The common ancestors of modern apes and humans first appeared around 35 million years ago. Then, thee earth was really the planet of the apes. Many species of monkeys and apes lived in the forests of Africa.
Around 5 million years ago, human like creatures or hominids appeared in Africa. A skeleton of one Such hominid was found in Ethiopia in 1974. It was named Lucy, Lucy, though it had a chimpanzee - like posture, stood upright and walked on two feet. This was the distinguishing feature of a hominid. Now they could use their hands for other tasks.
Next, a more intelligent species of human, Homo Erectus, or 'upright man, first appeared in Africa about 1.8 million years ago. He was tall, lean and able to move more quickly. He hunted large animals with sharp weapons. These humans were always on the move. They quickly spread across the world.
But the Hommo Erectus never improved their technology. They lived in Stone age only throughout. There is no evidence that they used fire. They had no art, no culture, no religion and no burial practices.
At about the same time as Homo erectus. Another specie called Homo Sapiens (wise men) appeared in Africa, Europe and Asia. The Homo Sapiens were the immediate ancestors of modern man. By 1,15,000 years ago, the Homo sapiens reached the Middle East. They replaced Homo erectus in every part of the world they journeyed. In Neanderthal valley of Germany, the bows of Homo Sapiens were found in 1857. Modern people, who have been given the Scientific name Homo Sapiens, did not have the large jaws and brows of Homo erectus. Their brains were larger.
The British naturalist Charles Darwin expounded the theory of evolution, He advocated the theory of "natural selection" in his books: "The Origin of Species' and "The Descent of Man".
Charles Darwin said that man descended from lower primates. It was misunderstood that man descended from the apes. In fact, man did not descend from chimpanzes or gorillas. At some point in the past, we shared with these apes a common ancestor - an ape-like primate. This is important to our understanding of man's
evolution.
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