ipl-logo

Out Of Africa Theory Essay

1042 Words5 Pages

The Out of Africa Theory
What proofs are there supporting the out of Africa Theory?

The origin of modern humans, Homo sapiens, is a very fervently debated issue in palaeontology and anthropology. Most palaeoanthropologists agree that hominins first evolved in Africa, but disagree on where Homo sapiens emerged. There are two theories regarding the origins of modern humans: they emerged in one place – Africa; or hominins spread out of Africa and became modern humans in other parts of the world.
The primary view, the Out of Africa theory, suggests that modern humans originated from a single source in Africa, which geographically, according to Professor Johanson (2001) of Arizona State University and discoverer of Lucy, includes the Middle East. According to this view, Homo erectus, migrated out of Africa, spread through Europe and Asia and evolved independently, sometimes even into different species such as Homo neanderthalensis. Homo sapiens evolved from African descendents of Homo ergaster about 195 000 years ago (Pickrell, 2006), and began migrating out of Africa and replacing all other hominin populations. Diverse groups of hominin species inhabited the world. There were Homo sapiens in Africa and the …show more content…

It was thought that this was because the colonial Homo sapiens interbred with the Homo erectus in Australia or because there was a second migration from Africa; both challenge the theory of a single, common origin of humans. New DNA research, conducted by Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin Universities, confirms the Out of Africa Theory and shows that Australian Aborigines and the New Guineans sprang from the same small group of settlers. Both populations share genetic features linked with the Homo sapiens that emerged from Africa (University Of Cambridge,

Show More
Related

Dmanisi Skull Essay

637 Words | 3 Pages

It is quite interesting, because before this discovery, it was thought that the first humans only left Africa 1 million years ago. However, archaeological evidences show that there were already Dmanisi hominids in Dmanisi 1.77 million years ago. It was also thought that the first humans out of Africa were tall, big-brained, and well-developed stone tools. However, the Dmanisi hominids were small, had small brains, and used primitive tools. The Dmanisi also provided paleoanthropologists with a new site to discover.

Read More

New Kind Of Ancestor: Ardipithecus Unveiled By Anna Gibbons

758 Words | 4 Pages

Article Review #3 The article “Ardipithecus ramidus: A New Kind of Ancestor: Ardipithecus Unveiled” written by Anna Gibbons, talks about how scientist learn many things about human evolution through artifacts of ancestors, DNA and bones. All of this helps reveals different things about our past and how we came to be. This article briefly mentions Lucy and it mainly focuses on the discovery of ardipithecus ramidus.

Read More

Civilizing Africa Dbq Essay

1520 Words | 7 Pages

Throughout time diverse regions have considered other societies to be barbaric, causing them to have the desire of “civilizing” them. Many individuals accept the rule of a higher and civilized region as they believe that their alterations will benefit them. Although, by enabling a higher power to acquire authority in another foreign nation, will diminish that regions culture and individuals will not truly possess respect, ultimately causing them to rebel against that foreign power after they comprehend their true nature. Likewise, after the Berlin Conference, which set certain rules for the partition of Africa, numerous European powers desired in colonizing Africa and obtaining control during the early 1800s, which was known as the Scramble

Read More

Compare And Contrast The Iroquois Creation Story

988 Words | 4 Pages

How were humans created? Many different faiths and ethnicities have tried to answer this question, some creating outlandish theories, while others made stories that could realistically happen. Two of these creation stories that are relevant to American history are the Iroquois Creation Story and the Christian creation story, also known as the first three chapters of the book of Genesis. These two stories, if compared with an open mind, can be determined to have some surprising similarities, and some blatant differences.

Read More

Africa's Natural Geography Dbq

582 Words | 3 Pages

Africa is known as the origin of the human race. Since that is the case, Africa has had the most opportunities to impress the modern world. Africa has done just that. Africa had three major kingdoms, each of which were major successes. Throughout history, Africa’s kingdoms have utilized their natural resources to become some of the most prosperous kingdoms the world has ever seen.

