HUMAN TREE

Human family tree is related to Darwin ‘s theory regarding the evolution of human. In this case, Darwin believed that human evolved from the apes million years ago. However, Darwin theory was still debated over its factuality. The missing links of this theory was still unfounded. Speaking from Islam perspective, I strongly rejected this theory since we undoubtly believe that Prophet Adam A.S was the first human created by God. Not to mention that the Darwin ‘s theory clearly rejected the existence of God.

The first group of human species according to Darwin ‘s theory is  Ardipithecus that lived around 6 million years ago – 4 million years ago. Ardipithecus is the earliest humans that has nearest connection to other primates. They evolved in Africa and took the first steps toward walking upright. Some of the species are Sahelanthropus tchadensis, Orrorin tugenensis, Ardipithecus kadabba and Ardipithecus ramidus. This species could be considered as two-legged species and stood upright on the ground but could move on all four limbs in trees. Features of the anatomy are highly primitive.

The next group is Australopithecus which lived around 4 million years ago – 2 million years ago. This species were two-legged, even it is hypothesized that they lived mostly on the trees, the length of their arms was larger than modern humans. Some of the species namely Australopithecus anamensis, Australopithecus afarensis, Australopithecus garhi and Australopithecus africanus.

The third group of human species is Paranthropus group that lived around 3 million years ago – 1 million years ago. This kind of early human species has large teeth and strong jaws that allowed them to consume on a variety of foods. Some of the species are Paranthropus aethiopicus, Paranthropus robustus and Paranthropus boisei. They are our distant ‘cousins’ rather than our direct relatives.

The last group of human species according to Darwin ‘s theory is Homo group which lived around 2.5 million years ago. Like modern humans, species in this group had large brains and used tools. Members of this group were the pioneer to expand beyond Africa. Some of the species namely Homo rudolfensis, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis, Homo floresiensis, Homo heidelbergensis and Homo sapiens.

To sum up, those four human species were theorized by Darwin as our ancestor. Yet, there are lot of weakness, hesitations, contradictions and uncertainty regarding this theory. In fact, lot of scholars nowadays rejecting this doubtful theory.

SOURCE

Australopithecus

(http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Australopithecus)

Paranthropus genus

(https://australianmuseum.net.au/paranthropus-species)

What does it mean to be human?

(http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-family-tree)