Thitirat Pongprajuc (Nuch)

ANTH 1020
Melissa Schaefer
April 28, 2017

Signature Assignment Reflection

Human Origins is ambiguous which make anthropologists want to discover where do we

come from. They have questions need to be answered, but to get accurate answers they must do

the research and construct a hypothesis. Then, they test it by conducting an experiment. It can be

an observation or a lab testing. After that, they analyze the data and draw a conclusion. With the

use of scientific method, anthropologists can answer some questions associating the origin of

human. In class, we also used the scientific method to study human origins. We studied what was

studied by the use of scientific method, and we also had some in hand observations when we

studied fossils. Anthropologists come up with a theory of evolution that humans have been

evolved from Apes. Some people may deny the evolution theory, but if we look closely to the

microevolution (small changes over short period of time in population), which includes mutation,

gene flow, genetic drift, non-random mating, and natural selection; and macroevolution

(culmination of microevolution), which includes the pattern of speciation, extinction,

convergence, parallel evolution and adaptive radiation. Macroevolution can be inferred through

the pattern in the fossil record and living species.

From the first part of the class, we studied was genetics, the principle of inheritance, and

human biological variation. The evidence that supports that humans have been evolved are

dominance and recessiveness of genes; mutation; and solar radiation and skin color. Humans

DNAs carry specific genes that were inherited from parents. The variation of genes at specific

loci called alleles which produce the different trait for each individual. One trait will be

controlled by two different alleles that we receive one allele from the father and another allele
from the mother. If we have the same dominant alleles from father and mother, our genes will be

called homozygous dominance. If we get the same recessive alleles, our genes will be called

homozygous recessiveness. However, if we inherit one dominant allele and one recessive allele

from the parents, our genes will be called heterozygous. This concept can explain why a blond-

haired woman marries a black-haired man and their children are likely to have dark hair. It is

because black hair is a dominant trait and blond hair is a recessive trait. Another evidence

proving humans have been evolved is Mutation. The mutation occurs when one allele change to

one another. For example, humans used to have only blood type A, but the allele somehow

mutated from A to B long time ago. Now, we have more people who have blood type B because

the mutation from A to B that makes the offspring blood type different from their parent has

passed on to the next generation. The third evidence that proves human evolution can be seen

from human skin colors. Skin color is influenced by the pigment melanin. Melanin functions as a

built-in sunscreen for humans. Humans who live close to the equator, where the sunlight

intensity is high, tend to have dark skin because melanin provides protection from UV radiation.

In the northern latitudes, where is cloudy which causes less sunlight exposure, lighter skin is

favorable because they have melanin to block the UV radiation. They can absorb enough solar

radiation to produce vitamin D necessary. Evidence from these chapters is reasonable for me

because they can be tested by scientific method. Moreover, the content in this first part of the

class is a modern knowledge which is easier to be accepted to be true.

The second part of the class showed some evidence that proves humans has evolved from

primates. Primatologists have studied and proposed that primates are our relatives, and they

could be our ancestor. Some primate characteristics that indicate they are close to us are post-

orbital structure and brain size that we can see from a skull. The post-orbital structure is limited
to primate. Primates brain size is considered to be big compared to body size. This allows them

to learn things. Especially great apes, they have the essential brain power to learn things. From

the observation of primatologist, chimpanzees learn how to use tools to crack seeds. Moreover,

the learning process of chimpanzees is close to the learning process of human. Another example

is that great apes such as bonobos can occasionally walk on two feet. This characteristic makes

primate even more related to our species. Evolutionists hypothesized that it could be a speciation

occurred millions of years ago when a new species (hominins) evolved from an earlier species

(primates). This process took a very long period of time to make hominins have different

appearances from primates, but when we studied about early hominins we found out that early

bipeds look more like great apes than modern humans. Evidence from the second part of the

class is acceptable because there are primates to study and observe. We can use the scientific

method to retest if the hypothesis we have about primates is true.

The third part of class we explored was fossil hominins. From the early hominins

(Miocene Hominoids and Pre-Australopiths) to modern humans (Homo Sapiens Sapiens) were

discussed in these chapters. Evidence that leads to the conclusion that humans have been evolved

are fossil records which were studied by paleoanthropology. They excavated the fossils and

found out that skull structures of early hominins look like apes skulls, but their skeletons

indicate that they were walking around on two feet. Later on, these bipeds evolved to be more

capable in brain capacity and physical structure. This helped them to be more adaptive to

environment, food resources, and territory. About 4 million years ago, Australopithecus could

have a speciation occurred, and it caused two different species which are Early Homo and

Robust Australopith. Early Homo increased their brain capacity. On the other hand, Robust

Australopith increased in their teeth size which could be affected by the food they ate. Another
example is the Neanderthals who lived in 200,000 years ago. Neanderthals evolved from Homo

heidelbergensis. They increased in brain capacity from 1250cm3 to 1500cm3 and their body size

was also big. Actually, during the Ice Age, everything was huge including Neanderthals. They

had barrel chests, stocky limbs, and large noses. These traits were well suited to the frigid

climates. Neanderthal disappeared around the same time modern human arrived. There is still an

argument about Neanderthal extinction. Modern human although have smaller brain capacity

(1350cm3) than the Neanderthals, our brain has much more developed frontal lobe which allows

us to have more powerful brain capability. This could be a reason why there is just only Homo

Sapiens Sapiens living in present-day. Evidence presented in these chapters are too compelling

because the sample size of the evidence is too small. For example, fossil records we have been

discovered are not a good sample size to represent the whole species. Moreover, there are some

contradictions about how to divide species. The splitters would come up with 10 different

species of hominins while the lumpers would think that there are only 3 different species.

For me, the scientific method is a reliable tool to get an accurate answer for a question we

have on any topic. We can retest the hypothesis to make the conclusion more accurate. Actually,

we all use the scientific method in our daily life, but we mostly do not aware of.

Throughout this course, I think microevolution makes more sense than macroevolution

because I can apply it to the current situation. Gene flow can be easily found in America. When

an immigrant from Asia, marry to an American. The children of this couple represent gene flow.

However, Human evolution is still ambiguous for me because referring to the period of the early

hominins is difficult to get accurate details about how our ancestor evolved. Now, what we have

is just a hypothesis that our ancestors might look like this. They might live in this environment,

eat this kind of food. There is no right answer because studying from fossils is very difficult to
get an accurate answer because nobody knows exactly what happened in millions of years ago.

This makes me think if humans in the next million years study the human origin, they may have

less or more confusion. I assume that may have less confusion studying our fossils than we have

when we study the hominins.