Key Insights into Human Evolution

The genealogy of human beings shares a common ancestor with that of chimpanzees, which lived in Africa about seven million years ago. This is the conclusion reached by geneticists after analyzing our genome and that of chimpanzees. From that moment, the two genealogies have diverged, although we still share a very substantial part of the genome, nearly 99%. Dr. José María Bermúdez de Castro’s conference offers a synthesis of the changes we have experienced over the last seven million years, leading to our current situation with just a change in a handful of genes.

During the presentation, Dr. Bermúdez de Castro will talk about the beginning of bipedalism and the evidence demonstrating its existence in our genealogy more than four million years ago. The planet’s slow temperature decrease over a long period drastically changed the African landscape, leading to the extinction of several species of archaic hominids and the evolutionary success of others, thanks to their unique adaptations. Being omnivores has contributed to the persistence of our genealogy in the new scenarios brought about by slow climate change. This led to modifications in the anatomy of the hand, the beginning of the increase in our brain size, and stone technology, and hence, what we today call Culture in its broadest sense.

The genus Homo, which emerged about two million years ago, represented a first-magnitude evolutionary leap. We expanded across Africa and Eurasia, our growth and development underwent notable modifications, and our brain continued to grow while its development slowed. All this culminated in a much more versatile and intelligent hominid, although not enough to reach the levels of development we see today in developed countries.

Bermúdez de Castro will tell us how the extraordinary progress of humanity has been possible in just a few thousand years, even though we still share very similar behavior patterns with chimpanzees, such as territoriality, hierarchy, or tribalism.

Speaker:

Dr. Jose María Bermúdez de Castro
Honorary Research Professor at the National Center for Research on Human Evolution (CENIEH), Burgos, Spain
Honorary Professor of the University College of London(UCL)
Research Professor at the CSIC (Spanish National Research Council)
Full Member of the RAE (Royal Spanish Academy)