Read More

Turkana Boy

1930 Words | 8 Pages

Neandertals contributed to the genetic pool of today’s population leaving behind their adaptive legacy with the modern human. This contribution of DNA is a shared 1-4% of the Neandertal nuclear DNA which is an indication of a small but significant admixture. Given that Africans share no nuclear DNA with Neandertals it is clear that the genetic contribution of Neandertals to todays modern society happened between early modern Europeans and Neandertals after the H. sapiens left Africa. People outside of Africa today most likely have DNA that originated from

Read More

Muntu Tribe

727 Words | 3 Pages

The search for an origin to the human race has been a priority since before records of our existence. In the country of Uganda, southwest of Ethiopia, lived

Read More

Non Primate Essay

529 Words | 3 Pages

The second theory used to explain the origin of primates is the visual predation hypothesis. This theory states that, the ability to move

Read More

Chapter Summary Of Guns Germs And Steel By Jared Diamond

1116 Words | 5 Pages

Chapter 1 Summary: 1. Chapter one is about the starting of human life. Diamond starts the chapter off by explaining Homo erectus and how humans developed from apes to Homo sapiens. The chapter further explains how humans split off into sections of the world, by starting out in Africa and spreading to continents such as Eurasia and Australia/New Guinea. The main discussion of chapter one is how the humans developed differently between different areas of the globe, but all originated from one place.

Read More

Nonhuman Primate Evolution

195 Words | 1 Pages

climate change influenced nonhuman primate evolution because with the changes, nonhuman primates were forced to evolve in order to survive. As the climate change progressed and several species started to die out, nonhuman primates evolved through time and thus they were able to survive and climate change that occurred and were able to evolve into creatures that we see during present times. The theories of early primate evolution appeared about 60 million years ago after most of the early living species had already become extinct. New discoveries have supported one theory over another as more research is done.

Read More

Pleistocene Epoch Evolution

1355 Words | 6 Pages

While many believe that the last appearance of the Neanderthals exemplifies their development into modern Europeans or their “assimilation into the modern human gene pool,” others have developed contradicting viewpoints (Harvati, 2010). To begin, it has been proposed that the direct effect of Neanderthals disappearance was induced by the lack of environment surrounding them at the time (Stewart, 2005). Through further testing this theory has been rejected and is no longer supportable in the field of Anthropology. In addition, some scientists in the field of Paleoanthropology have given consideration to the idea that “worsening climate” and the conditions of the environment were major factors in the extinction of Neanderthals. However, the proposed dates in which scientists believed the Neanderthals to have gone extinct do not coincide with a significant cooling episode; thus, the validity of the theory of climate deterioration causing the extinction of the Neanderthal is diminished (Finlayson, 2004).

Read More

Essay On South African American Imperialism

457 Words | 2 Pages

African and Asian colonies established during the age of Imperialism affected economies around the world. A large factor in the participation of many people was the need for money, and a change in the colonies’ inhabitants lives was largely driven by the necessity of migration. The thatjobs available varied from plantation work to mining. Driven by the need for money, the loss of land adequate to support families, or sometimes by the orders of colonial authorities, millions of colonial subjects sought employment.

Read More

Similarities Between Modern Man And Neanderthals

1649 Words | 7 Pages

Deborah Swarthout Modern Man and Neanderthals WCCCD-Fall 2017 Modern Man and Neanderthals: Where did they go? It has long been thought that modern man evolved from the Neanderthals. Although we have many similarities, the most recent studies suggest that modern man actually co-existed alongside the Neanderthals and interbred with them to create the modern man we know today. Neanderthals or Neandertals (Homo Neanderthalensis) are considered to be our closest extinct human relatives.

Read More

Original Flood Myth: The Evolution Of Humans

713 Words | 3 Pages

In 2004 researchers found human genes that control the size and complexity of the brain have undergone rapid evolution in humans and that mammals and other non-human primates had not evolved in this manner. Homo erectus were the first of the hominins to emigrate from Africa and from 1.8 to 1.3 million years ago, this species spread through Africa. The homo sapien (humans) originated in Africa during the last 250,000 years and spread from Africa during the last 60,000 years. Neanderthals are of the homogeneous species and are not human ancestors. Although, the difference between humans and Neanderthals when compared to great apes is small.

Read More

Portrayal Of Africa

1483 Words | 6 Pages

There have been various perceptions concerning the history of Africa, and some of these have portrayed Africa in more negative than positive ways. In an attempt to examine the historical aspect of Africa through various lenses, this essay presents an analysis of evidence that have been brought forth towards understanding Africa’s role in world history, as well as reasons and lessons from the negative portrayal of Africa. The history of Africa has been viewed and understood through a variety of lenses in the past few hundred years. To begin with, the origin of the name Africa in itself has drawn a number of controversies that stem from the different perspectives through which the name has been examined.

Read More

More about Out Of Africa Theory Essay

Related Topics

Open Document