Darwin, Man, and Apes: The Old Evidence - Research Paper Example

Darwin, Man, and Apes: The Old Evidence and the New This paper is a study of evolution, with focus on Darwin’s evolutionary theory and the evolutionary evidence for man and apes. The paper will give a brief overview of the contribution of Charles Darwin to the field of Evolution and how his theories have shaped this study today. Evolution, especially the idea that man has evolved from apes has been the cause of much research and experimentation in the past few decades. With this paper, the research results and conclusions of some of these old studies, along with newer breakthroughs will be shared. About Darwin Born on February 12, 1809 in Shropshire, England, Charles Robert Darwin is considered to be one of the forefathers of evolution. His theory has laid down the foundation of evolutionary sciences as we know them today. His life was spent in Britain when it was going through many transformations in cultural and societal ways (Britannica Encyclopedia). Belonging to a rich family that was involved in high society, he was right in the centre of it. A look into his history tells us that his grandfather was rich, prosperous physician, having a good practice and a respectable position. This probably made the Darwin family acquaintances of all levels of the British society. Darwin’s grandfather had very radical views for that time, speaking of thing like ‘human equality and liberty, including the liberty to think freely about the existence of God and about natural origins for the earths creatures’ (Britannica Encyclopedia). Having a family background like that attuned Charles Darwin to pursue what he did. Then the death of his 10 year old daughter Anne is what truly pushed him to pursue the study of existence, its origins and its ways. Darwin’s ideas scandalized the traditional, religious peoples but were a cause of intrigue among the scientifically driven, new emerging class. Theory of Natural Selection The theory of Natural Selection is ground-breaking insight into many baffling concepts which have later been explained by evolutionary scientists. This theory explains quite well why and how evolution takes place and why it is that every species fights for survival. Described in the Britannica Encyclopedia, In natural selection, those variations in the genotype that increase an organisms chances of survival and procreation are preserved and multiplied from generation to generation at the expense of less advantageous ones. Evolution often occurs as a consequence of this process. Natural selection may arise from differences in survival, in fertility, in rate of development, in mating success, or in any other aspect of the life cycle. All such differences result in natural selection to the extent that they affect the number of progeny an organism leaves. Described in his own words as ‘survival of the fittest’ (Darwin 88), this theory explains how the strongest among the species makes it to the next level of ‘life’ and the weaker ones dry up and cease to exist. Early Evolution Theories Evolution has emerged to be a recognized and accept concept, rather than just a theory or speculation. Over the past two centuries, mostly, scientists from all over the world have studied in great detail the plethora of raw data and ideas collected over the past many millennia. Many scientists from the fields of biology and beyond have realized that there is just too much data pointing to the concept of evolution to be ignored. This data often refutes some accepted concepts humans are taught based on their religion. Being scientists, they cannot ignore this astounding evidence and continue to study it. This section will explore some common evidence found supporting the concept that all life, as we know it today, has gone through extensive evolution and continues to do so. Records of Fossils of Species When looking at the evidence pointed out as early as the nineteenth century, we come across many scientists studying fossil records for information on evolution. There have been found the fossil remains of different varieties of animals as well as plants in sedimentary rock deposits. Many of these plants and animals have ceased to exist now but these fossils are proof that at some point in time, thousands of millions of years ago, these plants and animals existed. This brings us to the concept of extinction, defined as the ‘dying out or termination of a species’ in the Britannica Online Encyclopedia. The phenomenon of extinction explains how the weaker species of the world have phased or died out with time; contrarily, the stronger, more environmentally adaptable species have carried on, and perhaps become sharper, more intelligent and stronger. This latter part encompasses what scientists describe as evolution. The fossils found in the rocks show a trend of change over time. Also, there have been some obvious gaps observed in the data collected which raises a few questions requiring explanation. New evidence points to the fact that these gaps were not a result of some unexplained phenomena but