Human (Evolution)

Proconsul is an extinct primate which lived approximately 23 to 17 million years ago during the Early Miocene Period.

Proconsul had the features of both an ape and a primate.

Proconsul was approximately 3 to 5 feet long and weighed around 25 to 100 pounds.

It is believed that it lived on a diet of plants and fruits – which it probably secured while living in trees. It may have also lived on insects like many monkeys do today.

It is possible that it could have spawned the Hominids and have been a distant ancestor of mankind.

10-40 million years old

Remains found from India, Kenya, Pakistan, China and some other region of the world.

Actually, we have very little idea of their height, brain size and walking posture.

An important feature which led them to be our direct ancestor is extreme reduction of their canines and modification of the chewing teeth.

It is assume that a group of brachiating arboreal apes come down to the ground for terrestrial living.

The ground living required a different kind of adaption and it is almost believed freeing of the forelimbs is linked with adapting to ground living.

Ramapithecus was the first step of human evolution's adaptive process.

Ground living did not only require the adaption of the chewing apparatus but also combating with an entirely different set of dangers which were non-existent in tree life.

Neandertals are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago.

Neanderthal technology was quite sophisticated. It includes the Mousterian stone-tool industry and ability to create fire and build cave hearths, make the adhesive birch bark tar, craft at least simple clothes similar to blankets and ponchos, weave, go seafaring through the Mediterranean, and make use of medicinal plants, as well as treat severe injuries, store food, and use various cooking techniques such as roasting, boiling and smoking.

Neanderthals had a more robust build and proportionally shorter limbs.

The braincases of Neanderthal men and women averaged about 1,600 cm3 and 1,300 cm3 respectively.

The Neanderthal skull was more elongated and had smaller parietal lobes and cerebellum.

Most abundant and widespread species of primate.

They are a type of great ape who are characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain.

Humans are highly social and tend to live in complex social structures composed of many cooperating and competing groups, from families and kinship networks to political states.

Humans have a large, highly developed and complex prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain associated with higher cognition.

They are highly intelligent, capable of episodic memory, have flexible facial expressions, self-awareness, and a theory of mind.

The human mind is capable of introspection, private thought, imagination, volition, and forming views on existence.

This has allowed great technological advancements and complex tool development possible through complex reasoning and the transmission of knowledge to subsequent generations. Language, art, and trade are defining characteristics of humans.