THE DAWN OF HUMANS

Australopithecus

Fossils and fragments of jaws suggest to scientists that the ancestors of monkeys, apes, and humans began their evolution approximately 50 million years ago. Additional evidence for this evolution has been derived from experiments in biochemistry and changes that occur in the DNA of cells. Mutation rates in the DNA have been calculated, and evolutionary changes can be determined from these calculations. By noting mutation rates, scientists can estimate the time since two species diverged from a single common ancestor, and they can develop a family tree.

Scientific evidence indicates that the first hominids (humanlike creatures) belonged to a group called Australopithecus. Members of the genus Australopithecus are believed to have displayed a critical step in human evolution: the ability to walk upright on two feet.

In 1924, the complete skull of a young child was found in a limestone quarry in South Africa. The fossil was unlike any ever seen before. The fossil was named Australopithecus africanus. Since then, several other A. africanus fossils have been found, showing heavy jaws, low foreheads, and small brain capacities.

  

Members of the Australopithecus genus are considered the first hominids but not the first humans. Their brains were small in comparison with human brains, and they had long, monkeylike arms. Other members of the Australopithecus genus have been classified as A. robustus and A. boisei. These different species of Australopithecus lived in Africa and are believed to have been primarily plant eaters. Members of the Australopithecus group eventually died out about 1 million years ago.

Homo Habilis

Fossils dating back about 2 million years have been found with brain capacities much larger than any Australopithecus fossil. On the basis of brain size, these fossils are named Homo habilis. Homo habilis is regarded as the first human and the first species of the genus Homo. Homo habilis means “handy human.” Members of this species were apparently able to use tools, build shelters, and fashion protective clothing. Members of the species appear to have spent much time in trees as well as on the ground, and to have walked erect on two legs. Homo habilis is thought to have been the predominant species during the Stone Age, a time during which humans fashioned stone tools. Homo habilis eventually became extinct, presumably about 35,000 years ago.