Human Evolution Lab Report
The purpose of this experiment was to observe the process of human evolution by observing similar features of the Pan troglodytes, Australopithecus afarensis, Homo erectus, Gorilla gorilla, Australopithecus boisei and the, Homo neanderthalensis in comparison to those of the Homo sapien. According to Darwinism, the species that had the most traits in common with the Homo sapien must be the most related while species with the least traits in common with the Homo sapien were the least similar. For example, the Homo neanderthalensis had a total of fourteen traits in common with the Homo sapien while the Gorilla gorilla only had two traits in common with the Homo sapien. Thus, the Homo neanderthalensis must be more closely related to the Homo sapien than the Gorilla gorilla.
…show more content…
According to scientists today, the order of theses seven species, going from most related to the Homo sapien to least related to the Homo sapien, should be Homo neanderthalensis, Homo erectus, Australopithecus boisei, Australopithecus afarensis, Gorilla gorilla, Pan troglodytes.
The data collected in this experiment does match this for the most part. The Homo neanderthalensis did have the most similarities to the Homo sapien, with fourteen similarities followed by Australopithecus afarensis at eleven similarities, Australopithecus boisei at ten similarities, Homo erectus at eight similarities, Pan troglodytes at six similarities, and Gorilla gorilla with the least number of similarities; two. Obviously, some the order was a little mixed up, but it did generally follow the order evolution discovered by the scientists. According to scientists, the Gorilla gorilla should have been the second to least related to the Homo sapien out of the seven species tested. However, the data collected placed the Gorilla gorilla as the least related out of all of the species with only two morphological features in common with the Homo
sapien.
Some potential errors that could have happened during the measuring process could have been that the braincase length was not always taken from the exact same place on each skull. This would have impacted the number of similarities by varying it by one. Another potential error could have been with the measurements that involved stating whether a feature was small, medium, or large in comparison to the other species. Not all of the models were available for use at once, so estimates had to be made from memory rather than physical comparison. This would have also swayed the number of similarities a species had in either direction. The information gathered in this experiment is important to society because it proves the hypothesis of Charles Darwin. It accurately demonstrates how one species can evolve to create another species and eventually lead to the creation of modern humans. This information could also be helpful in the future because new species will arise from further human evolution. Who knows where human evolution will go next?
According to scientists today, the order of theses seven species, going from most related to the Homo sapien to least related to the Homo sapien, should be Homo neanderthalensis, Homo erectus, Australopithecus boisei, Australopithecus afarensis, Gorilla gorilla, Pan troglodytes.
The data collected in this experiment does match this for the most part. The Homo neanderthalensis did have the most similarities to the Homo sapien, with fourteen similarities followed by Australopithecus afarensis at eleven similarities, Australopithecus boisei at ten similarities, Homo erectus at eight similarities, Pan troglodytes at six similarities, and Gorilla gorilla with the least number of similarities; two. Obviously, some the order was a little mixed up, but it did generally follow the order evolution discovered by the scientists. According to scientists, the Gorilla gorilla should have been the second to least related to the Homo sapien out of the seven species tested. However, the data collected placed the Gorilla gorilla as the least related out of all of the species with only two morphological features in common with the Homo
sapien.
Some potential errors that could have happened during the measuring process could have been that the braincase length was not always taken from the exact same place on each skull. This would have impacted the number of similarities by varying it by one. Another potential error could have been with the measurements that involved stating whether a feature was small, medium, or large in comparison to the other species. Not all of the models were available for use at once, so estimates had to be made from memory rather than physical comparison. This would have also swayed the number of similarities a species had in either direction. The information gathered in this experiment is important to society because it proves the hypothesis of Charles Darwin. It accurately demonstrates how one species can evolve to create another species and eventually lead to the creation of modern humans. This information could also be helpful in the future because new species will arise from further human evolution. Who knows where human evolution will go next?