II Among the species which are extant, apes and monkeys bear the closest resemblance to human

beings. Monkeys, apes and humans all share a large number of characteristics. They are all placed by
scientists in one broad group. To use scientific terminology, they are classified as belonging to the
same 10 order. Monkeys, apes and humans (and a few other animals like lemurs) belong to the order
'primate'. Primates are part of a broader group, i.e. mammalian vertebrates. All vertebrates (fish,
amphibians, birds, reptiles and mammals) have a backbone which is a column of discs (vertebrae)
enclosing the spinal cord. This backbone gives internal support to the body. Mammals have four legs
or limbs. Their bodies are covered with hair. They are warmblooded animals, i.e. their body
temperature remains relatively constant. Female mammals give birth to live offspring—they do not
lay eggs. There are however some rare species of mammals like the platypus and the anteater in
which the females lay eggs (monotreme mammals). Then there are some species of mammals in
which the young are born before being properly developed. These are termed marsupials. The
mother has a pouch—the most familiar example is the kangaroo—in which the baby marsupial
completes its development. What is common to all mammals is that the female of the species has
mammary glands which secrete milk to feed the young. The earliest primates evolved with features
which enabled them to adapt to living efficiently in trees. Primates have features which allow them
to climb and move about on trees with great ease. They use their forelimbs extensively. Their nails
are flattened and the thumb of the hand is opposed to the forefinger. Primates possess what are
called 'prehensile' hands and feet (hands and feet which are adapted for grasping). With these they
can move up and down tree trunks or from branch to branch by grasping and clutching. Those
mammals which do not have this trait have to rely on other means, as for instance digging in their
claws, in order to hold on to trees or branches. The shape of primate hands and feet gives them a
firm hold or clutch over tree trunks and branches. Among primates, claws have got reduced and nails
have become flattened (compare with cats or dogs). The way in which the fingers have evolved (they
are separated from each other), and the opposition of the thumb to the forefinger, makes it possible
for primates to 11 put their hands around an object and to enclose it. Moreover, the forelimbs have
the capacity to rotate, to flex and to extend. During their evolution primates have acquired
stereoscopic vision. This means that their eyeballs are located in such a position that the two fields of
vision combine to give a three-dimensional picture of their surroundings. Stereoscopic vision makes
it easier for them to gauge distance and depth, which is important for moving about in trees. Some
other animals, for example birds like the falcon, too possess stereoscopic vision.

Primates began evolving about 70 million years ago. For several million years they evolved as
competent tree-dwellers. Their special features—prehensile hands and feet; extensive use of
forelimbs; stereoscopic vision etc.—-were designed for adaptation to an arboreal habitat (living in
trees). Trees provided them with almost everything that they required for subsistence, mainly fruit,
leaves, insects and bird's eggs. They moved about among branches and jumped from tree to tree
without having to come down on the ground. People in most parts of India are familiar with monkeys
and the ease with which they move about in trees. All the living and extinct species of primates are
classified into two subgroups, or suborders: the 'prosimii' and the 'anthropoidea'. The prosimii (or
prosimians) are more primitive and were the earliest to evolve. The suborder anthropoidea includes
more advanced primates, viz., monkeys, apes and humans. The prosimii include lemurs, lorises and
tarsiers. Some zoologists also classify treeshrews ('tupaioidea') with prosimians. Treeshrews are
very small squirrel-like creatures who might represent the transition from insectivores to early
primates. The various species of prosimii are mainly found in Africa and South Asia. Lemurs are
confined only to Madagascar. These primates are relatively small in size. However they possess very
large eyes. The eyes are placed close together at the front of the skull (not on the sides). What
distinguishes prosimii from anthropoidea is the 12 structure of the bones in which the eyeballs are
placed. The eyeballs of the prosimii are located in a ring-like structure, whereas the eye sockets of
the anthropoidea are bowl-like in shape. The ring-like structure of bones in which the eyeballs of the
prosimii are placed, restricts the field of vision of these creatures. The bowl-like shape of the
anthropoidea eye sockets gives greater freedom to the eyeballs to move in different directions and at
various angles. This was important for better sight.

