EVOLUTION, GENETICS, AND MAN
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION: MYTHS AND MISCONCEPTIONS 1 IDEAS ABOUT EVOLUTION #1 EVOLUTION IS A THEORY, NOT A FACT #2 EVOLUTION IS COMPLETELY RANDOM #3 ALL EVOLUTIONARY CHANGES ARE ADAPTIVE #4 IN EVOLUTION, BIGGER IS ALWAYS BETTER #5 NATURAL SELECTION ALWAYS WORKS #6 SOME SPECIES ARE MORE EVOLVED THAN ARE OTHERS #7 HUMANS LIVED AT THE SAME TIME AS THE DINOSAURS 2 HUMAN ORIGINS #8 IF APES EVOLVED INTO HUMANS, THEN APES SHOULD NOT EXIST TODAY #9 “RAMAPITHECUS” WAS A HUMAN ANCESTOR #10 HUMANS AND AFRICAN APES SPLIT FROM EACH OTHER OVER 15 MILLION YEARS AGO #11 GIGANTOPITHECUS WAS THE ANCESTOR OF “BIGFOOT” (ASSUMING BIGFOOT EXISTS) #12 HUMAN TRAITS ALL EVOLVED AT THE SAME TIME #13 LARGE BRAINS EVOLVED VERY EARLY IN HUMAN EVOLUTION #14 THE COMMON ANCESTOR OF AFRICAN APES AND HUMANS WALKED LIKE A CHIMPANZEE #15 BIPEDALISM FIRST EVOLVED ON THE AFRICAN GRASSLANDS #16 LUCY WAS SO SMALL BECAUSE SHE WAS A CHILD #17 AUSTRALOPITHECUS WAS A KILLER APE #18 HUMAN EVOLUTION CAN BE DESCRIBED AS A “LADDER” #19 ALL HOMININ SPECIES HAVE PROBABLY BEEN DISCOVERED #20 THERE ARE NO TRANSITIONAL FOSSILS IN HUMAN EVOLUTION 3 EVOLUTION OF THE GENUS HOMO #21 ONLY ONE SPECIES OF HOMO LIVED 2 MILLION YEARS AGO #22 EARLY HOMO HAD MODERN HUMAN BRAIN SIZE #23 ONLY HUMANS ARE TOOLMAKERS AND HAVE CULTURE #24 WE CAN IDENTIFY SPECIES BY THE STONE TOOLS THEY MADE #25 HOMO HABILIS DEFINITELY MADE SHELTER #26 OUR ANCESTORS HAVE ALWAYS MADE FIRE #27 EARLY HUMANS GOT ALL OF THEIR MEAT FROM HUNTING #28 SPECIES WITH LARGER BROW RIDGES ARE MORE APE?LIKE #29 NEANDERTALS WALKED BENT OVER AND WERE DUMB BRUTES #30 NEANDERTALS DEFINITELY COULD NOT SPEAK #31 MODERN HUMANS APPEARED FIRST IN EURASIA #32 “MITOCHONDRIAL EVE” IS OUR ONLY COMMON FEMALE ANCESTOR #33 NEANDERTALS DID NOT INTERBREED WITH MODERN HUMANS #34 WE DO NOT NEED FOSSILS ANY MORE TO LEARN ABOUT HUMAN EVOLUTION #35 ALL RECENT HUMAN SPECIES HAD LARGE BRAINS 4 RECENT AND FUTURE HUMAN EVOLUTION #36 EACH OF US HAS BILLIONS OF DISTINCT ANCESTORS #37 THE FIRST AMERICANS CAME FROM EUROPE OR THE MIDDLE EAST #38 THE FIRST POLYNESIANS CAME FROM SOUTH AMERICA #39 THE ORIGIN OF AGRICULTURE LED TO AN IMPROVEMENT IN HEALTH #40 CIVILIZATION HAS BEEN INFLUENCED BY EXTRATERRESTRIALS #41 THE RECENT INCREASE IN LIFE EXPECTANCY WAS DUE INITIALLY TO ANTIBIOTICS #42 THERE ARE THREE DISTINCT SHADES OF HUMAN SKIN COLOR #43 BIOLOGICAL RACE IS USEFUL FOR UNDERSTANDING HUMAN VARIATION #44 ALL AFRICAN AMERICANS HAVE THE SAME GENETIC HISTORY #45 GENETIC ANCESTRY IS THE SAME THING AS CULTURAL IDENTITY #46 SICKLE CELL ANEMIA IS A “BLACK DISEASE” #47 THERE IS A STRONG GENETIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BRAIN SIZE AND INTELLIGENCE TEST SCORES #48 HUMANS ARE NO LONGER EVOLVING #49 BLOND HAIR WILL EVENTUALLY DISAPPEAR #50 WE CAN PREDICT FUTURE HUMAN EVOLUTION REFERENCES