Humans

Domain: Eukarya 

Kingdom: Animalia 
Phylum: Chordata 
Subphylum: Vertebrata 
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates 
Family: Hominidae 
Genus: Homo 

Species: Sapiens 

 

 

 

History: Homo sapiens evolved 200,000 years ago in Africa, however in the present day they occupy most areas of the world. Some of the earliest known members of the genus “Homo” meaning human are Homo erectus, one of the first tool making species that evolved 2 million years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Physical Aspects: The human skeleton and skull is more delicate than that of similar species at the time such as Neanderthals. The skull of Homo sapiens is rounded with a less protruded brow ridge. They also have smaller faces, pointed chins, smaller teeth and higher foreheads. Other characteristics human’s posses are bipedal posture, large and advanced brains, a highly developed nervous system and good depth perception. One of the key aspects of the success of the human race is their highly developed brain at 1400cc, significantly larger than Homo erectus at 900cc. In fact the brain of Homo sapien is the largest of any other species as compared to body size. This is why most of brain growth happens outside of the womb in order to allow passage through the birth canal. However Homo sapiens did face many evolutionary problems and were not always at the top of the food chain. In the early evolutionary years they were often hunted until they developed the ability to run, particularly endurance running. This was possible because Homo sapiens could cool down through sweating unlike the prey they were hunting who needed to cool down through panting. This allowed them to hunt prey persistently, which then in turn gave them that calories and energy needed to feed their growing brains.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Society: There is little known about how society was formed in early Homo sapiens however it is theorized that by around the time our ancestors began using fire, is the time they started to develop societies. It is theorized that society and more social personalities were developed because of a common gathering area such as around a fire waiting for food to be cooked. Note that the cooking of food making it easier to digest eventually lead to the evolution of a smaller gut and teeth. This may have lead to shared parenting which would have then lead to the acute sensitivity modern infants have because of the need to appeal to more than one caregiver. This may also be why we are born with the sensitivity for knowing the emotions and intentions of those around us. This is a unique characteristic in the animal world. The growing social abilities are also theorized to be the reason our ancestors migrated out of Africa and around the globe. However some believe that they migrated about 1km per year with the food they hunted. This would have lead them to different areas of the world that we know today, such as Europe and Asia along with South America.

 

Currently: Modern humans share many of the same physical characteristics with early Homo sapiens such as bone structure and skull shape. However because migration out of Africa occurred, some of the adaptations modern humans now posses are different from one another. For example skin colour of a person populating a hotter climate such as Africa would have darker skin than that of someone populating an area like Russia. This is because of the pigment melanin located in the epidermis of the skin. This pigment protects against ultraviolet rays from the sun, people from hotter climates need more protection from these rays because they are more present in the hotter climates, and this results in a darker complexion. As society grew amongst human’s things such as race, religion, social norms, economy, and political systems were also developed.

 

All information from: (Homo Sapiens the Birth of Humanity Documentary, 2014)