After a long road of the weirdest consequences, we’re here. Living, doing art, working, singing, chilling. A fairly long time ago, we weren’t the only humans going around. Why is our species so successful, that we’re able to drive others extinct and eventually threaten our own survival?

Primates started being around about 55 million years ago.The apes have been here for about 20 million years. That’s when it was humans’ turn. Somewhere between 5 and 7 million years ago.

Many of us learned in school that humans developed from monkeys to more and more intelligent species and eventually, to us. Lately the studies have shown that it wasn’t the case. Until now, we’ve learned that there were at least 15 other human-species. Most of their basic living habits were not so different from each other. Even the early signs of culture were pretty much the same. Although compared to others, Neanderthals were a bit stronger physically.

It’s a common thought that Homo Sapiens evolved because we were more intelligent. It’s been found that for hundreds of thousands of years, there were at least 4 human species living at the same time with sapiens. like Homo Naledi, Homo erectus, Homo Heidelbergensis for example. Currently, it looks like the first species started to spread from somewhere around Africa. First wave was approximately 300 thousand years ago. When Homo sapiens reached Europe, Neanderthals had been there for 100 thousand years already. It was a bit slow to move during those times because of ice-age and other distractions. Most of the time encounters with other human species were not violent. Although, there have been some signs of violence in Neanderthals. The battle of survival was more about who made most children that are able to continue reproducing. Also there might have been some competition about natural resources. And as nature works, they mixed some genes and reproduced with other human species. In genetic studies, you can find that humans today have a lot more of Neanderthalis than sapiens. Whatever the mix of species was, it’s now defined as us Homo Sapiens. Fun fact that has also occurred in the genes of Homo Sapiens, that we’re the only one’s with a gene that allows autism and schizophrenia to occur. At least Neanderthalis or Denisovans didn’t have that gene. Many of them used symbolic language, which has been previously suggested to be one of the reasons why Homo Sapiens survived. There’s also been found signs of culture. There’s proof that at least naledis and neanderthals were burying the deceased and even throwing in some bones, and objects in the graves. This indicates that they may have been already concerned about what happens after death. About 40-70 thousand years ago, either in our brain or in our culture happened. Humans started to view the world as something they can build, rather than just be at the mercy of it. One big feature in human survival is the ability to adapt. The mind started to get more creative, which allowed more efficient tools. We were also able to build kayak-like boats to move easier. Not to forget cave paintings. Maybe it’s the early start of cognitive revolution. The ability to tell stories and share ideas and plans was changing the way to organize life a bit more.

Although modern life allows us high technology and a lot of understanding, it’s good to remember that these things happened such a long time ago that no one can be 100% certain of what actually went down during those times.

Taika Soihtu

Sources:
Natural History Museum – discover the origin of our species
Live Science – How many early humans existed on earth
Live Science – Why haven’t all primates evolved into humans?
The Conversation – Were other humans the first victims of the sixth mass extinction?
Open library – 1.7 The Evolution of Primates
History.com- When Did Human Ancestors Start Burying Their Dead?
Keele university – Study casts doubt on belief that neanderthals held burial rituals for their dead
extras.net- Jääkaudet ja ihminen
Australian museum – The first migrations out of Africa
Podcast – Pieleen mennyt historia – Ihminen on luova hullu
Yuval Noah Harari – Sapiens