The anthropoidea first got separated from the prosimii about 40 million years ago with the evolution
of the monkeys. The suborder anthropoidea is divided into three subgroups, or superfamities. Two
superfamilies are those of monkeys. These two superfamilies are labelled 'cercopithecoidea' (Old
World monkeys) and 'ceboidea' (New World monkeys). The differences between them relate largely
to their dental structures, and need not detain us. Suffice it to say that monkeys had highly
developed forelimbs, better vision, flatter faces and shorter snouts as compared to prosimians. Their
adaptation to an arboreal habitat was extremely specialized. They could cover long distances in
jumping from tree to tree. In some species like the langur an elongated tail could be used almost as
an additional limb. The tail also helped to balance the body while jumping. The langur can clear
remarkably long distances in jumping from one tree to another and its graceful jump is almost like a
short flight. This is illustrative of very specialized adaptation to an arboreal habitat. The dexterous
prehensile limbs of monkeys represent an important stage in our own evolution. In the late
nineteenth century there was overwhelming resistance to Darwin's suggestion that we are
descended from monkeys. The similarities are so obvious, but there is often a failure to recognize the
'descent'. This reflects a particular way of thinking, which is not very easy to change. Usually when
one sees a monkey, say, peeling a banana, the immediate reaction is that the monkey's way of
handling objects with its hand is so very like that of humans. Monkeys learnt to 13 use their hands
the way we do much before humans evolved. Therefore it is we who behave like them rather than
the other way around.

The next stage in our evolutionary history was the emergence of apes about 30 million years ago.
Apes and humans are placed in the superfamily 'hominoidea' which is the third superfamily of the
suborder anthropoidea (the other two being those to which the monkeys belong). There are several
species of apes: chimpanzees, gorillas, gibbons, orang-utans etc They are all collectively grouped in
the family 'pongidae' (to repeat: order, suborder, superfamily, family, genus, and species are some of
the categories used by zoologists for classifying animals). In other words the superfamily hominoidea
is divided into two families: (i) pongidae (apes); and (ii) hominidae (human beings and extinct species
of the closest ancestors of humans). Apes and humans belong to the same superfamily and are
closest to each other among surviving species. They probably first separated from monkeys in the
extensive African forests. The evolution of apes was one way of adapting to the environment in a
somewhat different way. Apes are relatively larger in size than monkeys. They have large canine teeth
and are powerfully built. Some species of apes (chimpanzees, gorillas and orang-utans) have long
forelimbs as compared to their hindlimbs. Others, like the gibbon have a small body and long arms
and legs. (The gibbon and siaming are therefore placed by some zoologists in a family of their own—
'hylobatidae'.) Unlike monkeys, apes are not adapted exclusively to an arboreal habitat. They climb
trees in search of food and for protection, but they attempt to regularly exploit resources on the
ground as well. Gorillas are heavy animals and spend most of their time on the ground. Adult
chimpanzees too have some difficulty in moving about in trees with agility. Gorillas and chimpanzees
adopt a semi-erect posture while walking on the ground. They use their legs and hands for
movement and rely on their knuckles to assist them while walking. The pattern of subsistence
evolved by apes was a success and by about 20 14 million years ago the number of ape speciejs in
Africa was larger than that of monkeys. It was around this time that some significant developments
were taking place. Fossil evidence has revealed the evolution of an ape which lived in Africa about 20
million years ago and was very well adapted to living on the ground. This type is referred to as
'dryopithecus'. From Africa this species moved into Asia about 15 million years ago. We learn from
geologists that 15 million years ago the African-Arabian landmass collided with Asia thereby bringing
the two continents together. This created the conditions for expansion from Africa into Asia. A
branch of the dryopithecus then separated and evolved into a small apelike creature which has been
named 'ramapithecus'. The first fossils of ramapithecus were discovered in India (in the 1930s).
