Blog Post #5

In order to fully comprehend the evolution of humans and what separates us from other animals, it is vital to look back into our early ancestors. We must understand the origins of what makes us truly “human.” The best direction of looking is with the early hominids, or when humans began to develop into what we are today. When looking back at our primate ancestors, we see significantly smaller brains, walking on all fours, and minimal language. However, looking forward thousands if not millions of years, an evolutionary change began to arise in hominins. We began to see brain growth that helped us develop a spoken language, as well as physical changes that allowed us to walk with bipedal locomotion. So, in order to understand why we are how we are now, we must study fossils of early hominins.

Anthropologists began to discover skeletal remains dating back millions of years ago, as we began to evolve from our primate ancestors. It showed that there was a shift in the foramen magnum, which is described as a hole where the spine and the head meet. The shift was just right in order to allow the hominin to begin bipedal locomotion, or the ability to walk on two legs instead of four. There are many benefits to this change, however the most prominent one of the initial change was for mid-day hunting. When it comes to hunting during the day, it is much easier to capture prey when walking on two legs and wielding the appropriate weapons, such as spears or rocks. Eventually, hominins began to use this even further to our advantage, as we could prepare and cultivate food much easier, as well as multitask while we move around our surroundings. A fossilized skeleton by the name of Lucy in Ethiopia was an example of the earliest examples of hominins with bipedal locomotion. It is the study of fossils like this that are the things that help us truly learn about our past. 

One of the most important changes in hominin’s development was the increase in brain growth. About 2 million years ago, skeletons have pointed out that the human brain had nearly tripled in size. Since anthropologists didn’t have human fossilized brains to measure, they were able to measure the inside of skulls to compare volume. This helped the growth of our species entirely, because with a bigger brain there is more room to store information and build complexity. With this, language was formed and for the first time hominins were able to speak a common tongue to aid in communication. Hominins memory was also much longer, as well as the ability to process and produce abstract thought and creative ideas. This helps explain why us and our primate relatives seem so different to the naked eye. 

It is thanks to early fossil and skeletal remains that we are able to learn about our history, and why we function the way that we do on an evolutionary level. I think these discoveries are something everyone should know, because it helps all of us humans understand our origins and identity much better.