Hominids are ... A detailed analysis

The article tells about who the hominids are, what primates are in this family, about their evolution and excavation of remains.

Ancient times

Life on our planet exists more than 3 billion years. During this time, many biological species have changed, some have been exterminated, the other has evolved or gone into a dead-end branch of development and has disappeared. But the greatest interest, of course, is represented by our ancestors - hominids. This family is the most developed primates and anthropoid apes, some of them exist to this day. These include orangutans, chimpanzees, gorillas and subspecies listed. And also man, the apex of the evolution of primates. So who are they, what are they different from the others and why did our ancestors evolve into humans? In this we will understand.

Our ancestors

Hominids are a family in which, in addition to the existing primates, there are also 22 extinct species. In fact, there are a few more, but these are only those who are included in the pedigree of the modern reasonable person. Among them were the most diverse representatives of ancient erect monkeys, but as time showed, Homo Sapiens became the most successful subspecies. And the most famous and more or less well-studied hominids are the Neanderthal man (cave man), Pithecanthropus, Homo erectus and Homo habilis - a straight- footed man and a skilled man, respectively.

Difference from other primates

The first and most important is, of course, uprightness. There are several plausible theories why our ancestors preferred this mode of travel, but they are a little lower. And anyway, this gave a serious impetus to evolution and development in man, because the upper limbs (hands) became free, and they began to use them for a variety of activities: making tools, traps, etc. The hominids understood this and actively Began to take advantage of other congeners.

The second difference is the size of the brain and intellect. But it's worth mentioning that the relationship between these two facts is not very big, but still there is. Our smarter ancestors realized the benefits of a collective kind of survival and interaction, in addition, a large brain requires a lot of calories, and you can not get enough of your regular roots, you need meat. And to get it alone is difficult, and it means that it is wiser to unite for hunting in groups. As you can see, in evolution nothing passes without a trace.

By the way, the family of hominids, until recently, included only a man and his immediate ancestors, omitting now living primates. But most biologists disagree with this, and now it includes, as already mentioned, gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans with subspecies.

Reasons for "humanizing"

On this topic to this day, disputes are not abating, new hypotheses and theories are being born. Most of them, fortunately, are weeded out because of their insolvency, but there are some more reasonable assumptions why ancient hominids developed while other mammals remained animals.

For example, the paleoanthropologist Alexander Markov in the first part of his two-volume book Evolution of Man. Monkeys, bones and genes "leads the following assumptions. Unfortunately, they are too extensive, and we will analyze two - about the erection and general social development.

According to the first, at a time when our ancestors settled steadily in the forests on the borders with steppes and savannas, it became necessary to be able to climb trees, hide from predators and get food. This was the reason for the development of the upper limbs. And then they began to use their hands as a way to carry more booty. After all, the more you give a female, the more favorable it is. But you still have to leave yourself to be hungry ...

The next important stage of such a phenomenon as the evolution of hominids is associated with the emergence of families and monogamy. Let's look at the wild society of monkeys, where the harem system reigns. At the top of the leader, he must constantly uphold his supremacy, and the rest are always fighting for the females, and there can be no talk of any interaction and friendship.

But with monogamy, everything changes! There is no need for an eternal rivalry between the members of the pack, because even the most "ugly" found a pair. And the absence of hostility has strengthened ties, because if you unite, where the hunting is more productive, raids on neighboring tribes, and the production of food in general. So, you will become more successful than neighbors and leave more offspring. And the last, by the way, is a very important factor.

Under the harem system, monkeys often kill children in order to mate again with the female. And with monogamy, they grow calm. And scientifically proven - the more carefree the childhood of an animal or man, the more savvy it grows. But you should not confuse with infantilism.

Fossil hominids

The remains of our ancestors remained in this or that state depending on the epoch, and, unfortunately, most often the finds are limited to two or three bones, of which gradually constitute the whole skeleton. The process is painstaking, and new technologies for determining age, what our ancestors ate, and other things allow us to look into the past.