For more than a millennium, scientists and thinkers have been arguing over a mystery about the origin of man. Guesses, assumptions, theories are built. But there is ever new evidence of the failure of one thought or another, therefore, none of the theories is currently proven.
The most common theories of human origin
- Religious theory. She is the most ancient. Proponents of this theory are inclined to believe in the supernatural, divine appearance of man on Earth.
- Cosmogony. Cosmogonists argue that the origin of mankind has a cosmic nature, so highly developed creatures with the fall of cosmic bodies spread around the planet. In this sense, it is believed that life on Earth is someone else's experiment.
- Natural, earthly origin. The founder of this theory is the natural scientist Charles Darwin, who suggested that man descended from a monkey in the process of evolution. That is, all life on the planet sooner or later evolves (adapts to external conditions) as a result of natural selection, which involves the screening of weak organisms and the survival of the strongest. Information on adaptability is genetically transmitted to their descendants, as a result of which the species evolve.
Evolution Theory Development
The followers of this theory, called "classical Darwinism", are inclined to believe that monkeys gradually evolved to a higher stage of development as a result of natural selection.
The German scientist Ernst Haeckel continued to develop Darwin's theory in the 19th century , who suggested that once there was an intermediate stage of development between a monkey and a man, and gave the name to this creature - pithecanthropus, which is translated from Latin as “monkey man”. Interestingly, the scientist only theoretically described this species. After all, there were no fossil finds at his disposal. Haeckel also suggested where the Pithecanthropus could live - this is the southeastern part of Asia.
Evidence for Darwin's theory
At the end of the 19th century, the hypothesis was confirmed by the Dutch researcher Eugene Dubois, who found the remains of the described creature on the island of Java. Later, researchers found new evidence for the theory - in the 20th century, excavations in Africa were successfully carried out, and in addition to the remains of a monkey man, his tools made of stone were also found.
In 1927, near Beijing (China), paleontologists were able to discover impressive material for study - the remains of 40 individuals (men, women and children). Morphologically, they did not differ from Pithecanthropus, respectively, belonged to this subspecies, but culturally (a variety of tools), this species of ape man advanced somewhat on the path to modern people. Pithecanthropus is a relative of these individuals who lived in an earlier era. According to the found remains, scientists gave the name to the creature - Sinanthropus (Chinese man-monkeys).
Modern research
Currently, researchers believe that the immediate ancestors of man are the very first creatures - monkey-like mammals, which laid the foundation for the development of parapithecus.
Parapithecus - monkey-like individuals that appeared 35 million years ago. These were animals that lived on trees, which laid the foundation for the development of man on the one hand, and on the other, modern species of monkeys: gibbons, orangutans.
Dryopithecus appeared 18 million years ago. These mammals lived on trees and on land. They became the ancestors of modern chimpanzees, gorillas and ancient Australopithecus.
Origin of a Skillful Man
Australopithecus is a subspecies of monkeys that lived 5 million years ago, their remains were found in Africa on treeless territories. They had four limbs, moved in a bent state on two hind legs. Their growth could reach 150 centimeters, weight - 50 kg. Australopithecines had the opportunity to wield free forelimbs with hunting (defense) means - sticks, stones. Australopithecus is a carnivorous and herbivorous man-monkey, grouped in flocks with its own kind. According to some assumptions, the next step in the evolutionary chain came from them - Skillful Man.
A skilled man appeared about 2-3 million years ago. The structure of the body practically did not differ from its immediate ancestor - Australopithecus, but at the same time already learned to wield primitive objects. A skilled man laid the foundation for pithecanthropus.
Homo erectus and Homo sapiens
Pithecanthropus, synanthropus - two subspecies belonging to the same species, Homo erectus. Judging by the found remains, scientists came to the conclusion that they had a greater resemblance to Australopithecus than to humans. Their growth reached 160 cm, brain volume - from 700 to 1200 cubic meters. see, they had large superciliary ridges, not protruding chin, wide cheekbones. They lived 2 million - 200,000 years ago, grouped with their own kind in dwellings - caves. They were able to build more advanced models of tools than a skilled person. Pithecanthropus is believed to be a man-monkey already possessing good articulation skills. This creature, who knew how to cook food through fire, learned to defend itself, to hide from inclement weather, to expand its habitat, and to fear for life.
Neanderthals - the next stage of development, existed in the ice age (250,000 - 35,000 years ago). Grass and carnivores, knew how to raise and maintain fire, diversified the tools (knives, chopped, scrapers), learned how to distribute responsibilities for the most effective results (males hunted, females - butchering, collecting edible roots, plants).
Cro-Magnons replaced Neanderthals in the evolutionary chain; they became the first representatives of the species Homo sapiens. Lived 50,000 - 40,000 years ago. These are creatures anthropologically close to modern man. Their growth could reach 180 cm, the volume of the brain was 1400 cm cubic, the face had a high forehead, and there were no large superciliary ridges (as in the predecessors). Cro-Magnons were able to articulately speak, as evidenced by the protruding chin, built shelters, sewed skins, made sophisticated tools (bone, stone, silicon), knew how to decorate them. They showed interest in religion, art.
Nowadays, the evolutionary theory about the origin of man is the most common and has a special name - anthropogenesis.