Basics of Evolution - Korzh O.P. - 2006

Part III. PATHWAYS OF LIFE EVOLUTION

Chapter 21. Anthropogenesis

Today, it is believed that primates diverged from a common insectivore trunk about 70 million years ago, while their split into Old World and New World monkeys occurred no earlier than 35 million years ago. The Emergence of hominids from African anthropoid apes took place over 7-8 million years ago. They can be divided into two major groups: australopithecines and Representatives of the genus Homo, the latter of which appeared about 2 million years ago. THE ORIGIN OF modern humans dates back to the last 50-150 thousand years, making Homo sapiens a relatively young biological species.

When defining human uniqueness, A number of questions arise, the two most important being: 1) humans as a biological species are just as unique as any other biological taxon; 2) the differences between humans and other biological species are negligible, with genetic differences not exceeding 1% and behavioral differences fitting within the range of higher primates. Biologists consider humans to be true primates who inherited a significant number of traits from the common ancestor of all primates, yet adapted them exceptionally well to their own needs. The formation of purely human traits was neither inevitable nor pre-determined, but rather occurred As a result of adaptive capabilities in solving ecological and phylogenetic challenges faced by our ancestors.