Additional Funding for Human Evolution: June 24, 2020

Evolution's past is modern human's present. It appears that at least some interbreeding went on between humans and other hominid species in the past because their DNA is in modern humans today. It is possible that some of the genes that were picked up by archaic humans or other species of hominids could be beneficial to modern humans. These could be disease-resistant alleles, or other genetic sequences that led to adaptations in modern populations. These ancient genes could have many medical benefits in today's humans that we could never be able to discover without more research. However, more research means more funding. Understanding evolution is essential to the advancement of modern medicine. Studying human origins helps researchers understand genetic variation and how the diversifying genes impacts modern humans’ immune systems. Studying the evolution of genes that are likely to cause illness may benefit those suffering from hereditary diseases. Studying how past hominids evolved based off the environment could give us clues as to how humans will evolve in the future to fit our changing environment. Understanding and continuing to research human evolution is important for medical research and for learning what the Earth looked like in the past and how it may look in the future. It will also tell us how humans may adapt to the change in environment. People need to understand where our species came from in order to understand where we are going. There needs to be more funding put towards the study of human evolution so we are better able to understand not only our origins, but also our future. 

When 2 Hominids Meet: June 22, 2020

It is evident from the fossil record that at one point in history, at least two hominid species could have met. What would happen when they met? The reality is, no one knows and it is impossible to know. We know that some of them interbred so it's plausible that they could have gotten along but there is no way to know for sure. I pose that they probably would not have gotten along. I mean, look at what is happening right now in the world. There are currently protests going on in all 50 United States and many other countries because humans - all the same species just with different skin tones - can't get along. If "civilized" hominids of the same species can't get along, why would it be reusable to believe that "uncivilized" hominids of different species could get along? Now I do think that there were exceptions and some members of differing species were able to coexist and maybe even cohabitant but overall, I do not believe that they got along all, or even most, of the time. 

https://www.pnas.org/content/107/Supplement_2/8902

The Emergence of Upright Walking: June,15

Human pelvic girdles are pretty much unique within primates because we are the only ones that evolved from climbing in trees to walk upright. Ardipithecus ramidus remains are now helping us to understand how humans evolved to walking upright. Although Ar. ramidus' lower pelvis remained largely ape-like so it could still climb, their upper pelvis shows that they were capable of effective upright walking. Many pieces of anatomy from skeletons of Ar. ramidus are what helped us to come to this conclusion (the ilium, ischium, pubis, pelvic form, pelvic function, the femur, and the thorax). The studies of Ar. ramidus show that adaptations for bipedalism were well established by 4.4 Ma despite still being able to climb. 

https://app.perusall.com/courses/human-evolution-3/99c_lovejoy_et_al_2009_the-pelvis-and-femur_of_a_ramidus

Why chimps? June 3

If humans came from chimps, why are there still chimps? This is a simple question to answer. The reason that other chimps did not evolve into humans or why they did not die out is that they are doing just fine as chimps.  All primates alive today have proven that they are more than capable of thriving in their natural environments. Without something making it hard for them in their environments, they have no need to evolve to be better suited to their habitats. Chimps are doing a great job at being chimps and as long as we don't destroy their habitats, they will probably be around for many years to come. Evolution does not occur in a straight line, it has branches. At some point, humans and chimps branched off from one another through a common ancestor and both thrived in their environments and that is why humans and chimps continue to coexist. 

How to make Paleoanthropology better. May 28

The field of paleoanthropology is not as advanced as it could be due to racism. Because of this racism, Africa and Asia were looked down upon and Africa was not admitted to be the origin of humankind until long after the discovery was made. Africa and Asia were made out to be inferior in order to further the idea of western (white) superiority. Early natural historians believed humanity emerged from Asia because the gibbons there seemed to be a better "fit" to the European white male than the apes of Africa. Today we know that humanity originated in Africa but we were years behind figuring that out due to racism. Today's biases towards people of African and Asian descent are still lingering in the field of paleoanthropology. This needs to change. We can never truly grow as a community until racism is no longer a thing. Science needs more non-white people in the field in order to ensure findings aren't based on racism. In order to correct the problematic narratives of the past, science has to be decolonized. 

Introduction, May 25

Hey everyone! My name is Kristen and I am so excited to see everything that this class holds.