Hominidae

Sloths Sloths are medium sized animals. Two toed sloths have only two fingers and three toed sloths actually have three toes. Sloths are part of the order Pilosa so they are related to anteaters and armadillos. Sloths are tree dwelling animals, they are found in the jungles of Central and South America. A sloths scientific name is Folivora. A brown throated sloth usually sleeps for around 15 to 18 hours. A pale throated sloths gestation period is 183 days. A brown throated sloth weighs around…

Two of the most distinct features that separate humans from the other great apes are bipedalism and large brain to body size. But how did these features become so prominent? Approximately 6-7million years ago, the hominid lineage began to separate from the other ape species. Tracing the evolutionary history through fossil evidence explains how early hominids evolved to become today’s most prolific primate species. The goal of this paper is to discuss the physical characteristics that indicate…

Africa is the supposed birthplace of the human race. It is here that the Australopithecines, a group of hominins including Australopithecus and Paranthropus, lived from 4.2 to 1.2 million years ago. In the same area but from 1.9 to 0.027 million years ago, Homo ergaster also roamed around. Even though they shared the same geographic location, they each represent very different phases of the evolution to what we are today. It would therefore be interesting to see how they differed, based on the…

The Social Climbers In the animal kingdom monkeys are one of the most intelligent beings that reside here on planet earth. From their opposable thumbs to their large brains that improves their cognitive ability and overall inquisitiveness makes them quite incredible creatures. One of the monkeys that was depicted within the video “The Social Climbers” was that of the Pygmy Marmoset. This incredible creature is said to be the smallest monkey at all. The Pigmy is so small that their size…

For so long humankind has tried to find meaning for his existence. With all their vast knowledge of technology and infrastructure, human beings still question their existence; whether to believe the various creation theory from the various religion or not. Charles Darwin’s book, The Origin of Species, broke the ice by introducing the theory of natural selection. Darwin’s natural selection described evolution as how species develop from small and simple forms into large and complex forms of…

The gopher tortoise is a large dark-brown to grayish-black terrestrial turtle with elephantine hind feet, shovel-like forefeet. The adult shell ranges in size of 5.9 to 14.6 inches long. It has a gular projection beneath the head on its yellowish, hinge less plastron or undershell. In comparison to females, males are generally smaller; with a larger gland under the chin, a longer gular projection, and more concave plastron. The gopher tortoise is seen as an important species in the…

The Meaning of “Human” What does it mean to be human? This question has been pondered for decades without one, single, agreed on response. The dictionary definition of a human is “typical of a person”, but there is no standard for what is typical of a person. To answer this question, one may ask him or herself what it is that sets them apart from organisms that aren’t human. Humans have their obvious biological differences from other organisms. Examples would include: they walk on two feet, they…

Loxogiraffa Cameloserpentes The Loxogiraffa Cameloserpentes, also known as the Giellephantes is a new breed made up of an elephant, a giraffe, and a snake. Created in a lab by Dr. Henry Wu, who created the Indominus Rex, the Loxogiraffa Cameloserpentes breeds and grows in captivity. One of the first Loxogiraffa Cameloserpentes, Ella, was released into the wild after one year of captivity. With her snake tusks, Ella was able to defend herself in the wild. Without elephants’ famous Ivory tusks,…

Jane Goodall’s discoveries has led to the proof of evolutionary psychology as she has successfully explained and derived useful mental and psychological traits as functional products of chimpanzees. In 1960, during her field observation research, Jane witnessed chimpanzees making tools which they would later use. This is the beginning of Jane’s proof of the human link with chimpanzees, as tool making is considered to be one of the defining characteristics of man kind. Later on, Jane has observed…

Where I grew up people collect Mercedes, Nike, Apple, and Ralph Lauren. I like some of those things too… but what I collect are bones. I love my femurs and my vertebrae, the way the cat’s lambdoidal ridge protrudes and meets with the sagittal crest, and the delicate folds in the nasal turbinates of the raccoon. I love nearly everything about my bones, even the ones that are broken provide me with an opportunity to see the insides of them and better understand how they worked. I think…