HUMAN EVOLUTION

“There are no
final words.
Human
origins will
always
be enigmatic”
-Donald
Johanson-
 Nothing in biology makes sense
except in the light of evolution.
Theodosius Dobzhansky, ABT 25:
125-129, 1973
Public Acceptance of Evolution
The history of life: looking at the patterns

The central ideas of evolution are that

life has a history — it has changed over time —
and that different species share common ancestors.
 Perubahan manakah yang
dianggap Evolusi?
A B C D

Biological evolution involves descent

through genetic inheritance.
 How closely are humans related to
other primates
• Taxonomic relationships are based on how
closely or distantly species are related.
• Human have a higher degree of relatedness
to all species of primates compared with
any other type of organism.
The primate family
 Dasar perbandingan kekerabatan

• In the past, relationships among species

have primarily been determined by
examining similarities in appearance.
• Now, anatomical comparison, molecular,
DNA have been particularly useful for
understanding the biological relationship
and genetic closeness.
Anatomical comparison
Genetic similarity (%) 99,3

98,4
The level of
homogeneity is
generally expressed 97,7
with a percentage that
represents overall
genetic similarity as 96,4
well as evolutionary
distance
 What does it mean?
• This level of similarity reveal that the
closest evolutionary distance exists among
human, not gorilla, are the nearest relatives
to the chimpanzees and bonobos.
• However, it doesn’t imply a corresponding
level of overall equivalence. Rather, it
points to the profound consequences that a
mere 1.6 percent difference in DNA can
create.
 Did human evolve from apes?
• This question generates the strongest emotional
reaction.
• That argument began in 1859 with Charles
Darwin’s publication on On the Origin of Species.
• The idea that species have evolved over time
directly challenges the persistent notion that
human were created in their modern form.
• Common misunderstanding about the process of
evolution only add fuel to the fire.
 A challenge for the natural
selection
• Intelligent design or Devine Design or Divine
Creator (William Paley (1743-1805)  Natural
Theology (1803)
• “When you look at a watch or any other complex
machine, you know that it must have been made
by an intelligent creature.”
• Woodpecker’s beak  such design could not have
come about by chance!
 Speciation
• Individuals with the same ancestor may
become quite different from each other 
speciation
• Speciation: slow or rapid depend on
environmental pressures, rate of
reproduction, and rate of genetic mutation.
 Three fundamental principles of
Darwin’s theory
1. Population  Species in a population
have slightly different characteristics
(variation).
2. Heredity  Offspring inherit some
characteristics from their parents.
3. Differential reproduction  Differences in
characteristics results some individual
more successful than others and have a
greater number of offspring.
 Progress after Darwin
• In Darwin’s era, genes had yet to be
identified as the biological vehicle that
carried information from parents to
offspring.
• Alternate forms of the same gene are called
allels, which are the basis for the range of
characteristic that may appear in any
individual.
 Evolution
• Evolution is the most simply defined as a
change in the frequency of allels in a
population over time.
• The process of evolution is the unifying
principle that is the basis for all of biology
and can be applied to any living organism.
 Evolution
• Evolution is not goal directed
• Natural selection has no foresight, ex: when
feather first evolved, this was not in order to
prepare the way for the evolution of the
wing.
• Richard Dawkins  “blind watchmaker”
• Over time, segment of a population may
become increasingly isolated from each
other, physically, behaviorally, and/or
geographically.
 Family tree
• The traditional concepts of evolution as a
“tree,” with one species neatly branching
into another, is misguided.
• A more accurate metaphor would be an
evolutionary “bush” with many branches
that begin and end in a confusing tangle.
• The fossil record confirm that human
evolutionary history has proceed in this way.
 Human evolution
• The common assumption that humans
evolved from one of the species of modern
great ape is completely wrong.
• All of the species in Hominidae do share a
common ancestry, but each has a totally
distinct evolutionary pathway.
• The human lineage was not the conclusion
to great ape evolution but was simply
another of the multiple branches.
 Will Chimp evolve in human?
• Lamarck theory  An organism’s efforts
affected its physical structure, which would
then be inherited by offspring.
• Darwin theory clearly reject Lamarck’s
arguments.
• The process of evolution relies on random
change rather than a response to a specific
need or desire.
 Organism will always evolve
• Human are NOT an endpoint of evolution
• The evolution of any species is continuous,
having no defined ending except for
extinction.
• The remarkable similarities between human
and great apes a primarily the result of a
common ancestry.