Homo sapiens evolved in Africa 200,000 years ago and is one of the most recent terrestrial species. It is the first monkey to develop advanced technologies and cities. The species colonized Eurasia, Oceania, and the Americas. Human universals include body adornments, moral feelings, and personal names. A population bottleneck occurred 70,000 years ago, resulting in low genetic heterogeneity.
Homo sapiens is a type of bipedal ape. The species evolved in the savannah and possibly wetlands of Africa just 200,000 years ago, making it one of the most recent terrestrial species. Homo sapiens is one species among about a dozen of the homo genus, including homo erectus, which colonized Eurasia 2 million years ago, and homo neanderthalensis, which became extinct just 30,000 years ago. All species except Homo sapiens of the genus Homo are currently extinct. Genus homo diverged from chimpanzees about 7 million years ago and from gorillas about 8 million years ago.
Homo sapiens was not the first socially savvy ape, or the first bipedal ape, or the first ape to spread over much of the world, or the first tool-using ape, or probably even the first language-using ape, it is the first monkey to develop advanced technologies and cities. Although the species is 200,000 years old, it wasn’t until about 40,000 years ago that the species developed the qualities traditionally associated with modern humans: art, music, complex symbol systems and rituals, and not until 10,000 years ago in the ” Neolithic Revolution. ” which developed cities, the division of labor and agriculture. Writing and bronze working began 6,000 years ago in the Near and Middle East.
40,000 years ago, homo sapiens departed from Africa, like their ancestors homo erectus 2 million years ago, and colonized the whole of Eurasia and Oceania within a few thousand years. 10,000 years ago, just before the end of the last ice age, homo sapiens crossed the Bering Strait land bridge into the Americas. The only continent not seriously colonized by the species today is Antarctica. About 50 years ago, the species managed to send a small team to Earth’s natural satellite, Luna, becoming the first terrestrial species to set foot on another celestial body.
There are numerous qualities shared by all members of homo sapiens. These are called human universals and include body adornments, moral feelings, classification of internal states, personal names, properties, folklore, and hundreds of others. About 70,000 years ago, the species experienced a population bottleneck, dwindling to between 1,000 and 10,000 breeding pairs. This bottleneck is partly responsible for the relatively low level of genetic heterogeneity among individuals of homo sapiens compared to other species.
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