Stages Of Man Evolution

QUESTION: What are the stages of man evolution?

ANSWER:

Any documentation identifying the stages of “man evolution” has to assume that man evolved rather than having been created. We believe that evidence has failed to support the evolution from ape to man or any other type of macroevolution.

The Cambrian explosion and the complete absence of transitional fossils testify against evolution. The fossil record shows all life forms appearing fully formed and not changing during their tenure on earth, except for extinctions. This information, and the recent finding that human DNA is losing its vitality by developing genetic disorders supports devolution, the opposite of evolution.

The story below represents how evolutionists describe the stages of “man evolution.” The timeframe for the stages of man evolution from the ancestor of both man and the modern ape to modern man is not known, but I will give you an abbreviated chronology of what has been discovered from fossil remains over the years.

First of all, the word, hominidae, is used to describe the total member species of the human family that have lived since the last common ancestor of both man and the apes. A hominid is an individual species within that family, and the field of science that studies the human fossil record is known as paleoanthropology. It is made up of two disciplines of paleontology, which is the study of ancient life forms, and anthropology, which is the study of humans. Each hominid name consists of a genus name (Australopithecus, Homo) which is always capitalized, and a species name (africanus, erectus) which is always in lower case.

To begin our study of the stages of man evolution, the earliest fossil hominid, Ardipithecus ramidus, is a recent discovery dating 4.4 million years ago. He was 4 feet tall and bipedal (having two feet). It is thought this species lived as forest dwellers. Australopithecus anamensis, a new species, was named in 1995 and was found in Kenya. This species lived between 4.2 and 3.9 million years ago, and its body showed advanced bipedal features, but the skull closely resembled the ancient apes.

Australopithecus afarensis lived between 3.9 and 3.0 million years ago. He retained the apelike face with a sloping forehead, a ridge over the eyes, flat nose, and a chinless lower jaw, and height, 3’6” and 5’ tall. He was fully bipedal, and the thickness of his bones showed he was quite strong. His build was similar to a human, but the head and face were proportionately much larger.

The Australopithecus africanus was similar to the afarensis, but lived between three and two million years ago. He was also bipedal and slightly larger in body size. His brain was not advanced for speech. The hominid was an herbivore and ate tough, hard to chew, plants. The shape of the jaw was human-like.

The Australopithecus robustus lived between two and 1.5 million years ago. His body was similar to that of the africanus, but had a larger and more massive skull and teeth. His huge face was flat and had no forehead. He had no indication of speech capabilities.

The Australopithecus boisei lived between 2.1 and 1.1 million years ago. He was smaller than the robustus, but with a more massive face. He had huge molars, for which the largest measured 0.9 inches across. Some authorities believe the robustus and boisei are of the same species.

Next is the Homo habilis, or also called The Handy Man because tools were found with his fossil remains. He existed between 2.4 and 1.5 million years ago. The brain shape shows evidence some speech had developed. He was 5’ tall and weighed about 100 pounds.

Homo erectus lived between 1.8 million and 300,000 years ago. Toward the end, his brain was that of the size of modern man, and definitely could speak.

Erectus developed tools, weapons, fire, and learned to cook his own food. He traveled out of Africa into China and the Southeast Asia developing clothing for northern climates. He turned to hunting for his food, and only his head and face differed from modern man. Homo sapiens (archaic) lived during the period 200,000 to 500,000 years ago. He had speech capabilities; his skull was rounded with smaller features. The skeleton shows a stronger build than modern human, but well proportioned.

Homo sapiens neandertalensis lived in Europe and the Mideast between 150,000 and 35,000 years ago. Brain size averaged larger than modern man, but the head was shaped differently, longer and lower. His nose was large and extremely different from modern man in structure. He was a massive man, about 5’6” tall with a heavy skeleton that showed attachments for massive muscles. He was far stronger than modern man, and his jaw was massive with a receding forehead like erectus.

Homo sapiens sapiens first appeared about 120,000 years ago, which is our own species.

Although this sounds like quite a convincing story, it is very slim on evidence and big on evolutionary presupposition. What is not included in the above story is a long list of frauds, deceptions. and extrapolations from a few small bone fragments into complete descriptions of semi-human or human life forms.

Dr. Joseph Mastropaolo draws the following conclusion. “The only scientific objective, valid, reliable, calibrated studies, which any biologist may verify, prove all so-called ape-men are frauds or forgeries. To date, no contrary evidence has overturned these scientific objective, valid, reliable, calibrated studies. Therefore, the ape-man alternative to Adam and Eve is based upon the anti-biology of frauds and forgeries whereas the historical and Eve are based upon sound biology.”

This article is also available in Spanish.