Subsequently in the early 1960s it was suggested that ramapithecus was the earliest known species
of hominidae. In other words that ramapithecus represented the point at which hominids
(hominidae) separated from apes (pongidae). However the fossil evidence on which the initial
interpretation was based was extremely scanty—a small fragment of the jaw. Extensive work is still
going on in the Siwalik hills to discover ramapithecus fossils, and there have been some discoveries in
the Rawalpindi area. Ramapithecus was adapted to environments in which forest growth was not
very dense. But it is doubtful whether it could walk upright. Ramapithecus became extinct about 8
million years ago. Recent advances in molecular biology have reduced our dependence on fossil
evidence. Molecular evidence (this mainly involves comparing DNA of living species and calculating
the rate at which changes— mutation—might have occurred) has brought to light a startling feature
of the evolutionary process. The evolutionary paths of Asian and African apes diverged a very long
time ago. In terms of their DNA, Asian apes are much more different from African apes, than African
apes are from humans. Humans stand much closer to 15 African apes than was suspected earlier.
Asian apes had begun evolving differently almost 15 million years ago, when they moved into Asia.
The ramapithecus belongs to this evolutionary process (12 million years ago).

The African apes diverged from Asian apes 15 million years ago and proceeded along a different
path. There are now three surviving species of African apes. These are the gorilla and the common
and pygmy chimpanzee. 7 million years ago African apes got split into two branches. One of the
branches led directly to human beings. The revised picture of human evolution that we now have
suggests (i) that humans are descended from African apes (gorilla, chimpanzee), rather than Asian
apes and (ii) that the earliest humans got separated from African apes relatively recently, i.e. 7
million years ago (not 15 million years ago, as was thought earlier). If we accept evidence from
molecular biology then we can date the earliest hominids (hominidae) to about 7 million years ago.
Unfortunately there is a big gap in the fossil record for the critical period between 8 million and 4
million years ago. The fossils which belong to the period from about 4 million years ago indicate that
hominids evolved in two phases. The first phase was marked by the development of 'bipedalism' or
'bipedal locomotion', i.e. walking on two feet. The second phase saw rapid expansion in brain size.
The Darwinian view was that both features had evolved simultaneously. This view has persisted in
the present century. In all fairness to Darwin, it needs to be pointed out that Darwin's understanding
was mainly based on comparative anatomy, a comparison of the physical structures of living species
and apes. No early human fossils were available in Darwin's time (with the exception of neanderthal
fossils). Generally too the study of fossils was in its infancy. However even with more fossil evidence
in the twentieth century some scholars have found it difficult to abandon the view that bipedalism
and large brain size developed together. It needs to be emphasized that there was a gap of at least 3
million years between the two developments. Fossil evidence when combined with molecular
evidence points towards the beginnings of bipedalism 7 million years 16 ago. Some species of African
apes became bipedal about this time. This might have been caused by environmental changes
leading to more open grasslands. The lower limbs (legs) of these apes increased in length as
compared to their upper limbs. They acquired an erect posture. They could walk on two feet. This
development did not immediately result in an increase in brain size. As W. E. Le Gros Clarke observes
in his work The Fossil Evidence for Human Evolution, whereas size of brain is certainly the distinctive
feature of humans, it is not the distinctive feature of hominidae vis-avis pongidae. According to Le
Gros Clarke initially the crucial difference between early hominids and apes lay in bipedalism among
early hominids. Of the different species of bipedal apes that might have evolved soon after 7 million
years ago, probably one developed a large brain size. This bipedal creature with a significantly larger
brain separated from other bipedal hominids about 2.5 million years ago, and began making crude
tools somewhat later.

