EVOLUTION OF MAN.

As a species we are known as Homo Sapiens about which you would be aware of. But very few of us are aware how Homo Sapiens have evolved. This is a short note on the evolution of Homo Sapiens.

In Homo sapiens Homo is our Genus and Sapiens is our species. Today we are the only species in the Genus Homo.

Earlier, apart from us another species existed and that was Neanderthal man who later became extinct. The Neanderthal had a bigger cranial capacity than humans which means he had a bigger brain and is therefore smarter than us. The Neanderthal man originated before our species and he became extinct about 40,000 years ago.

The Genus Homo evolved about 1.8 million years ago and our species is a mere 300,000 years old. Of this the Cro Magnan man who is considered our real ancestor evolved around 40,000 years ago.

In the evolutionary cycle apart from man, apes are the highest evolved. They are related the closest to us.

As per zoological nomenclature Man along with Apes belongs to an ORDER called the “PRIMATES”.

On earth, the “CENOZOIC ERA” started about 7.5 crore years ago. It is divided into periods and the first period of this era is known as the “TERTIARY PERIOD”.

The first part of the Tertiary Period is known as the “PALEOCENE EPOCH” which lasted from 7.5 crore years to 5.8 crore years ago. During this era the order “PRIMATES” has originated.

By the first half of the Paleocene Epoch “PRIMATES” separated from the order of “INSECTIVORA”

What are the qualities of PRIMATES? They acquired the characteristic of catching things with both hands and feet. Their eyes were located in front of the face enabling them to see the same thing with both the eyes. Their brain size also grew bigger.

The order “PRIMATES” has 2 sub orders. 1. PROSIMEA and 2. ANTHROPOIDEA.

PROSIMEA sub order in turn has 4 “INFRA ORDERS”

1.       TREE SHREWS-They are like small squirrels. They are now found in China and South East Asia.

2.       TORSIERS-They are in the size of cats but the tail is very long. They are now found in South East Asian countries.

3.       LEMURIFORMES- They too are in the size of cats and have a special set of teeth in the front lower part of the mouth for combing the fur for grooming. They are now found only on the island of Madagascar.

4.       LORISIFORMS- Some of them are in the size of rats and some are in the size of monkeys. They are found in Africa and Asia.

ANTHROPOIDEA sub order in turn has 3 “SUPER FAMILIES”

1.       PLATERINE MONKEYS- They have broad noses and have the power to catch objects with their tail. They are found in Central and South America.

2.       CATERINE MONKEYS- Their noses are triangular and they are found from east in Africa to Japan in the West. All the monkeys known to us are in this category.

3.       HOMINOIDEA-This SUPER FAMILY in turn has 2 “FAMILIES”

1.    PONGIDAE-All the tail less apes come into this category. They are     Gibbon, Siamang, Orangutan, Gorilla and Chimpanjee.

2.       HOMINIDAE- Presently only man is left in this family.

Thus man belongs to the ANIMAL KINGDOM, to the PHYLUM Chordata, to the SUB PHYLUM Vertebrata, CLASS Mammalia, ORDER Primates, SUB ORDER Anthropoidea, SUPER FAMILY Hominoidea, FAMILY  Hominidae, GENUS Homo and SPECIES Sapiens.

It is surprising to know that order PRIMATES and the Order INSECTIVORA are related and got separated only about 6 crore years ago.