Savannah Hypothesis Essay

The discovery of transposons, also known as “jumping genes” demonstrate how mutations may not be random because these genes that “jump” insert themselves into active genes to adapt and change to the environment. Whole sequences of DNA would move into active genes and they were not completely random because some genes would move to a certain part of the genome multiple times to have an advantageous effect. It is as if these genes deliberately wanted to be mutated in order to survive and adapt. These active genes cut and insert themselves in new parts of the genome due to their need of survival. This was seen in one line of fruit flies as, a gene jumped, making the fruit flies have the ability to withstand starvation and have a higher survival
The savannah hypothesis consists of how the apelike ancestors moved from the dark resourceful rainforests to grassy plains, where life was a little harder and had to find new ways to obtain nourishment. The need for males to stay away from predators and find food by hunting caused the “savanna hominid” to walk in a vertical position, using only 2 legs. Hunting and surviving in the new environment led the males to live longer and natural selection increased the size of the brain. On the other hand, the aquatic ape hypothesis takes a different approach. This hypothesis states that the ancestors spent time on land and in the water where they learned to catch their food and thrive. The capability to survive both on land and in the water gave the ancestors an advantage because they were able to escape from any predator that may have arose. The apes that had learned to survive in the water allowed them to stand upright on land due to how their bodies were positioned in the water. The aquatic ape hypothesis also explains how the fat is attached to the skin in humans because the fat helps them glide through the water a little easier and is dense, making people more floatable. Both hypotheses exhibit an explanation on how bipedalism and ancestors had evolved but both had different reasons on how they reached bipedalism. However, the savannah hypothesis focused more on the men, which questioned why it didn’t explain the role of women and children. The aquatic ape hypothesis