Before proceeding further it is necessary to mention that modern humans are the only surviving
species of hominidae. All other species are extinct and the only information that we have of them is
derived from fossils. On the basis of fossils the hominids (including our own species) are divided into
two genera: the genus 'australopithecus' and the genus 'homo'. Of these, australopithecus was the
first to evolve. What separated it from the apes was the ability to walk upright, on the two lower
limbs. Australopithecus fossils were originally discovered and recognized in 1924 by Raymond Dart in
South Africa. It was Dart who labelled the fossil as 'australopithecus' (southern ape). What Dart had
discovered was a fossil of 'australopithecus africanus' which lived between 3 and 1 million years ago.
Later, a number of other fossils of australopithecus were discovered in South Africa. Some of them
had features which differed from those of australopithecus africanus. A close scrutiny of these
features indicated that there were actually two different species: australopithecus africanus and
australopithecus 17 robustus. The robustus had large cheek teeth, and a flatter forehead as
compared to the africanus. The africanus forehead was steeper (sloping downwards) and the skull
was more rounded at the top. Robustus males had a bonycrest at the top of their skulls. In both the
species the cheek teeth (molars and premolars) differed from those of apes. Unlike apes,
australopithecus cheek teeth were flat which suggests they were adapted to grinding tough plant
foods rather than soft fruit. It has been suggested that while australopithecus robustus was
herbivorous, australopithecus africanus was omnivorous (i.e. its diet included meat), but such
specialization is not fully established. Incidentally, males of australopithecus species are much larger
in size than females (this is called 'sexual dimorphism'). This feature gradually disappeared with the
evolution of homo. In the 1950s important discoveries of australopithecus fossils were made in East
Africa. The husband and wife team of Louis and Mary Leakey found australopithecus remains in
Tanzania at sites located in the Olduvai Gorge. They were fossils of a species which was different
from the robustus and africanus. This species was named 'zinjanthropus', and is now labelled
'australopithecus boisei'. The most recent ev idence pertaining to australopithecines has come from
Ethiopia (Omo Valley; Hadar). Australopithecus fossils found here have been identified as belonging
to a species which evolved much earlier than boisei, robustus and africanus. This species which has
pushed back the date for australopithecines to about 4 million years ago, has been named
'australopithecus afarensis'. Australopithecus afarensis might be the ancestor of all other
australopithecus species. This is a controversial point and remains to be resolved. As of now this is
the earliest known species of hominidae. In australopithecus afarensis we can see the final stages of
transition to bipedal locomotion. This species had acquired an erect posture but it still retained some
characteristics of apes. The development of bipedal locomotion is a very complex process and
requires several 18 changes in the anatomy. The bones of the feet undergo modifications which
enable them to carry the entire weight of the body. Similarly knees and the pelvic girdle (the 'box' to
which lower bones are attached) have to be shaped in such a way that a comfortable erect posture
can be maintained while walking or running on two feet. The pelvic girdle has to accommodate large
leg muscles and at the same time hold the weight of the body. The backbone too has to be shaped
accordingly. This is necessitated by the requirements of the thorax or chest. In apes the backbone is
inward-curving or concave ('c' shaped). This shape can be a hindrance for regular upright posture.
The weight of the thorax, which is located on the inside of the curve, would make the animal fall
forward. An adjustment in the shape of the backbone from concave to convex or outward-curving
ensures better balance (in fact the human backbone is 's' shaped). This assists in erect posture. In the
process of evolving bipedal locomotion, the shape of the thorax too has changed from being funnel-
shaped or conical in apes to cylindrical in humans. While australopithecus afarensis possessed most
of the essential features of bipedalism there were still a few survivals of apelike traits. The lower
limbs were relatively shorter as compared to humans; the thorax was still conical in shape and the
fingers were much more curved as in chimpanzees. As we have seen, australopithecus had definitely
developed bipedalism by about 4 million years ago. There is a big gap in the fossil record for the
period prior to that, but in view of the molecular evidence it would appear that this process had
been at work since 7 million years ago when the earliest bipedal apes might have begun to evolve.
