What Makes Us Human

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What Makes Us Human

It has taken anthropologic research many years to explain what makes us human. The physical appearance, skeletal bones and behaviours, are key indicators of what differentiates humans from other mammals and primates. We need to be aware of what it means to be primate for us to know what makes us human. All primates possess a highly developed binocular vision with an enclosed eye socket in the skull. Most primates have a shortened snout with a reduced sense of smell (Thorne and Wolpoff 2003).

The physical traits of humans are unique. Humans are the only primates who are fully bipedal. Every part of their skeleton is intertwined to make it possible for them to walk upright. The skull of humans is also different from all other mammals, and their brain size is largest in relation to body size of all other primates. The human face is also flat without a protruding nose or snout. The dental formula of humans is also different, without a diastema and a parabolic shape as the top of the mouth (Thorne and Wolpoff 2003).

The polytypic morphology also distinguishes humans from other mammals. Humans are extremely social animals just like their primate ancestors, and they are the only animals to use tools. The divergent hallux of the big toe in humans disappears, aligning equally with all the toes which are slightly carved. The femur and pelvis of humans also stand out. Humans are the only animals to develop a capacity for complex figurative communication across the globe. Humans also possess material culture including symbolic art though this is not present from birth.

Humans have a longer lifespan as compared to other animals their infancy is prolonged with their physical maturation delayed. In short, to be human you must be fully bipedal, should be able to make and use tools, and should have a polytypic morphology.

Bipedalism is believed to have developed in australopithecines almost 3.5million years ago. Homo habilis was the first human to make and use tools around 2.5 million years ago. Tools were never found in earlier members in the hominid tree. Language is believed to have evolved from chimpanzees to Australopithecus to Homo habilis and erectus.

The earliest taxon to be classified as human in the hominid tree is the Homo ergaster or what is known as African Homo erectus. In the fossil record, it appeared about 1.9 million years ago.

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