"Human Traits May Not Have Evolved All At Once, " Topic

…Scientists Say.

"Though the history of human evolution is undoubtedly complex, one thing most scientists can agree on is that the first members of the genus Homo emerged around 2 million years ago in Africa. But the story got a new twist this week after a group of anthropologists claimed that humans did not evolve from their ape-like ancestors in as quick or neat a process as previously believed.

According to long-established opinion among scientists, the human lineage emerged a little more than 2 million years ago, as the forests on the African continent retreated and the dry savanna expanded. In order to survive, our ape-like ancestors were forced to adapt key human traits such as longer legs, a bipedal gait, larger brains and the use of stone tools.

Now a trio of anthropologists are claiming that these evolutionary changes did not take place in one big leap, as had been previously believed, but came together in a piecemeal, or patchwork, fashion. As reported on NPR's Morning Edition this weekend, the scientists–Rick Potts of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, Susan Anton of New York University and Leslie Aiello of the Wenner-Gren Foundation–have analyzed fossils found over the past few decades. They found that at least three different types of early humans inhabited Africa around the period in question (around 2.5 million to 1.5 million years ago), all with different features that would end up in more modern humans…"
Full article here
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Amicalement
Armand

The "piecemeal" fashion is the only one I've ever read about. The "big leap" theory is new to me, and doesn't make much sense, evolutionarily speaking.

As long as learning to wipe our bums was one of the first traits I'm ok with the little by little evolution :) I'm sure it was not like the video of Right Here, Right Now (You've Come a Long Way Baby 'Fat Boy Slim' anyway and it was a progression of trial and error with one or two mini leaps just like all evolution except maybe them 'Damn dirty apes' from the old Planet of the Apes series, he, which was a darn fast evolution but that's the movies for you.
Nice look into the past though, always intriguing. Cheers, thanks T1

when i read the newspapers or watch the news i sometimes get the feeling not all humans are equally evolved even today .

"…get the feeling not all humans are equally evolved…"

You are confusing evolution with progress. Don't worry you are far from the first. Evolution does not progress, it adapts. Anything we would call progress is a random occurrence. Evolution is a process, like water flowing downhill and eroding out a canyon. The canyon may be beautiful and impressive but the water didn't intend it and in another set of circumstances would never have produced it.

Why would anyone think it would happen all at once ?

You are confusing evolution with progress.

Exactly. Evolution is all about who survives to breed, and that is not necessarily the "fittest".
Considering that for the first time in human history, the poor are the most obese, this will be an interesting thing to follow.

Precisely, John. Survival of the fittest is more accurately described as 'survival that which fits (with prevailing circumstances)' not 'the fittest' in terms of some human abstraction of strength, complexity or whatever.

Evolution produces blind, sluggish, albino fish and amphibians in freshwater cave-systems; far less 'fit' or 'powerful' than their surface-world relatives, but far beetter adapted for life underground.

Exactly, and it's a simple point that escapes most evolution-deniers.

But I also suspect that ernieR was speaking metaphorically.

Yep, and after all, he's only expressing a feeling we've all had at various times!
It's really refreshing that most TMPers are rational, scientifically-minded fellows, with a good sense of humour too…and it's often the lack of those qualities that leads us to sometimes become exasperated with the follies of mankind. Not that I'm exempt from folly of course!