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Christina Andino
Jenny Campbell
Anthropology-Human Origins 1020-006
10 February 2016-Spring
Reflection 2
Evolution to becoming human
Nova’s “Becoming Human: Last Human Standing” is a three part film that created a new
view of history, that is extremely versatile. This film demonstrates a hypothesis of how we have
become human throughout evolution. This is relevant to the course because we are currently
discussing evolution in chapters eight through eleven in the text “Human Origins: Evolution and
Diversity Jurmain.” Nova’s hypothesis suggests that “Variability is the driving force of human
evolution: we are creatures of climate change.” (Nova: Becoming Human 2009) Nova’s
Becoming human film demonstrates a view that many other credible sources agree with in
regards to the evolution of humans. Specifically, to the current genus homo, Richard Potts
discusses similar views in his article in Current Anthropology “Human Biology and the Origins of
Homo” in 2012. These sources share similar views of how we have become human and where
this evolution of the homo genus humans originates and signifies life of modern humans today.
In the film “Becoming human,” the hypotheses of the climate change that occurred in
east, Africa was a significant place and time of history that human evolution occurred. This film
suggests that the climate change in Rift Valley Africa nearly 140,000 years ago changed,
changed from tropical forests to harsh desserts that were not suitable for life. (Nova 2009)
Along with this hypothesis, Richard Potts in “Human Biology and the Origins of Homo”
demonstrates additional evidence of variability within climate changes developed the evolution
of the early Homo genus. Potts suggest that variability selection hypothesis is a combination of
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many environmental forces that changed climates and led to the survival of only the limited
species that could adapt. (Potts 2007)
A small selective group of hominines that were able to survive these vigorous changes
survived because of their adaptability to the climate change during this time in east Africa. The
film suggests that those who survived are the closest ancestors of modern humans today. The
survivors of the Great Rift Valley climate change began to disperse out of Africa where greater
discoveries of the homo genus began evolving. (Nova Becoming Human 2009) This source
suggests that our closest ancestors discovered additional species and made encounters with
one another. Suggesting that humans may have left Africa and much earlier than some
researchers may have initially thought. (Nova 2009)
This theory is referred to as partially out of Africa, suggesting humans originate from
Africa and migrated out into other parts of the world. Eastern Africa, according to Christian A
Tryon and Tyler J. Faith in “Variability in the Middle Store Age of Eastern Africa” seems to be
the hard to determine the hominines initial dispersal time and journey out of Africa. In
additional, this regional dispersal of hominines leaving out of Africa represents the variability of
hominine interactions were over an increased period. The interactions of these various
hominines are suggested to have occurred in both sociological and psychical environments that
were experienced by hominines. (Tryon and Faith 2012)
Evolution of the homo genus to the modern humans, homo sapien sapiens, of these
sources is suggested to have originated in Africa. This evolution to becoming human has had
many hypotheses of how and where the genus homo originated. These sources specifically
suggest the genus home originated in Africa and partially moved out and may have settled in
various new environments after adapting to the climate change that occurred and killed off many
others. Currently we modern humans today are still evolving and adapting to our environment
each day, which is continuously affecting our evolution for the future as it has done in the past.
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Works Cited
“Becoming Human: Last Human Standing” Nova, 2009
Richard Potts “Human Biology and the Origins of Homo” Current Anthropology Vol. 53, No S6
2012: Pages S299-S317
Susan C. Anton and J. Josh Snodgrass “Origins and Evolution of Genus Homo:New Perspective”
Current Anthropology Vol. 53, No. S6, 2012: Pages S479-S496
Tryon, Christian A. and Faith, Tyler J. “Variability in the Middle Store Age of Eastern Africa”
Current Anthropology Vol. 54. No. S8 2012,