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Human Origins Update (March 19, 2004, Two)

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Program Summary

How did humans happen? Scientists know that humans and chimps split from a common ancestor millions of years ago, but there are definite gaps in our family tree.

In this segment, Ira and his guests discuss new fossil evidence of early hominids that could shed a little light on the branches of our shadowy human family tree. Scientists now have evidence from testing ancient mitocondrial DNA that helps unravel the mystery of how the Neaderthals fit into our past. Just what went on in the caves back in the days of Neanderthals and early humans? Did we interbreed or did the Neanderthals and early humans keep their genes to themselves? Ira digs in and reveals the latest thinking about whether we are directly related to Neanderthals or whether they’re a distant relative, an interesting, but long extinct and separate branch or our constantly evolving family tree.

Guests

Svante Paabo, director of the department of genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany

Tim White, professor of integrative biology at the University of California-Berkeley

Related Links and Resources

The Talk.Origins Archive: Exploring the Creation/Evolution Controversy
PBS’s Evolution
“International Herald Tribune,” March 6, 2004: “A New Branch of Humans' Family Tree is Discovered in Ethiopia”
The Human Origins Program at The Smithsonian Institution
The Leakey Foundation

From the Science Friday Kids’ Connection Archives
June 13, 2003: Way Back When: The Discovery of the Oldest Homo Sapiens Remains

For Discussion:

• How has the appearance of human beings and the ancestors of humans changed over time from about six million years ago until today?
• What are some reasons why humans have changed over time?
• What are some characteristics of Neanderthal man?
• How do Neanderthals differ from early modern humans?
• Why do scientists think the Neanderthals became extinct?
• Can you come up with some reasons for and against the idea that Neanderthals are a direct part of our family tree?

Activities

Where did we come from? BBC’s Walking with Cavemen is an excellent source of information, both written and visual, for human origins. You can see how we evolved, explore a Neanderthal cave, and discover the harsh conditions the species met during its time on earth. Students (and teachers) can learn how fire, imagination, creation of tools, and walking on two feet impacted our ancestors and shaped who we are today, putting your hominid skills to the test in Caveman Challenge.

Cavemen kissing cousins? Dig deep into the discussion about whether or not modern man is descended from Neanderthals at NOVA Online’s Neanderthals on Trial. Get an almost hands-on view by looking at Casts of Characters. It shows QuickTime movies of a Neanderthal skull and an early modern human skull for in-depth comparison. Students can engage in interactive Neanderthal archeological digs at Dig and Deduce. And for the intrepid there is Tracing Ancestry with mtDNA, which delves into mitochondrial DNA comparisons. After reviewing the show, take a look at the Teacher’s Guide. Included are a summary and some suggestions for classroom activities as well as feedback from teachers about how they used the material in the classroom.

Do people grow on family trees? Replacing Missing Links in the Evolutionary Chain from the New York Times Learning Network challenges students to create a visual and verbal timeline of hominids from about 4.5 million years ago to today. Working in groups, they research, find images, and write summaries of the different species that make up the human family tree.

All in the family. For a good overview, characteristics, timeline, and relationships among members of the hominid family, check out the Hominid Evolution Survey to see the branches of species from Australopithecus to Cro-Magnon. For another interesting guide with images of our human fossil ancestors from Australopithecus through Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Homo sapiens, take a look at Human Prehistory: An Exhibition.

Cave art. Students explore the relationships between Neanderthal and our human ancestors as they research, examine details, and create a mural of Neanderthal life in Neanderthal from Discoverschool.com.

Use the search box below to perform a Google search within any of the specifc sites or general domains mentioned in this Activities section.

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