Hominids are bipedal and have huge brains. They have a few skeletal adaptations to walking upright, such as bended vertebrae and measured femurs. Hominids are bipedal and have large brains. They have many skeletal adaptations to walking upright, such as bent vertebrae and pointed femurs. Hominids were omnivores and developed cooking, which helped in the reduction of their teeth and jaws.
At least a dozen human-like beings, known as hominids, have existed on Earth in the 8 million years or so since our earliest ancestors diverged from the apes. And the list continues to grow. The hominid family tree develops new branches as scientists find new fossils.
However, fossils are often difficult to classify neatly as one animal or another. Specific hominids, like all other species, were special. And, over millions of years, much of the organisms changed; they evolved; and some diverged and became new species.
The Hominid Family Tree
At first sight, the relationships between species on the hominid family tree seem to be riddled with more questions than answers. The graphic above illustrates, with connecting lines, how some scientists believe 15 different species relate to one another over a 6 million-year time period. A few connections are obvious. For example, scientists agree that the three most recent hominid species (Homo heidelbergensis, Homo neanderthalensis, and modern humans, Homo sapiens) all originated from an earlier species called Homo erectus. Other relationships, though, are murkier..
Indeed, our understanding of human origins is lacking, and the quest for missing puzzle pieces continues. However, dismissing the question marks on the hominid family tree as holes in our understanding ignores the reality of evolution. Hominid animals evolved over hundreds of thousands of years, adapting to evolving environmental factors. As a result, since the current fossil record only provides a snapshot into these emerging animals, determining when a species "became" something else is very difficult, if not impossible.
However, in order to try to comprehend human origins, scholars have had to study and categorize the fossils that they have. They are able to discover patterns within the organisms and have a deeper understanding of how they came to be in this manner. They have thus provided us with a look of our ancient history, which will certainly become clearer in the coming years.
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Biological development of Hominids
Hominids are bipedal and have huge brains. They have a few skeletal adaptations to walking upright, such as bended vertebrae and measured femurs. Hominids are bipedal and have large brains. They have many skeletal adaptations to walking upright, such as bent vertebrae and pointed femurs. Hominids were omnivores and developed cooking, which helped in the reduction of their teeth and jaws.
The Hominid Family Tree
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