1. Lesson 8

2. Human Abilities & Success  Perform complex reasoning  Ability to learn  Use of sophisticated tools  Use of complex language

3. Human Abilities Required the Evolution of physical characteristics:  Large Brain relative to body size  Hands that are capable of fine manipulation and coordination  Bipedalism – walking upright allowing our hands to be free for tool use

4. Human Phylogeny

6.  New World & Old World  Continental drift that separated South America (New World) from the land mass that would form Africa and Eurasia (Old World)

7.  Humans and Chimpanzees share approximately 98.8% of their DNA  Humans and chimpanzees differ from gorillas by about 1.6%  The most recent common ancestor that we share with chimpanzees lived in Africa more than 6 million years ago

8. Human “Races”  From a biological perspective, human ‘races’ do NOT exist. There is NO significant genetic difference between people around the world  Traits that we associate with races (skin colour) are visually obvious, but genetically minimal

10. Hominid Fossil Record

12.  Mary Leaky in 1976 discovered the Laetoli footprints in Tanzania

13. Out of Africa  All early hominids evolved and lived in Africa  Homo erectus was the first species to spread beyond Africa about 1.9 million years ago  Ancestors of Neanderthals spread beyond African about 500 000 to 300 000 years ago  Soon after the earliest modern human evolved, they too spread out of Africa

15. DNA & Fossils  DNA from Neanderthal bones have been sequenced and we have its genome  Genetic remnant of Neanderthal genome found in humans of European and Asian decent. There is no function of this DNA, but it suggests interbreeding

16. Cultural Evolution  Even if humans and chimps are 98% genetically related, our cultural differences are immense  How has our biological evolution influenced our cultural evolution?

18. Evolution Today & Darwinian Medicine  Darwinian Medicine:  Application of modern evolutionary theory to understand health and disease  Ex: Taste for fats and sugars  Ex: Spiking a fever to help fight an infection  Ex: Coughing to expel disease-causing agents from lungs

19. Modern Theory of Evolution  Read section 7.6

20. Epigenetics  Recall Use and Disuse:

21. Epigenetics:  Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene activity which are not caused by changes in the DNA sequence.heritablegeneDNA  Changes can occur response to environmental influences  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp1bZEUgqVI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp1bZEUgqVI  ARTICLE: http://discovermagazine.com/2013/may/13- grandmas-experiences-leave-epigenetic-mark-on- your-genes

22. Homework:  Read 7.6 Modern Theory of Evolution  Do some more research on epigentics