A species is an arbitrary term however.
When you look at it scientifically, we are homo sapiens. But, we are also in the family(? genus?) of great apes.
This includes Chimpanzees, Gorillas, (Baboons and Orangatangs?) in addition to us Homo's. Here is how we came about (I left it short, and didn't tell how Gorilla's, or Chimps evoloved)
The History of Human Evolution
Millions of years ago, there was a large group of ape like creatures. They subsited on an insect and plant diet.
But, some lived on the edge of forests along the edge of savanna's. Over time, they first began to stand on their back legs to look out onto the savanna. They probably did this to watch for plains predators, so that the family could quickly retreat up into the trees.
Well, the ones who found predators did the best job of surviving, so eventually, all of these apes stood on their hind legs. Other of the original apes had moved into the deep forest, having no need for standing, they instead grew bigger, to defend against cats and other forest dwellers. A third sect had taken back to the trees. And their arms and legs had grown long, including nearly opposable thumbs on both hands and feet.
By now, the human apes also had learned to do more then screech noises when they saw a lion. They used a different sound for a lion or an antelope. They did this because they found that if enough of them snuck up on an antelope, they could kill it.
One day, a smart ape tought of something. Like chimps, these apes used sticks to pull termites out of termite hills. By association, he figured a big stick could be used to get kill an antelope faster.
He was right, and quickly other members of his tribe figured this out. And when the rouge males wandered off and found other tribes, they brought this knowledge of the club with them.
It didn't take long to figure out that if you threw the club, you could hurt or scare the antelope, and that made it even easier to catch food.
After thousands of years, another smart ape came along, and he had the idea of chewing the end of a club into a point. Then, you could stick the club into an antelope, and it had a hard time running.
By now, these apes lived mostly on killing antelopes. They had found it easier to kill deer than to trudge around the forest and try and find enough protein to feed the troops. Because they followed antelope, they were nomadic, and migrated from one spot to another each year with the herds.
So then, thousands of years later. These apes had grown tall from looking out over the plains.
Because of the club and spear. Those who could hold it better were better hunters and had more offspring. After thousands of generations, these apes had an opposible thumb to hold the stick with.
Because of the hunting, and more importantly, the ever more complex speech, their brains had grown. They were now able to form complex thoughts beyond "get antelope".
They had figured out that a sharpened stone on the end of a stick was the best way to kill antelope.
The women had taken to planting the seeds of tasty plants at the camp sights before they left each year. So, when they returned, there were spices and food plants ready for them.
Because they walked so much, they had found that it was best to tie bark to the bottom of their feet. Eventually, they made sandles, and had learned to use plant fiber to make rope.
Evolution is incremental. The incremental nature makes evolution imperceptible on any but a massive scale. A small increment ought to be 100 generations, and change in this time will still be imperceptible.
In the time that man has built from stone (about 6000 BC for Jericho?) we have had just over 500 generations of humans. We are different from out ancestors, be without a massive sample of both us and them, we cannot tell what these miniscule differences are.
But, once you have 10,000 generations, they difference is much more pronounced. Our ancestors 200,000 years ago barely look human. But they did walk upright, had opposable thumbs, and had skulls designed for complex thought and speech.
In 10,000 generations, there will be no more homo sapiens. Our ancestors will likely still be alive, but we would barely recongize them. None of us will ever know what they look like, but they will look back at us the same way we look at Cro-magnon. Huge, hulking behomoths, with only a borderline intelligence, and the crudest understanding of our surroundings. But, capable of advanced thought, art, and the subtle interactions of the universe. |
