We are already aware of the fact that the modern humans; Homo sapiens spp, evolved about 200,000 years (from east Africa) according to research. And we have continued to evolve until we turned out to what we are presently. But there are some very vital aspects of the evolution of man we should look into. Join me as we take a little survey into this.
At what rate are we evolving?
I guess the question of whether we are still evolving has been overridden; because from the trend of events, we can infer that humans are still evolving; but at which rate?
The age of the earth has been calculated to be over 4.5billion years old. That means, judging by this data, we can infer that our species; the Homo sapiens, is still young. Some other hominids and human-like creatures had been around way before us. For example; one of the oldest fossils of our ancestors (the Australopithecus) has been carbon-dated back to over 4million years.
The human race has advanced in modern technology, which has made our lives a lot easier. But has this advancement altered the rate of evolution?
There is an important point I would like to drop before I proceed:
We all know that evolution (and adaptation) is triggered when genes get mutated and combined in very many ways (during reproduction). These changes help the species to reproduce efficiently. But much more than that; it is necessary for the survival of the species.
If the sole purpose of evolution is survival and reproduction, do humans still need to evolve to survive? Has technology placed humankind above “natural selection” to “technological selection”?
Well, there are still very many reasons to still evolve. Have you ever thought about humans evolving to be immune to certain infections? This could be what evolution may hand over to us.
Technological advancements and the rate of evolution
Scientists have proven that humans are evolving at a rate faster than we were evolving before. According to research, within the last 10,000years; the rate of evolution has increased 100x. And this has been linked to the insane technological advancement that has greeted this era.
There are many evidential evolutions that have been witnessed in this era:
- Smaller brain volume: This is rather weird. It has been proven that the average volume of our brain has decreased characteristically over the last 30,000years (from 1,500cm3 to 1,300cm3). Though scientists have not fully revealed the reason behind this. But in theory; as we evolve, our brain becomes more complex and efficient, rather than being bigger.
- Wisdom teeth: researches believe that we are gradually losing our wisdom teeth as we evolve.
What exactly would humankind look like in the future?
We would be using the data we have to draw inference into what humans will evolve into. And we will look at some areas of our body that will experience weird evolutions:
1. Our feet
We have evolved to become less dependent on the necessity to climb; which has favoured the ability to walk. So nature has shrunken our toes, and they have become less than that of our ancestors. Scientists have speculated that in the future, humankind could finally miss their little toes. This is because; we would only depend on our big toe for balance.
2. Height and strength
Scientists have concluded that we would be taller than we were now (on the average). In the last 200years, the average height of humankind has increased by over 100mm. this could be linked to good nutrition being made available to us. But this increase in height does not equate to increase in physical strength.
Because of much dependency on technology, we could evolve with much less muscular strength. The more mechanical devices compliment our work, the less we exert our physical strength to work. So there won’t be need for physical strength. So we would be taller, but less strong.
3. Our faces
This is one of the major evolutions that will greet humans in the future. Researchers have proven that in some couple of millions of years, humankind would have flat faces, small nose, and big round eyes.
By the time the evolution must have occurred, the future Homo sapiens will look back at this present time, and say that we were actually looking weird; just like we have looked back at the “Australopithecus” and said they looked weird.
In conclusion
With all these technological advancements interfering with evolution; Mother Nature and natural selection still have major roles to play.
Thanks for reading
References for further reading: Ref1, Ref2, Ref3, Ref4 Ref5
