| What causes organisms to evolve? What advantages were
attained by the apelike ancestor Australopithecus when it progressed into
modern Homo sapiens? Erect posture, bipedal locomotion, different
hand and feet structure, and reduced canine teeth must have ensured a greater
survival for the hominid lineage than a retention of its former attributes.
Why is it that hominids evolved such features? Why did they/we gain
a larger brain, language and what seems to be an unparalleled capacity
for reason in the animal realm?
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| Obviously, there are no easy or even provable answers
to these important questions which to some people beg for philosophical,
mythical or religious explanations.
The ideas brought forth to attempt at explaining the evolution of hominid characters are very speculative and also very hard to test. |
Anthropologists bring forth evidence from inferences
from studies of other primates and the study of contemporary cultures.
They use material evidence such as anatomy and artifacts as evidence.
It is guessed that human evolution is greatly due to the
social circumstances of early hominids. Studies are made on the behaviour
of other primates and contemporary hunter and gatherer cultures.
These studies have attempted to provide insight into the social structure
of early hominids.
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