Anthropology1020 Human Origin Evol/Diver - Essay Example

Anthropology1020: Human Origin Evol/Diver Social mammals have some basic stages that are common to all. Man and his closest relatives have common features of post natal development; infant, juvenile and adult. The human life cycle can best be described through five stages; infant child, juvenile, adolescent and adult. The current human pattern is that of the Homo erectus. Expelling the life cycle stages of human beings has been a subject of concentration in recent times by anthropologists. This is down to the fact that the human lifecycle stands in contrast with other species including primates.

Infancy in human beings is arranged of life that lasts between birth and one year of age. It is at this point that the baby has exited the mother’s uterus and gained access to the real world. At this stage the baby assumes similar physiological capabilities like other organisms. The organs are perfectly functioning though not fully developed like in their adult counterparts. The next stage is childhood where it takes place between years to ten years of age. In the first childhood years, a child is referred to as a toddler.

At this stage in the cycle the child is learning how to talk, walk and more self sufficient. There are vast skills that continue to expand during this period where later socialization takes place. During the adolescence years, next stage in the lifecycle, puberty takes place. This is the turning point in the life of an individual (Bogin, 43). Being a critical turning point in the lives of humans, the beings become more sexually aware. It is at this stage that humans become self sufficient and separate from their parents.

The next stage in the life of a human being is adulthood which is depicted as the longest stage of the cycle. This is a stage that lasts from ages eighteen throughout the old age. At this stage human beings are fully grown and are able to be self sufficient even when it comes to making decisions. The humans at this stage have acquired skills that they use to provide and look after themselves and their offspring. This is a significant stage of the cycle as it is a point at which the stage is in initiated again through conception and birth, where life begins again.

Human beings in their later adult ages may deteriorate and succumb to death which ends their life cycle. The deterioration of a human being at old age is relative. There are vast factors that contribute to deterioration. This is attributed to the fact that different zones have varying life expectancies. Man closest relatives, mammals have three postnatal development stages. Infant juvenile and adult as compared to the five in human beings. Human beings being more civilized organisms have various aspects that separate them even from their closest relatives the primates.

Due to the entire sequence of the life cycle, there are those stages that humans experience but other animals may not. Human beings have behavioral, morphological and psychological stages that they pass through as the head towards their penultimate times, death (Bogin, 45). The postnatal period f the adult hood in the life cycle is one of the main differences. Changes in rates of growth and the onset of sexual maturity are two characteristics identified with humans. Majority human’s close relative progress from infancy to adulthood in absence of any intervening stages.

In most other organism, puberty has been postponed in their lifecycles through the insertion of a juvenile growth period and behaviors between infancy and adulthood. This means that in other mammals with exception of humans, puberty occurs at a period when the rate of growth is decelerating. Work CitedBogin, Klurton. Patterns of Human Growth. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003.