Deep Time and the Origins of Species

1. Deep Time and the Origins of Species

2. Books on the Subject • Donald C. Johanson and Maitland A Edy. Lucy: the Beginning of Humankind • Richard E. Leakey. The Making of Mankind • Tim M. Berra. Evolution and the Myth of Creationism • Richard Dawkins. The Blind Watchmaker • Richard Dawkins. The Selfish Gene • Richard Dawkins. The River of Life • Stephen J. Gould. …anything • Spencer Wells. Deep Ancestry: Inside the Genographic Project (National Geographic) • Robert Pennock. The Tower of Babel: Evidence against the new Creationism

3. Books continued • Christopher Stringer and Clive Gamble. In Search of the Neanderthals. • Christopher Stringer and Clive Gamble. African Exodus. The Origins of Modern Humans. • Clive Gamble. Palaeolithic Societies of Europe. • Steve Olson. Mapping Human History • Nicholas Wade. Before the Dawn: Discovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors • Jared Diamond. The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of Humans • Lauren Ristvet. In the Beginning: World History from Human Evolution to the First States. • Eugenie C. Scott. Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction • http://www.etsu.edu/cas/history/evolve.htm

4. Prehistory • What is “history”? • “Historia” from the Greek • Meaning: inquiry by examination of evidence • History deals with human presence • Documentation of some kind is necessary • Written records • Archaeological discovery

5. Prehistory to the beginnings of agriculture • interest in the past is a relatively new phenomenon • it was long assumed that everything that one needed to know could be found in what we now recognize as religious texts, which are not “history” • we know more about the past than any preceding generation

6. Age of the World • 6000 years old (4004 B.C.)??? • No, this is a religious, not historical idea • based upon textual marginalia which many believe is actually part of the Bible • Bishop Usher, 17th century clergyman • Actually, the world is about 4.5 to 5 billion years old • significantly younger than the universe • which is at three to five times that old • Ask you astronomy teacher for a full explanation of this

7. The Sun • around 10 billion years old • a very small, minor star • in a backwater on the galactic rim • which you should keep in perspective...as we go

8. You are here…

9. Beginnings of Life on Earth • first appeared about 4 billion years ago • small, single-celled creatures • evolved in to larger, multi-celled creatures like seaweed and jellyfish • followed, eventually, by such things as vertebrates • that is, things with “backbones” • You can see all of this on the Discovery Channel series about dinosaurs, if you wish to rent or buy them, or you can take the appropriate biology class

10. Early Plants

11. Invertebrates: 95% of all animals

12. Adaptation to land • about 300 million years ago, vertebrates and some invertebrates and plants • began to adapt to land • first successful adaptees: amphibians • followed by: reptiles

13. Amphibians

14. Reptiles

15. Dinosaurs

16. Mammals • By 60 million years ago, mammals became the dominant life form • following the destruction of the dinosaurs • probably by the impact of an large asteriod • although there are other theories such as disease, massive volcanic eruptions, and so for. Not floods, however. We’ll get to that later.

17. Natural Selection • The process where by life forms become increasing complex is called natural selection • it is also known as “evolution” or “biological evolution” • a theory first advanced by Charles Darwin in the mid-1800’s • Other theories of origination are roughly equivalent to those who still believe in a “Flat Earth”, or those who tortured Galileo for saying the earth revolved around the sun • If you are interested in a full discussion of this, sign up for the course in the Biology department

18. Pause,…momentarily • What was thought to be the location of hell in the Middle Ages? • What was thought to be the location of heaven in the Middle Ages? • Why did people think the world was flat? • What was the position of the Earth in the Universe? • What held the stars in place and made them rotate?

19. Theory? • What is a “theory”? • It is not just an “idea someone has”. • A “theory” is a scientific hypothesis which has been repeatedly tested and which the results of repeated testing continue to support: • Ex. The Theory of Relativity • Ex. Quantum physics • People who dismissively say “Evolution is just a theory!” don’t understand and are using the word incorrectly.

