Hominidae

The primate species that I am studying is the Common Squirrel Monkey, also known as Saimiri sciureus. Squirrel monkeys are considered frugivorous and insectivorous, meaning they mainly consume fruits and insects. However, they mainly forage for insects, but in times when insects as scare, they turn to fruits. Examples of insects include orthopterans (grasshoppers, crickets) and lepidopterans (moths, butterflies), while fruits include leguminosae (legumes) and sapotaceae (Lima and Ferrari,…

Australopithecus africanus In the greatest debate of anthropology lies the all consuming desire to know where we as humans come from. Who were our ancestors and what made them so different from us? It is debated if Australopithecus africanus or Australopithecus afarensis is the direct ancestor to the genus homo. Through critical evaluation of the features of the skeleton, diet and dentition, and use of bipedality, it is evident that A. africanus is a direct ancestor to modern humans while…

In the film, “The Real Eve”, there was a lot of information to process, but a lot of very fascinating details and facts about the first modern humans and how far they came. To start off, before I watched this video I thought humans first appeared on Earth may 70,000 years ago. However, in the documentary it mentioned that the first modern humans appeared in Africa 150,000 years ago, which really made me think how much longer Neanderthals were on Earth before us, considering that they’re a…

Since more than 50000 cremated bone fragments of 63 individuals buried at Stonehenge has been unearthed recently, we can draw the conclusion that the idea of considering Stonehenge as a giant burial ground is more plausible and credible as it is explicit and evident based on the numbers of proof. An archaeologist named Professor Mike Parker Pearson, who has been working at the site and on nearby monuments for decades, suggests that the “earliest burials long predate the monument in its current…

Researchers still struggle with pinpointing how pubic lice developed. However, historical and archaeological evidence demonstrate that crab louse evolved from the similar gorilla louse, Pthirus gorillae (BioMed Central, 2009). Through genetic research on the mitochondrial genome of the chimpanzee louse, researchers found that a single mini-chromosome had fragmented into three sections in the lineage of ectoparasites, which includes head lice, body lice, and pubic lice about 3.3 million years ago…

Neanderthals Culture Neanderthals cultures share several similarities in traditions and belief of today’s cultures such as burial ceremony, created tools, artistic accomplishments, representational or symbolic behaviors, and clothing, most specially their aptitudes and capabilities of speech. Some site of family graves were found—much more like specific area for grave plots, and around the grave were indication of flower pollens which may perhaps means they buried their dead family member…

The value of human life What is the value of human life? “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity” (Nelson Mandela). All people have rights to what they do in life and the choices they make. Value cannot be assigned to an individual human life because every person is unique in their own way, all people are treated with the same amount of respect and fairness, and it doesn’t matter where you come from or what your background is all people are equal. Source A- Every…

“The human element, the human flaw and the human nobility- those are the reasons chess matches are won and lost.” Even though this quote by chess master Viktor Korchnoi, it can also be related to life. Human flaws are the reason you succeed and fail. The short film Monsters are on Maple Street, directed by Debbie Allen, is about an experiment on a neighborhood that goes horribly wrong. This experiment tested how long humans could sustain themselves in an event that they become isolated. The…

Alice travels with Warren Clarke to see footprints that show evidence of early humans arrival dated back to over 20,000 years ago. After that, she looks for signs of any bones left from the ancient giant kangaroos that grew to 2.5 meters and became extinct over 50,000 years ago. Because of bones left from the “Mungo” man dated between 40 and 60,000 years ago she concluded that people could have lived there before entering Europe. She then traveled back to Africa to see how it would have been…

Hominid Evolution is the evolution of human lineage. Dating back millions of years with Sahelanthropus tchadensis, it's the oldest found hominid, dated around 7 million years old. This species is known for its cranium and it's very small brain size, and a specific amount of both jaws and teeth. It has many, ape-like features, such as; small brain size, brow ridges and small canine teeth, which are characteristic of hominids. However, this along with the fact that it comes from around the…