ANTA01H3 Chapter 2: Chapter 2 Notes.docx
Document Summary
Humans didn"t evolve from chimpanzees or monkeys. Earliest human ancestors evolved from species 5-8 million yrs ago. That ancestral specie was the last common ancestor we share with chimpanzees. Lineage that lead to apes and human separated from a monkey-like ancestor 200 million yrs ago. Discovery of evolutionary principles took place in western europe because of scientific thinking from the 16th century. Arabs, indians, chinese and greek had notions on biological evolution but never really formulated it. Charles darwin first to describe basics of evolution. Alfred russel wallace came up with the theory of natural selection as well. Natural selection: genetic change or changes in the frequencies of certain traits in populations due to differential reproductive success between individuals. Fixity of species: the notion that species once created can never change; an idea diametrically opposed to theories of biological evolution. Arab and indian scholars developed concepts o f planetary motion centuries earlier that the europeans.
