The position of man in the animal world: the development of views on the origin of man

In order to see the evolution of evolution, and with itand the position of man in the animal world, it is not necessary to plunge into the past, because evolution is a process that occurs always and everywhere around us. For example, bacteria that were easily destroyed by penicillin before, acquired a new, antibiotic-resistant form.

Natural selection

Nature ordered as follows: the better the animal is adapted to the conditions of the range in which it lives, the greater its chances of surviving and having offspring. His children can inherit the deviations that made the paternal animal so successful in its local environment. Types of animals change over time, better adapting to environmental conditions. There are new species, live thousands or millions of years, and then disappear. Evolution requires time and happy occasions for changes to take place.

Features that can help to survive the mind,for example, better teeth or more brain, may appear in newborns as random deviations. If new traits really help to survive, and animals can live longer, or survive in conditions in which a normal species representative dies, then these traits will be passed on from generation to generation. When these abilities are really useful, the animals that have them will gradually displace those that do not.

Theory of Darwin

According to Darwin's theory, any living entity does notproduces in the course of his life the identical copy of himself. The child does not look like a mother, the kitten does not look like a mother cat, even wheat grains differ from each other. If you examine them under a microscope or conduct a chemical analysis, you can see their differentness. Variability is the material for natural selection. If these properties are necessary for the life of a new being, then it will live and lead the offspring, if not, then ruthless natural selection will remove it from the biological sphere, and it will die like hundreds and thousands of unadapted individuals. What is the position of man in the animal world? The most mysterious selection of nature, as well as its crown, of course, is a man.

The position of man in the system of wildlife

People are ranked among primates, of whichThere are more than 100 species, including humanoid monkeys, gorillas and chimpanzees. If you indicate the position of man in the animal world, primates, namely chimpanzees have the closest family ties with a person, 98.4% of the genes in them coincide. It is proved that 2.6 million years ago there was a division of primates into 2 branches. 1 - in Australopithecus, subsequently extinct, and 2 position of man in the animal world - in a man of skill. It is known that the first humanoid existed on the Earth 3-5 million years ago.

A lot of research, measurement, excavation and,made on their basis, scientific evidence, indicates that the position of man in the animal world is ranked as a primate species. All primates have common symptoms.

1. Everyone has hands and feet with five fingers on each.
2. There are teeth that are adapted to chew a lot of different foods.
3. All give birth in the main for one baby, less often for several children.

Signs of the human condition in the animal world

But there are significant differences between them.

1. Only a person with a straight leg on two legs and, accordingly, a special structure of the ridge, pelvis, legs, arms, muscles and other organs.
2. The human hand can perform many different and precise movements. The human skull is taller and round;
3. The cerebral part of the skull dominates the facial, has a high forehead, weak jaws with small fangs, the chin is clearly delineated.
4. The human brain occupies a volume of 1800 cm3, which is 3 times more than the brain of primates. A person has well developed parts of the brain, where the most important mental and speech centers are located.

The first man among primates

The very first human ancestor - Australopithecus, could already move in an upright position. Thanks to this, he could hold tools and primitive weapons.

According to the scientific theory, the appearance of a reasonable person is nothappened suddenly, it was the result of a long evolutionary development, which took tens of millions of years. Scientists have appropriated the name "homo sapiens" to a person who knows how to make basic tools, and also to bury his fellow tribesmen. The most primitive tool of labor was the sharpened stones. 500 thousand years ago, people were already working on wooden sticks, making them spears. And only 250 thousand years ago there was a stone ax.

50 thousand years ago they learned to make lamps,carved from stone, in which instead of fuel was the fat of animals, after another 20 thousand years, the first bow and arrows appeared. From the original type of ancestors to the species "homo sapiens", developmental jumps occurred over 14-20 million years. Further evolution led to the emergence of Australopithecus, who can use surrounding objects as tools, and even subject them to elementary processing.

Human development

When the primates divided into two branches: the first subspecies evolved into a man of skill, and the second subspecies into an Australopithecus of Africa, later extinct. Evolution made a leap when the appearance of "a man of skill." He possessed elementary thinking and speech, the main carriers of information, which was then passed on to the next generations. The view "a man erect" appeared 100 thousand years ago. With his appearance, the amount of information increased substantially, which contributed to the creation of a new type of heritage - not genetically, but through material and spiritual experience. Such a person had a brain size of 1250 cm3, but his evolution did not stop there. At this stage of development, the accelerated progress of biological changes was noted.

Considering the position of man in the animal world, it can be briefly described as follows.

The oldest people were engaged in gathering and hunting. They led a nomadic life, they ate plants and animal flesh that they found on the way. For housing, they used caves, but ancient finds confirm that during this period the first dwellings were built from branches. At some point the tribes realized that a permanent home has a number of advantages. In a safe place, you can hide food for hungry periods, protect yourself from bad weather and predators. In these villages it is more convenient to get along with each other, and it is also easier to fight off the enemy. In the process of evolution, the human brain increased disproportionately to the body. But the most important achievement: people have become a collective, active entity, the main components of which are labor, reason and speech, and this is the main difference between people and animals.

Man and the animal world

The position of man in the animal world haspowerful impact on this world. A man of the Paleolithic times was already hunting, exterminating extinct beings now. Animals, birds and fish gave people food, skins served as first clothes, shoes and household items. Since people began to consume meat, they have learned to obtain fire and tame animals. As the tools of hunting and taming animals improved, people's influence on the animal world increased.

Evolution in a biological form in our time is no longerhas implications for man, rather, on the contrary, it has a global impact on the environment. The position of man in the modern system of wildlife is dangerous for the biological variety of species. It comes from human activities, and is associated with changes in the animal habitat, global climate change, the breeding of exotic species and the spread of diseases. Regardless of skin color, shapes and sizes, all mankind belongs to the same species - "reasonable person". Human behavior displays how programmed to act evolution, for example, look for a couple, fill the stomach or run away from danger.

Evolution or external intervention?

Everything seems to be simple and understandable in the evolutionarytheory of human origin. But nevertheless, scientists have not yet come to a single and undeniable statement that it was the impetus for the transition from primates to reasonable people.

According to various theories, there could be an external intervention, such as the crossing of representatives of extraterrestrial civilizations with the ancestors of people or the management of evolution by the forces of extraterrestrial supermind.

Thanks to the intellect, man made a hugebreakthrough: he can take care of himself, make a choice or take a risk. He is able to write, compose music, paint. And also to build aircraft and ships to explore the entire planet, as well as spacecraft to explore the cosmos.