Indeed, Hominins do share many characteristics with humans that help us understand modern human biology. In addition to similarities, there are many differences between the species that show how we live and do things compared to hominins. Hominins include monkeys, chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and even more. These species share many characteristics that are similar to humans. These species are similar to us in many ways, one being child development and the amount of children we have. Humans and chimpanzees both have few offspring, compared to species such as fish. We both carry our children, feed them, protect them, and build a home or shelter for them. We spend time raising our offspring and training them for the world. Another trait we have similar to the chimpanzee species is our use of tools to complete tasks. Both species use their hands, only humans with thumbs, to build and use tools to complete tasks such as: building, eating, moving things, etc. Another trait we share is our vision. We have binocular fields of vision and stereoscopic vision. We also share color vision, which helps these species a lot on the trees. Next, another similarity between hominids and humans is some of our behavior. We have protective instinct over our offspring, and both species fend for themselves and survival. We gather our food and take care of our family, just like chimpanzees do. I learned a lot about our similarities and differences in the video about chimpanzees and their lifestyle. Although we have many similarities, we do have many differences as well.
In do believe fossilized skeletal remains of early ancestors can help anthropologists reconstruct from the past. Fossilized remains allow us to see how a certain species, including ourselves as humans, have evolved and changed over time. We can see which characteristics have developed and which ones have slowly faded away throughout the centuries. Finding fossils helps anthropologist see how the bodies have adapted for what we need to do now vs how things were done back then. Overall, it shows anthropologists and paleontologists ways in which we have developed and evolved for survival on earth to best complete day to day tasks in life.
I also believe that studying non-human primates is very important to understand other species, but more importantly ourselves. For example, studying monkeys has helped us learn a lot about how we communicate and use our hands. It also shows us that other species have figured out ways to complete tasks the same way or different ways from us. We are able to see the differences and similarities from out species to others and how they do things we do in a different way. I think it is super interesting and fascinating to see how we all do similar things in all types of ways. Studying fossils and other species has helped us figure out about our ancestry, where we come from, and how we have changed to be the best and survive.
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I liked your blog post on the similarities and differences between humans and our non human primate relatives. I thought the videos on the childcare within communities of chimps was very fascinating and I am glad you noted it as one of the important similarities. It is very clear that we are related when all of the similarities are taken into account. The fact that chimps highly value their children and have very few is a trait that not many animals have. One of the most interesting parts of any of the videos was when we got to see the chimps use tools. Using tools is not often seen in animals, but most primates had the cognitive function to use some sort of tool, most of the time for food.
Hello Pete, I really enjoyed reading your post and feel that you made many great points. I would never think about the relatedness between hominins and being similar through child development. I find it fascinating that they care for their children a lot as we do. Not only do they raise their children similarily but they also use tools in the same way. I think it’s great that both humans and chimps are protective over their children and they are independent. I think that this is a very important quality to have and it makes both very strong. I agree with you when it comes to the importance of studying the species. It helps us learn more about ourselves and them. It also gives us a better picture of how we evolved over time.
I enjoyed reading your post and it was interesting that you were in a good position to bring out important lessons especially when it comes to the similarities in characteristics between the humans and the hominins. I agree with you that there are similarities, which are evident when looking at both the humans and the non-primates especially when it comes to the manner in which things are done. One of the most striking similarity that I can relate with is the issue of the way non-primates walk and the way that they get to handle things. This was interesting since it can go on to explain the evolution story. It is important therefore to try to study non-human primates, which is will give us the added knowledge and skills in ensuring that we are able to understand the similarities that can exist between the humans and the non-primates especially along physical ways.