The idea that humans evolved from within the apes has many
people doubting evolution. They can not fathom that humans and primitive apes
are related to one another. Evolutionists have been slowly proving this, and it is looking more and more like a possibility. Through the use of
morphological and molecular evidence apes and humans are being linked. Humans
are a fairly young species. In fact humans and chimpanzees shared a common
ancestor about 5.4 million years ago. This number is fairly small in the big
scheme of evolution. The fossil evidence linking humans to apes is relatively
thin, however, it is getting better. With every new discovery we get closer to
linking humans and chimpanzees. The bones of early humans can tell us a lot.
For example, Australopithecus gahri, Australopithecus africanus, and
Australopithecus afarensis had skulls with small brain cases and large
protruding faces. Examining the hips, knees, feet, and vertebral column suggest
that they walked in an upright position. They did not use their arms and did not drag their knuckles. Of the few intact skulls that have been found the size of the
brain case can be very helpful when determining where the skull is placed in a
lineage. Humans today have very large brain cases and the earliest skull has a
very small brain case. Humans can be seperated from chimpanzees and other hominins by looking at five distinct things. There five things are: bipedalism, skulls, child dependency, tools, and teeth. No hominin found to date has the exact same characteristics as humans. While other parts of the body such as the hips can be
evidence into the lives of the species, analyses preformed today rely mainly on
the skulls and teeth. The phylogenetic relationships among the species of fossil
hominins have not been definitively established. Many still are devoting their
lives to finding the missing piece of the puzzle. There are still gaps in the
phylogenetic tree that are critical to linking humans and chimpanzees.
http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/gctext/Inquiries/Inquiries_by_Unit/Unit_5.htm
Other helpful links:
http://anthro.palomar.edu/hominid/australo_1.htm
http://www.baskent.edu.tr/~zuyen/courses/psk104/03-EarlyHominins.pdf
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