Hominoid Ancestors of the Miocene

Abstract

Ever since evolution has been accepted as fact in the scientific community researchers have been declaring that they have discovered "the earliest ancestor'' of humans or "the missing link" between man and ape. Since evolution is a continuous thing there can be no ''earliest ancestor", and because a1most every evolutionary development has occurred because of the adaptation of beneficial mutations over hundreds of generations, there is very little chance of finding "the missing link" between humans and our closest relatives, the great apes. One can, however, trace the development of various traits throughout the fossil history to determine rough hypotheses which state when characters developed which differentiate different species. During the roughly eighteen million years of the Miocene, many evolutionary adaptations were developed by our ancestors which would lead to the current state of our species. The developments of Proconsul, Afropithecus, and other ancestors led to the large brains of modem apes, and placed the foundation for one of the most defining characteristics of Homo sapiens; continuous bipedalism.

Notes

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Thesis Completion

2005

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Dupras, Tosha L.

Degree

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Degree Program

Anthropology

Subjects

Arts and Sciences -- Dissertations, Academic; Dissertations, Academic -- Arts and Sciences; Fossil hominids; Human evolution; Paleontology -- Miocene

Format

Print

Identifier

DP0022041

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Document Type

Honors in the Major Thesis

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