WHY US?

HOW AND WHY DID THE HOMO-SAPIENS COME OUT ON TOP?

BY AVA GROARKE, RACHEL O'NEILL AND CLÍONA MOORE
EVOLUTION
• •The definition of evolution is the process
by which different kinds of living organism
are believed to have developed from earlier
forms during the history of the earth. It was
first presented by Charles Darwin in his
book On the Origin of Species (1859)
• •Humans, also known as Homo Sapiens, are
part of a group of hominids. We diverged
from the other groups hominids about 2
million from east and southern Africa.
EVOLUTION (CONT)
•The australopithecus came from south Africa. They began to
disperse and since there are many different climates, humans
evolved in different directions.

•The humans that moved to Europe became known as the

Homo Neanderthalensis and those who moved to east Asia
became the Homo Erectus. There were any more types around
the world, but these are some of the more popular ones.

•Evolution in East Africa continued and eventually the Homo

Sapien was born.
THE STAGES OF HUMAN EVOLUTION

•Australopithecus •Homo Habilis •Homo Erectus

•Homo
Homo Sapiens
Neanderthalensis
NEANDERTHALS VS. HOMO SAPIENS
NEANDERTHALS
• Neanderthals and homo sapiens evolved from the same
common ancestor between 20,000 and 50,000 years
ago. Some Neanderthal DNA is still in us to this day.
• They primarily lived in Europe and the Middle East. They
were no longer suited to the hot climate of Africa and
had to move up north.
• They lived during the ice age in caves and this is how
they got the popular alias of 'cave men' but were much
more intelligent than the media would lead you to
believe. Neanderthals were able to control fire, buried
their dead and used tools.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
• Although they had a similar appearance to us, the Neanderthals
were shorter and stocky, reaching a height of 1.7 metres (5ft 5in).
This doesn't sound tall to us today, but H.Sapiens reached up to 7ft
back then.
• They had wide noses to help humidify cold air, angular cheek bones
and projecting brow ridges.
• The Neanderthals had strong arms and a wider pelvis giving them a
lower centre of gravity, helping them hunt.
HOMO SAPIENS
• Homo Sapien means 'wise man' in Latin. All modern humans
are the H.Sapien species.
• The word Homo Sapien means wise man (Homo is man,
Sapien is wise)
• H.Sapien is skinnier and has less muscle then a Neanderthal.
SIMILARITIES
• Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals have many similarities
 Both have common ancestor.
 Both bipeds (Walk on two legs).
 Share 1.6 to 2.5 genetic code in common.
 Similar facial and body structure.
 Both have brains of similar sizes.
 Both used tools, fire etc.
WHY ARE
WE BETTER?
USE OF BRAIN
• H.Sapiens uses the brain more efficiently than any other
species of the Homo genus.
• Therefore we are much weaker than the Neanderthals.
They use most of their energy for their muscles while
we use over 20 percent for our brain.
• This meant that we had to develop tools to survive
therefore helping us develop creativity and our thinking
skills.
BRAIN MUTATION
• 70,000 years ago a mutation occurred in our brains that gave us
FICTIVE LANGUAGE.
• A dual reality is a reality in which we see the world in two
different ways, objectively and fictitiously.
• For example, a monkey can tell their group that they see a lion,
but they can't tell their group about a laws, gods etc.
• This allowed us to work together in larger group therefore giving
us a better chance of survival.
GROUPS
• Natural selection favours those who can form social
bonds and live in groups. This is what makes us even more
successful.
• We can work in much larger groups then our monkey
relatives, thanks to our fictive language.
• It allows us to have the same beliefs system and therefore
work together to create something.
CHILD BIRTH
• When we began to walk up-right, it narrowed the
women's hips, making birth harder. This cause us to be
born earlier as our heads are smaller. But, this also
means we are very under developed when we are
born.
• This made it harder to raise children as they took very
long to develop and so all members of the tribe helped
raise the child.
• This helped the social ties of the tribes to get even
stronger.
FIRE
• Fire was a major point in our evolution. It was originally
discovered by the Homo Erectus but was copied by us.
• This allowed us to cook our food and try new things. Since we
were able to cook food now we had more time to do other
things (e.g farming).
• It also allowed us to scare away predators, making us jump to the
top of the food chain.
• Fire also gave us warmth and light, making it easier for us to
thrive in cold and dark environments.
GOSSIP & SECRETS
• During our evolution, a gene used for
languages developed and this led to the rise of
gossip.
• We used gossip to help form stronger bonds
with the people in our tribes and helped us
figure out who we shouldn't let in.
• This was also the same for secrets and is
something we use up to this day.
CONCLUSION
• All these unique features we have has
made us the last survivor of the Homo
Genus. Majority is down to luck in
evolution and the size of our brains.
• Although it has not all been good. Our
rushed rise to the top of the food chain
has made us constantly anxious, making us
to horrible things. It can be related to
some of the worst disasters caused by
humans in our history.