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natgeofound:

Louis Leakey and his family inspect the campsite of an early hominid in Tanzania, November 1961.
Photograph by Robert Sisson, National Geographic

deconversionmovement:

The Rock of Gibraltar: Neanderthals’ Last Refuge

I was intrigued when I saw this headline over at NPR’s 13.7 blog earlier this week: “A Neanderthal-Themed Park for Gibraltar?“ As it turns out, no one’s planning a human evolution Disney World along Gibraltar’s cliffs. Instead, government officials are hoping one of the area’s caves will become a Unesco World Heritage site. Gibraltar certainly deserves that distinction. The southwestern tip of Europe’s Iberian Peninsula, Gibraltar was home to the last-surviving Neanderthals. And then tens of thousands of years later, it became the site of one of the first Neanderthal fossil discoveries.

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What would an evolution theme park be like? That’s a fun thought.

(via thedearthofmirth)

Java Man. 

(Source)

landofoblivion:

fictionincarnate:

Helpful graphic is helpful.

Here’s a good chart

And, of course, the only ones we know of to have reached Antarctica are Homo sapiens.

(via project-argus)

deconversionmovement:

If Humans Evolved from Apes, Why do Apes Still Exist?

The fundamental issue with this question is that there is an assumption that humans evolved from apes - but this is not the case. The simple answer is that humans did not evolve from apes: both apes, humans, and other primates evolved from a common ancestor. The common ancestor was probably more similar to apes than humans in terms of appearance. It is estimated that this lineage branched apart 8 million years ago - one branch leading to homonids (human-like), and the other branch leading to apes. This estimate varies - some arguing the split was as close as 5 million years ago, others that it was as distant as 20 million years ago.

It’s important to realize that evolution is not a linear process where one species evolves from the previous, effectively “replacing” the previous. Instead, it is a much more complicated process where species will branch off an existing line of ancestors. Seperate branches evolve along different trajectories and can include major changes, minor changes, no change, or extinction. The survival of an evolutionary line is dependent upon the ability of its members to live and reproduce in their environment.

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A very useful infographic for clearing up a common misconception. 

(via project-argus)

scinerds:

“If we evolved from monkeys, why are there still some around?”

We did not evolve from modern day primates. We share a common ancestor, branched off and speciated.

My analogy is that you did not evolve from your brother. However, you both have the same parents, yet you are your own individual. Though this analogy is kind of faulty considering that modern-day monkeys are as distantly related from the common ancestor we share as much as we are. So more like distant, distant, distant…distant… distant… third-cousins.

I hope this cleared this up for a lot of people and also fostered ammunition in the future if anyone asks you this question.

P.S Be wary not to be harsh on anyone because of this discrepancy. You can’t blame them for what has become a very popular way of describing evolution. 

It’s a linguistic problem, really. Sometimes language is annoying.

(via project-argus)

migeo:

There wasn’t much color photography in Darwin’s day, so all the photos we have of him are in black and white (or sepia). Here’s a site with some skillful retouching of old photos to add color…and a new version of a familiar image. (vía Pharyngula)

Very nice.

(via project-argus)

This is cute.

(via avarenity)

wakemeupp:

This kind of mind-f***ed me. 

“Every drop of rain that falls, the Sahara Desert says it all…”

(via project-argus)

cwnl:

one in the same, living creatures, essentially forged in stars, evolved in their own ways.

“I know we’re different, but, deep inside us, we’re not that different at all.”

(via project-argus)