due to incomplete and lack of thorough data collection (O’Neil, “Early Theories”). With increasing research and studies being performed, these gaps are automatically filling up. O’Neil writes that among the first of such questions to be answered was that ‘between small bipedal dinosaurs and birds’. Soon after the publishing of Darwin’s book ‘On the Origin of Species’ scientists found a fossil dating back around 150-145 million years. It belonged to a bird like creature named ‘Archaeopteryx’ and was found in the south of Germany. This fossil was an organism that had jaws with teeth (unlike birds) and a single long tail which resembled that found on dinosaurs. It also had wings and feathers of birds but the skeletal structure was a combination of various organisms. This discovery astounded many scientists and led to the assumption that birds might also have reptilian ancestors (O’Neil). This and other such discoveries prompted people to question whether and how humans go back in time and are related to some other type of species rather than being independently created as ‘humans’. There have been early anatomists who have concluded that mammals have evolved from ancient reptiles (Coyne 27). Studying the fossils of reptiles over the many years, they have seen evidence of changing fossils of reptiles into something similar to mammals of today. Although, says Coyne, not every transition of these fossils can be described or explained as complete fossil record of species has still not be attained or developed. Anatomical Evidence From the remains of ‘Lucy’ to intermittent discoveries of various body parts of hominids, it is obvious to see that there are many similarities, anatomically speaking, among humans of today and hominids of centuries long gone. Whether it is the skeletal structure or the shape of a body part, a pattern can be seen from the various data collected since the nineteenth century that hominids underwent evolution and particular body areas evolved with time to create the human of today. An explanation for the similar body structures of many species is that they inherited these from their common ancestors (O’Neil). This is especially true for bone structures in vertebrates. O’Neil states that ‘the arms of humans, the forelegs of dogs and cats, the wings of birds, and the flippers of whales and seals all have the same types of bones’ and the structure is very similar. This is because they share ancestors who had these bone structures and now, if nothing else, they have these structures in common. O’Neil concludes from this: “All of these major chemical and anatomical similarities between living things can be most logically accounted for by assuming that they either share a common ancestry or they came into existence as a result of similar natural processes”. This is key evidence to the theory of evolution as it is very difficult to fathom independent creations having such similar characteristics. There has to be link to explain these similarities. Nearly 130,000 years ago, the first and closest semblance of the modern Homo sapiens was found in Africa (Johanson). They were anatomically quite similar to today’s modern man but behavior-wise they were similar to their contemporaries such as Neanderthals. These species were physically located in different and far away areas and thus existed in isolation (Johanson). The closer relative of the Homo sapiens evolved becoming the humans of today, whereas the Neanderthals grew extinct and then died out. New Evidence As with any other science, evolution has seen new discoveries being made and new technologies being used to further our understanding of how truly humans evolved. There is increasing evidence that points us in the direction that the closest relatives of humans are chimpanzees. Paleoanthropology has seen, over the past few decades, the most hotly debated issues being that of human origin. There is a group of scientists who believe that around 100,000 years ago, the Old World was inhabited by a ‘morphologically diverse group of hominids’ (Johanson): To be found in Africa and the Middle East there was Homo sapiens; Asia saw the Homo erectus whereas in Europe the hominids found were Homo neanderthalensis. Donald Johanson, known most popularly for his discovery of the Australopithecus afarensis specimen called Lucy in 1974 in Ethiopia, writes that by 30,000 years ago ‘this taxonomic diversity vanished and humans everywhere had evolved into the anatomically and behaviorally modern form’; this could hold true based on the theory of natural selection and competition for scarce resources because some of these hominids were more adept, stronger and wilder than others. This idea of multiregional cohabitation of hominids is not accepted by those who suggest that there is a ‘single origin for modern humans’ (Johanson) and a single lineage and birth chain with one species after another. Another widely held view has been that the hominid Homo habilis evolved into the Homo erectus, the more recent parent of Homo sapiens or humans of today. However, there is new research that shows that the