W12 Enrichment: I Love How You Styled Your Head Scales!

           Animals share an evolutionary relationship with each other; just like the human body still carries various genes that are related to monkeys and fishes as our ancestors. There are plenty of characteristics found in the world of animals that prove the inner monkey and fish in us. From simple cells to fishes, from fishes to reptiles, and from reptiles to primates, animals have evolved creating different species. Although we did not evolve from modern monkeys, our ancestors the primates had a lot in common with other animals but managed to shape their bodies and brain with time. Therefore, sharing various common genes.

Scientists have found several fossils of different sizes and weights providing evidence of the type of anatomy, culture, and behavior of different animals. Tooth fossils for example showed the animal’s lifespan and diet type (omnivore, herbivore, carnivore, or detritivore). Unlike some earlier predator mammals such as the Gorgonopsids and the Tritheledonts, human teeth today only allow us to eat cooked meat. These mentioned predators’ teeth gave them the ability to cut raw meat with their shape teeth and their digestive system could take care of it; Crocodiles and tigers still have the kind of teeth similar to respectively the Gorgonopsids and the Tritheledonts; But through evolution, human dentition shaped our teeth into four tooth classes: incisors, canines, premolars, and molars. Therefore, as modern omnivores, most food must be cooked because of our digestive system.

As descendants of reptiles, modern mammals have three middle ear bones that give them the ability to hear better and differentiate between high and low sounds. While birds and reptiles have only one middle ear bone to perform this function. Like Kangaroos, opossums are marsupials. Their lives development as embryos shows that they are born with bones attached to the jaw like reptiles but as they grow, the bones migrate to the middle ear.  

    Evolution is also seen in our vision ability. Humans developed the ability to see all colors while animals such as Kramer the monkey is color blind by failing to tell the difference between some colors because of the missing third opsin's protein that detects colors. Just like the primates, Kramer also has only two opsins instead of three like found in the human genes. When a third opsin was implanted in Sam the monkey, he could be able to tell the difference between red and green just like humans. A proof of evolution that can be passed to Sam’s next generation.

It is clear that humans evolved to walk and run effectively on the ground using two feet. The discovery of Ardi allowed the understanding of the earliest ancestor that was capable of walking upright. The fossils of Ardi provide Ardi’s pelvis and feet as evidence of a bipedal with the ability to climb with their long fingers. This ability to walk on two legs using our feet brings issues such as back pain in our bodies but frees our hands in order to make tools and shape the world around us.

The turning point of the human body can also be seen with the replacement of claws with nails in the primate era. Even now, we still have all the fingers shape and mobility just like the monkeys; and as a descendant of fishes, it is clear that fish have the genes that build fingers, and millions of years ago when some fishes learned how to crawl out of waters, they have developed the ability to stimulate the DNA to produce fingers in order to crawl on the soil bringing, therefore, the development of reptiles. The primates developed a hand precision grip allowing them to warp their thumbs and fingers which in return gave them the ability to become hunters by creating several tools for their survival.