The point about the large number of anatomical changes (outlined above) required for bipedalism is
that it would have taken considerable time for these changes to accumulate. However, for several
million years, from 7 million years ago to 2.5 million years ago, there was no vital increase in brain
size. Australopithecus brain size (450 c.c. 19 to 550 c.c.) was not very different from that of the apes
(470 c.c. for chimpanzees). Increase in brain size occurred between 3 and 2 million years ago. The
possibilities for this had been created partly by changes in the teeth and jaws. The canines were
reduced in size and the lower jaw became lighter. Since the lower jaw was lighter, the bones of the
upper part of the skull too could be correspondingly lighter as they did not have to support a heavy
mobile lower jaw. This in turn meant that more room was available to the brain. The brain could
expand into the space created by thinner/lighter bones in the upper part of the skull. These changes
led to a new evolutionary path, culminating in the emergence of modern humans.

Human beings and their immediate ancestors are placed in the genus homo. The genus homo is
distinguished from australopithecus by its larger brain size. One of the oldest fossils of the genus
homo is that of the 'homo habilis'. This was found near Lake Turkana in Kenya. Other specimens have
been discovered at Olduvai. Homo habilis lived 2 million years ago and had a brain which was
considerably larger than that of australopithecus. Its brain size was 800 c.c. Homo habilis was a tool-
maker. For several years there was a reluctance to accept homo habilis as a species of the genus
homo and in some books it is placed in the category of australopithecus. But a close examination of
the brain size of the adult homo habilis has entitled it to be regarded as an early human specimen.
The emergence of homo habilis was followed by the emergence of another species of homo: 'homo
erectus'. Homo erectus fossils date back to 1.75 million years ago. The earliest homo erectus fossils
are from East Turkana in Kenya. Homo erectus was almost like modern human beings. Apart from
bipedal locomotion and well-developed hands it had a large brain. It was much taller than the
australopithecus. The homo erectus brain was about 1000 c.c., which is nearly 70% the size of homo
sapiens brains. Homo erectus made tools with great skill (tool technologies will be discussed in the
next chapter). From the time of homo erectus onwards, 20 homo began to move out of Africa into
Asia and Europe. All fossils belonging to austral opithec us and homo habilis have been discovered
exclusively in South and East Africa, confirming Darwin's conjecture that humans originated in Africa.
With homo erectus, the immediate ancestors of humans spread to other parts of the world. Richard
Leakey has calculated that the migration out of Africa may have been at the rate of 20 kilometres per
generation, thus covering 14,000 kilometres between East Africa and China in 20,000 years.
Nevertheless the majority of homo erectus might have continued to live in Africa. The fossils of
homo erectus were first discovered in Indonesia. These were fossils of pithecanthropus found in Java
(the terminology can sometimes be confusing depending on the date when a label was used and the
individual preferences of scholars, but it should be borne in mind that 'pithecanthropus erectus',
'pithecanthropus javanensis', 'Java Man', 'pithecanthropus pekinensis', 'sinanthropus', etc. are now
all conveniently called homo erectus). Homo erectus fossils are also found in China and parts of
Europe. The Indonesian homo erectus fossils are at least 900,000 years old and the Chinese fossils
are 500-350,000 years old. For nearly 60-70,000 years different species of australopithecus, homo
habilis and homo erectus coexisted. Natural selection eventually led to the extinction of
australopithecus and homo habilis. From 1 million years ago only homo thrived. This should not be
taken to mean that homo erectus was more successful at adaptation. After all australopithecus had
survived for at least 3million years, if not longer, whereas homo erectus existed for 1.5 million years.
The possible reasons for the extinction of australopithecus continue to be the subject of a lively
debate. Homo erectus became extinct nearly 400,000 years ago.

Meanwhile a new species of homo had branched out and embarked on a separate path of evolution.
