Humans are a species that permanently inhabit every continent on the planet. But of course, like all other species, we’ve evolved. So where and when did this take place? Figuring out important temporal and spatial questions related to our own evolution has been one of the central missions for evolutionary anthropology over the past 100-150 years. In order to gain satisfactory answers we had to learn a lot about our closest relatives, our fossilized ancestors, and our own genomes. In the video below I attempt to explain how our understanding of evolution has developed:
First of all, well done Cadell and team, the video is engaging both on a content level and visually. Great work.
I have a question that may seem silly. If at one point in our not too distant evolutionary past we were comfortable climbing trees and even sleeping in them, why are we now not nearly as comfortable (largely) with heights? Has enough time elapsed, in evolutionary terms, to have eradicated our affinity for heights or am I way off here and I'm of a minority of humans that doesn't feel okay napping in the branches? That said, many people do crave climbing etc, can this be attributed to our evolutionary past? Are there other examples of our now dormant past behaviors that express themselves on a smaller level than they once did? My guess is the answer is "yes there are many" and they're all staring me in the face. What are some of the most prominent and obvious? You know, sort of the behavioral "tail-bone" if you will. A vestigial trait left within me by my tree-dwelling ancestors.
posted 3819 days ago