Writing Assignment #3 Many people believe that fossils can be found about anywhere in the world, but there are certain locations where they can be located. Charles Darwin proposed that humans probably arose in Africa, and was explained thoughtfully in his book The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex. He believed that Africa was the most likely place to find fossils because our “early progenitors” lived on the African continent (pg. 90). Apes adopted the tropical climate, and he believed that humans were more alike with African apes, than Asian apes. As it came to happen, some of the biggest discovers would be found in Africa. With new discovers, it is quite intriguing to come upon something new, that perhaps the world has never seen before. Owen Lovejoy helped discover why Ardipithecus ramidus is so unusual, which represents the transition from tree dwelling to ground dwelling. He had lots of evidence to prove that this new structure was seen in Ardi, which was a new body plan. He discovered that Ardi’s hands fit together in a way that allowed the hand to bend far backward at the wrist, If lovejoy is right, this means that Ardi never went through a knuckle-walking stage like experts believed she did(pg. 92). He also pointed that Ardi’s pelvic blades, were shorter and broader than apes, which would let her balance on one leg while walking upright. Lovejoy also claims that she had an opposable big toe, which meant she was able to grasp branches, suggesting she spent a lot of time in the trees. All this evidence was a huge shocker to the world of science, Ardi represents an early stage of human evolution when ancient ape body plan was being remodeled to live in two worlds- in the tree, and in the ground (pg. 92).
When Berger saw a CT scan of the skull, he noticed that there was an air space in between the surface of the fossil and the contour of the actual bone (pg. 97). If it is confirmed that it was actually skin, such evidence could show that sweat glands were also present. Sweat glands are very important, provides information that would provide insights on how the species would regulate body temperature. The article states, “sweat glands could additionally offer clues to brain evolution: an affective means of keeping cool was a prerequisite for the emergence of large brain size” which is a homo characteristic. The teeth help scientist study what they ate, by looking at the carbon isotope ratios. They are both classified as “C4 and C3” each of them eats different things such as plants, or grass.
Lovejoy and Tim White are the leading experts when it comes to Ardi. They argue that Ardi is indeed a early human ancestor, and have lots of evidence to claim that. They argue that the lower part of Ardi’s hip was powerfully primitive (114) and was adaptive for climbing. It was also broad, which describes how our human body is built like, and how we are able to walk. Ardi’s hands always contained bony structure, which means that she was able to walk with her palms with no trouble at all. Lovely states, “Apes cant bend their wrist backward, and it’s the bending of the wrist backward that allowed Ardi to walk on the palms” (pg. 114). DNA is very important to our early human evolutionary system that we know off. If it weren’t for it, we wouldn’t know who we came from, and where we came from. When scientist find fossils, they try to extract all the DNA possible to find any signs of heritage. The article states that at some time, humans most have mated with Neanderthals in the past to create what we are today. That is why DNA is an important piece of science that we use.
All of these articles relate to what we have already learned in class in many ways. Ardi reminds me of the skull you showed us, and how similar. I was actually picturing in my head the skull I was holding in class while reading these articles, which is quite funny. I don’t disagree with anything these scientists have to say, because in reality we wont ever know 100% the facts without missing anything.