Charles Darwin's Three Principles Of Evolution By Natural Selection

Charles Darwin is very well known for his theories on evolution and most importantly his three principles of evolution by natural selection. Darwin’s first principle is that a variation exists within populations. Some examples of variations include body size, bone structure, tooth size, hair thickness, shape of the rib cage and position of the foramen magnum. In Evolution, Dr. Alice Roberts provides examples of early hominins and how their physical makeups were reconstructed by archeologists in order to determine their different variations. Different physical characteristics or variations can either increase or decrease the fitness of an organism. An organism’s fitness in anthropology does not refer to cardiovascular fitness, but rather …show more content…
Out of all of the hominins that Dr. Roberts provided in Evolution, Homo sapiens are the only species still alive today. One favorable trait that Homo sapiens possess that our ape ancestors did not possess is bipedalism. The ability to travel on two feet from a biological standpoint is favorable for increasing endurance, but not favorable for speed. The speed that could be obtained from traveling on all fours was sacrificed in order to allow for travel over longer …show more content…
When the food sources are diminished in a certain area, it is beneficial to have the ability to travel further in order to find more sources for food. Bipedalism also was beneficial when it came to a hominin’s ability to track down large prey. Most larger land animals that early man hunted walked on four limbs making them inefficient at covering long distances. In class we watched a short film and discussed how one man could rely on his superior endurance to track down prey for miles to the point where the prey collapsed because of exhaustion. Bipedal organisms because of their posture received less solar radiation and more wind cooling, which lowered their chances of overheating when they traveled long distances. Bipedalism also freed the hands which could be used for carrying tools that could be used for hunting. Tool making is a critical variation that developed through evolution. The tools of early apes were far more primitive than the tools of Australopithecus afarensis who’s tools were more primitive than those of Homo erectus and modern day Homo sapiens. The development of more advanced tools relies on the increase of brain densities. As we get closer to the present the cranial capacities of hominins increase as does their ability to develop tools. This increase in tool development made them more favorable in terms of natural