Human Pylogeny Reflection

For many years I have been focusing my studies and the evolution of my paradigms around the notions of faith and God. Sitting here today I began to allow myself to carefully embrace information that scientifically supports or disproves the foundations of my belief systems.

As I journeyed through the pages of “Early Human Phylogeny” much of the information was fascinating. The types of species (20 hominids), the scientific information and evidences found throughout Africa, Europe and Asia have been incredible. Scientifically, I find that this information helps support the evolution of Mankind as introduced by Darwin and it gives great emphasizes of its origins (Africa).

Beginning with the “Sahelanthropus Tchadensis” the oldest known hominid, to the “Homosapien Sapien” I see valuable information that can help in the understanding and teaching of Phylogeny. First, there is a strong connection between Phylogeny and Paleo-anthropology which is the study of ancient life forms and humans. In order to successfully create a phylogenetic tree we must know and understand the connection.

Evidence has proven that humans evolved from ape like species called hominids. These hominids all had common characteristics such as skulls, jaws, teeth, skeletal composition, height, mobility and even speech. Studying, reconstructing and comparing these bone fragments and origins allow us to see through the lens of time and understand man’s evolution. From the ability to climb trees, standing upright and bipedal locomotion we can see that an enormous transformation has taken place in our development. Who would ever think that we could come from the forest of Chad Central Africa and millions of years later be sitting in a high-tech labratory writing about our origins? Now that is fascinating!

Other valuable information which excited me was the principle or practice of “Bilateral Symmetry”. I have always been fascinated to see how scientist put together a hypothesis, a theory or a law assembling small fragments of fossils which are millions of years old. In this principle scientist have the ability to recreate missing parts of the autonomy by creating a mirror image of the evidence found. As noticed we are fearfully created in an almost perfectly symmetrical body. This gives scientist the ability to copy and paste the same way computers do today.

Finally, in respect to the findings and evidence provided to use through this study we learn that science is the effort, study, understanding and knowledge of how the physical world works. There is no doubt that Africa is the mother of all ancestry (history of mankind). I believe that the articles provided have been supportive of all of Darwin’s “history of evolution” and the adaptation and selection of the fittest. For many years I always found it amusing to hear teachers and science textbooks teach on this topic, but today I have seen a connection which has satisfied or answered some of my speculations. There is nothing wrong with embracing the study of “the evolution of man” as long as we know who created man.