There may be a lot of debates between those who support the theory of evolution and those who prefer to stay on the side of creationists. Writing an evolution essay, you don’t need to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these views. As a scholar, you need to rely on the facts from reputable sources and focus on the stages of homo sapiens development. The way of life and surrounding environment played a significant role in creating the special features a human race has. Your essay should be an exciting journey to discovering the secrets of our species and explaining them using the laws of nature.
Take kin note that an evolution essay is not a research paper on evolution and as such the reader should not be so bombarding with scientific terms and concepts, the main goal of most essays is to entertain, show prowess in writing and also to pass across important information. Information sharing alone, should not be given all the attention at the expense of other the important aims.
Particular attention should, therefore, be given to making an interesting essay that is also informative. All the target audience must have their needs well met. Ardent efforts should, however, be put in the requirements or instructions that in most cases are given to make your academic work more structured.
Evolution essay example
Various species have gradually evolved over the years to their present status and form. Although there were substantial differences among the early hominine with respect to their anatomy, they also had number of similar traits. The hominids have undergone much evolution. This paper discusses the evolution of hominids starting with Early Hominids and Australopithecus, Rise of the Genus Homo, and Archaic Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.
Early Hominids and Australopithecus
They were nearly as efficient in bipedal locomotion like the humans. Their pelvis bones were shortened and bowl shaped making their pelvis more stable to support their weights while moving bipedally. Bipedalism allowed the hominines to see long distances, and check predators like big cats in their environments. The upright posture also allowed them to dissipate excessive heat from their body and to reduce heat absorption. Their faces were large; they had considerably bigger teeth, with large jaws characterized with thick enamel and powerful jaw when compared to the modern human beings (Minugh-Purvis & McNmara, 2001).
Most of the early hominines have been found in various areas in Africa, with majority being discovered in southern and eastern Africa. Some have also been found in Chad and Northern central Africa. Some of the most common species of australopithecines include Australopithecus anamnesis which existed long ago; Australopithecus in east Africa); Australopithecus Africanus in south and east Africa; Australopithecus garlic in Ethiopia; Australopithecus Bosei in East Africa, Australopithecus robustus (Conde & Ayala, 2007). The robustus species had large grinding teeth characterized with thicker enamels which allowed them tom crack hard nuts and other dry seeds.
Rise of the Genus Homo
The main early members of the genus homo are the Australopithecus afarensis which is regarded as the direct ancestors of the Homo and Australopithecus africanus, regarded as the ancestral to the robust Australopithecus. The main difference between the genus homo and the genus Australopithecus is the human like body posture and proportions which had comparatively elongated legs and shorter arms compared to their torso. Fluctuations in climate affected the evolution of the Homo. The Pleistocene characterized by the massive advances and the retreats of continental glaciations, affected the hominines due to shifts in the climate, flora and fauna. Early hominids acquired their carcasses through scavenging. In addition to scavenging, they also had the ability to appropriate carcasses from other carnivores. They also hunted for the carcasses (Minugh-Purvis & McNmara, 2001).
Homo erectus lived 1.9 million years ago. Homo erectus has been discovered in various parts of Africa, Europe and Asia. They have moved especially from Africa to other tropical and subtropical regions of the world such as Europe and Asia, movement coinciding with the cooler global temperatures. Homo erectus was the major contemporaries of the Homo habilis with origins in East Africa. They were anatomically like the human beings-With the same legs and arms. However their leg ones were denser than that of the modern human beings. The homo ergasters were presumably earlier when compared to Homo erectus and were found in most parts of Africa.
There was considerable increase in the body size of the homo erectus compared to the other early hominids. The increase in their body sizes were significant especially in hunting and scaring of predators. The auchelian tools that were associated with the Homo erectus were mainly hand axes which were used in splitting animals, woods and nuts among other. Higher quality diet or the shift to softer foods was in accord with the evolution trend of the Homo erectus anatomy- they had smaller teeth especially their true molar compared to the earlier species
Archaic Homo sapiens and Neanderthals
They were capable of articulating speech. Although they did not speak, they have higher speech capabilities as compared to the Homo erectus. Archaic Homo sapiens in Africa, Asia and Europe exhibited traits from both the erectus and sapiens species. However fossils from each continent differ though the physical differences are not extraordinarily different. The archaic mainly African and the European invented the levallois technique for their tool making and use. They lived in caves, open sites and rock shelters. They used fore for cooking, light, warmth and for protection against their predators.
In the early glacial period, Neanderthal extended across North Africa, Europe, Iran, and Israel, former Soviet, Uzbekistan and China (Conde & Ayala, 2007). They were discovered in various places: Vindija, Croatia (42,000-28,000 y.a), La Chapelle, France (50, 000 y.a), Shanidar in Iraq (70000-60000 y.a), Tabun Israel (110,000 y.a) and Krapina, Croatia (125, 000-120000 y.a) (Conde & Ayala, 2007). Based on fossil records, Neanderthal were successful hunters who used close proximity spears for hunting (Conde & Ayala, 2007).
One of the recent DNA from Neanderthal remains were from the Vindija cave have suggested a date of the split between the Neanderthals and the homo sapiens at 460,000 and 700000 years ago indicating that approximately 30 percent of the some of the alleles derived from the homo sapiens were also existent in the Neanderthal lineage (Conde & Ayala, 2007).