on trees but were different from their primate counterparts due to their ability to facilely walk on two feet rather than on fours, like the other primates (American Museum of Natural History, n.d.). This is a characteristic that researchers on human evolution distinctively associate with the human species. Today’s species of humans to which we belong is known as the Homo sapiens and is an evidence of the vivid evolutionary history that the human species has undergone over a period of more than 150,000 years, since