This new species of homo emerged about 125,000 years ago (135,000 years ago according to some
scholars). These were the neanderthals. 21 Neanderthals were early homo sapiens (they are named
'homo sapiens neanderthalensis'; our species is named 'homo sapiens sapiens'). Their fossils were
first discovered in Germany in 1856 and have been widely known ever since. In neanderthals, brain
size saw further expansion, stone tools became more efficient and what we recognize as 'culture'
became more and more visible. But the neanderthal skulls were thicker and less rounded at the top
than those of modern humans. The neanderthal population began to dwindle about 50,000 years
ago, and the species became extinct 34,000 years ago. What should be underlined is that
neanderthals represented only one evolutionary path of the genus homo. Strictly speaking, true
neanderthal fossils have been mainly found, in parts of Europe and West Asia, but other fossils which
closely resemble modern humans have been found in various parts of Africa. It is likely that around
125,000 years ago early homo sapiens separately branched into neanderthals and 'homo sapiens
sapiens' (modern humans). On the basis of recent fossil and molecular evidence, Richard Leakey has
put forth a strong argument for the African origin of homo sapiens sapiens. In any case there were
several types of homo sapiens which coexisted for a long time. Apart from neanderthals, these homo
sapiens include species whose fossils have been found at Broken Hill in Zambia (110,000 years);
Qafzeh in West Asia (92,000 years); and Cro-Magnon in West Europe (40,000 years). One of these
might have evolved into homo sapiens sapiens and coexisted with the rest down to about 40-30,000
years ago when all other species (and subspecies) became extinct leaving only our species:
Subsequently there has been no evolution at the species or subspecies level and even though there
are some superficial differences (complexion, stature, etc.) homo sapiens sapiens remains a unified
and homogeneous species. With the emergence of homo sapiens sapiens the size of the brain
increased to an average of 1350 c.c. However scholars are divided in their opinion as to whether
mere increase in brain size had much significance once 22 neanderthals and other homo sapiens had
evolved. With neanderthals the size of the brain had equalled that of homo sapiens sapiens. What
then was the direction of further evolution? This is a difficult question to answer because it is linked
to the problem of defining what is so very specific about homo sapiens sapiens—brain size, or
speech, or ability to make increasingly complex tools, or a high level of social interaction. A larger
brain when combined with well developed hands which were free because they were not used for
locomotion had revolutionary consequences, as was demonstrated by the rapid development of tool
technology. Augmentation of brain size had already reached a point where it was possible to make
tools requiring a high level of skill. The focus has now shifted to understanding the social context of
human behaviour. Homo sapiens sapiens were better equipped for social interaction and cooperation
than other homo sapiens. Some scientific evidence has been put forth in support of this view. Philip
Lieberman has carefully studied the shape and size of the skull and neck of modern humans in
relation to neanderthals and apes. The skull of homo sapiens sapiens acquired a globular shape,
which differs from the low and bulging skull of neanderthals. The shape of the modern human skull
introduced modifications in the shape of the neck, the most important being that the sound
resonating portion of our throats (between the vocal cords and the back of the mouth) was able to
produce a greater variety of sounds. Though other primates, as well as other animals communicate
by producing sounds, modern humans are unique in the variety of sounds they can produce. These
can be combined in an infinite number of ways which is reflected in the vast number of languages
(living and dead) that human societies have produced. Language is now seen by a large number of
scholars as the key to understanding the specificity of homo sapiens sapiens. This is not just a
question of producing a variety of sounds for communication but is also related to our 23 capacity to
arrange our ideas (thought) with the help of language. This in turn is associated with both the size of
the brain and to the manner in which different parts of the brain are organized. Recent studies have
indicated that while the size of the brain in neanderthals was the same as that of our species, there
was still scope for changes in the structure of the brain which facilitated the development of
language. Apart from its other functions, language allowed humans to transmit knowledge and
information to successive generations in a manner that is not possible for other animals. This means
that each generation does not have to start from the scratch. It can build upon the accumulated
experience of previous generations. A more developed brain allowed the information to be stored.
This accelerated the pace of cultural adaptation and humans were no longer dependent on biological
evolution. This is a theme which we will examine in greater detail in the following chapter