20. Humans as mammals • humans belong to the animal kingdom • Humans are mammals • At least most of them

21. The Order: Primata • humans belong to the order Primata • along with tree shrews, lemurs, tarsiers, monkeys, and apes

22. Variation within the human family • early anthropoid types: hominids • consistent evolution away from early hominidtypes • natural selection (Charles Darwin) • toward a more modern type

24. Genetic studies • including mitrocondrial DNA,show decisively that great apes and human share a common ancestor • gorillas splitting from the common line: 5 million years ago • chimpanzees--sharing 99+% of your DNA—3 to 4 million years ago---and use language, tools, and live in complex societies

25. Differentiation in Humans • six or seven ice ages ago • Pleistocene era • product of natural selection

26. Earliest hominids • in Africa • 4 to 4.5 million years ago (date subject to change as new evidence comes in) • on the Savannah's (grasslands ) • used simple tools and weapons • choppers, bashers, smashers, and sharp edges

27. Earliest hominids, cont. • similar to modern humans • smaller brains--1/3 current size • upright posture—app. 3 feet tall • capable of tool-making and speech, affecting development of the brain

28. The Savannah's • a good place to start • warm (Naked is Good) • food (Whatever We Can Scrounge: Weeds and Lots of Dead, Rotten Things that are Real Slow) • shelter (Trees, Taller the Better) • mushrooms (Remember What the Door Mouse said....)

29. Australopithecus • earliest hominid types • lived for over 2 million years (fairly successful) • lived with other hominid types • evidence is increasing, and theories are currently being modified to take new evidence into account • Again read a book on this or take the appropriate biology class

30. Australopithecus • Discovery of skeleton AL-288-1, north of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia • Nicknamed “Lucy” • Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds • 4’6”, 55lb., bipedal Brain 500 cc (modern human: 1400 cc), limited speech, but opposable digit • Estimated date of death: 3.5 million years ago

31. LUCY Australopithecus afarensis 3.2 million years ago

32. Other Hominids • Ramapithecusand Afarensis • descended from afarensis: • africanus, habilis, erectus, sapiens • In other words, “US”

35. Another graphic: recent data, 2013

36. Development of Hominids • Animals adapt themselves to environment • Hominids adapt environment to themselves • Using tools, making tools, improving tools • Using language • Developing complex cooperative social structures

37. Modern Humans • immediate ancestor: Homo erectus • 500,000 years ago • first to use the hand axe and other stone tools

38. Social organization of early humans • hunting and gathering groups • requiring sophisticated verbal communications • first evidence of metaphysical ideas • reverence for the dead • Neanderthal ritual burials • Regular use of fire and improvement in tool kits

39. Some Neanderthal tools

40. Dispersion of humans • use of fire allowed dispersion from the savannahs • to cooler areas during the ices ages • also increased the potential food supply greatly • cooking helps liberate proteins and carbohydrates • Proteins mean bigger bodies and bigger brains

41. Current evolution • thought to have reached it current point about 40,000 to 50,000 years ago • appearance of homo sapiens • if Neanderthals are considered to be homo sapiens, then the time-frame increases considerably • Genetic relationship to Neanderthal? • Ten years ago: none, according to most scholars • Now: you carry about 6% N. DNA • You also carry about 1-2% Denisovan and a fourth, as yet undetermined, ancestor • Cutting edge work being done at the Max Plank Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (http://www.eva.mpg.de/)

42. One reconstruction

43. Homo sapiens Neanderthal

44. Hypothetical Denisovan • Based on sequenced genome

45. Important Transition • previously: adaptation to environment • process of mutation and natural selection • genetic processes adapt the life form to the environment

46. Human control of environment • with fire, humans could adapt the environment • potentially entering a third stage, NOW • when both genetics and environment can be controlled

47. Life as Hunters and Gatherers • most of human history as been as hunters and gathers • development of tools • particularly “blade technology” • blades, slings, bows, arrows, spears, etc • Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age)

48. How to make a hand axe

49. Stone age spears • Two types

50. Atlatals (Spear throwers)