Habilis and the Erectus species coexisted, meaning their time of existence or occurrence overlapped. This was deduced when two hominid fossils were discovered in Kenya, showing an overlap of almost 500,000 years (Urquhart). The implications for such an idea, if true, are great because many key evolutionary scientists hold the belief that the habilis family was succeeded by erectus: The significance of this new research is that whether the widely held belief of evolutionary sciences about the order of the ancestral lineage of today’s human is in fact accurate. Some researchers have wondered whether the smaller skull size of the home erectus actually implies that there might be more to our conclusion about the erectus being the human’s direct ancestor. Urquhart writes that humans, as we are today, show a lower level of sexual dimorphism, as in, there is not a vast physical difference between males and females compared to other animals; scientists compared the skull, which belonged to an adult and not to a younger person, to a much larger erectus cranium which had been uncovered in Tanzania. Urquhart, in his column for BBC News, explains this new piece of research and its implications for human evolution: If the size difference between the two is indicative of the larger one being from a male and the smaller being from a female, it suggests that erectus displayed a high level of sexual dimorphism - similar to that of modern gorillas writes… If erectus was very sexually dimorphic it may have had multiple mates at a time. This differs from the more monogamous nature of modern humans, indicating that Homo erectus was not as human-like as once thought. There is another group of researchers who, following Charles Darwin, believe chimpanzees to be the closest relative of humans. This has been based on recent experimentation that determined the exact order of the 3 billion bits of genetic coding in Chimpanzees (Daney, “New Evidence for Evolution”). Researchers have now narrowed down the time frame from 3 and 13 million years to 5 and 7 million years when the ancestors shared between humans and chimpanzees existed on earth (Kennedy, “Scientists narrow the time limits”). Conclusion Evolution has been a subject of very hot debate for quite some time. Whether this debate is between religious folk and scientists or among scientists from different schools of thought themselves, evolution has prompted ideas, discussion, research and controversy unlike any other subject in the world. Charles Darwin is among the pioneers of this field. His greatest contribution is the theory of natural selection which, even today, helps explain many concepts in this field of science. However, there are many dissenters who do not accept the theory of natural selection. A review of it shows that this theory is a school of thought and should help in explaining and supporting ideas, rather than being taken as the sole ideology behind something. As discussed, many early scientists have taken the data available on evolution to draw their conclusions about how it occurred. The most basic and undeniable is the research available on fossils. Although the history of these fossils remains highly debated among evolutionary scientists, these provide physical evidence to the idea of evolution. Then there are geographic, anthropological and anatomical details which lead to how evolution occurred for humans. More and more researchers are working on older evidence to confirm them or to bring about newer facets to evolution. And they have been successful to quite an extent. Looking at the history of it, one must note that this field itself is evolving with time. New ideas are added; older ones are discarded or worked upon. However, the basic concept of evolution, of man’s ancestry and his relation to the ape, has too much supporting data to deny it. What we can do is to keep following up on newer developments in the field and see what else we can learn about ourselves as a species. Works Cited Coyne, Jerry A. Why Evolution Is True. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print. Daney, Charles. “New Evidence for Evolution”. Science and Reason, Oct 2005. Weblog. "Darwin, Charles." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2009. Web. 27 Nov. 2009 . Darwin, Charles. The Origin of Species. NY: Signet Classic, 2003 "extinction." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2009. Web. 27 Nov. 2009 . Johanson, Donald. “Origins of Modern Humans: Multiregional or Out of Africa?” American Institute of Biological Sciences. ActionBioscience.org, 2001. Web. 27 Nov. 2009 Kennedy, Barbara. “Scientists narrow the time limits for the human, chimpanzee split”. Live – The University’s Official News Source. PennState, Dec 2005. Web. 27 Nov. 2009. "natural selection." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2009. Web. 27 Nov. 2009 . O’Neil, Dennis. “Evidence of Evolution”. Palomar.edu, 2009. Web. 27 Nov. 2009 Urquhart, James. “Finds test human origins theory”. BBC.co.uk, August 2007. < http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6937476.stm > Read More