January 4, 2018 | Sammy Tran

43 Wild Facts About Human Evolution


Everything came from a single cell. What’s that you say? As discoveries about Human Evolution come to light, scientists are realizing some pretty amazing facts about us Homo Sapiens. With that in mind, we thought we’d share 43 cool facts about human evolution that you can go tell a friend, a coworker, or a date. Cause science is cool. And hot.


43. Different Looks

60,000 years ago, as humans moved away from Africa and the Equator, we developed variations in skin tone (lighter skin absorbs more vitamin D), hair texture, and facial features.

Human Evolution facts

42. Big Bones

Early humans had thick bones to deal with harsh climates. Starting 50,000 years ago, our bones became smaller and weaker as we did less physically demanding things. I once broke my wrist petting a dog.

Human Evolution facts

41. Back Pain

Back pain and other problems are common in modern humans as we walk upright over great distances. Add cement sidewalks and improper footwear and we are walking Robaxacet commercials.

Human Evolution facts

40. Is That Meat Ready?

We began cooking food around 790,000 years ago as we started to harness fire, leading to shorter digestive tracts to process foods. This also led to more energy available for tall bodies and large brains. Who wants some cooked sausages? I said cooked!

Human Evolution facts

39. No Brain Drain

Brain size tripled over the course of human evolution. Mostly due to dramatic climate change, and our requirements to process new unknown terrain.

Human Evolution facts

38. Social Network

Our social lives are a fundamental part of evolution. The first instance of us building shelters was 400,000-800,000 years ago, while the first instance of groups exchanging resources was from 130,000 years ago.

Human Evolution facts

37. Cool Tools

The oldest tools are about 2.6 million years old, which included stone flakes, hammer stones and cores.

Human Evolution facts

36. Choke Artists

Humans are also the only mammals that face a significant risk of choking on food. Why? The lowering of our voice box, allowing us to speak, makes it easier to gag on a burger. Personally, I would take not choking over speaking. It would help during wing night.

Human Evolution facts

35. Color Crayons

The oldest known use of color was from 250,000 years ago, where rudimentary crayons were discovered in Zambia.

Human Evolution facts

34. Let There Be Art

17,000 years ago, humans had developed all the tools and skills necessary for ceramics, painting, and sculpting. Parents of early humans still thought they were wasting their time. “Paint no bring wealth. Hunting bring wealth!”

Human Evolution facts

33. Crops and Herds

Modern agriculture began around 23,000 years ago. Archaeologists discovered evidence of the earliest-known human agriculture at a well-preserved hunter gatherer settlements in Galilee, Israel. Many argue that agriculture later became the foundation of western culture and lead to the development of our modern societies.

Human Evolution facts

32. Brown Eyes

Most of the world had brown eyes until about 10,000-7,000 years ago. Scientist still are unclear about the reasons, but at that time a genetic mutation produced blue eyes. Currently 8% of the population has blue eyes.

Human Evolution facts

31. Tall Tails

Back in our more monkey-like past, we all had tails, and currently all humans have tails in the womb. All we have remaining at birth is the tailbone or coccyx.

Human Evolution Facts

30. Not so Wisdom Teeth

Scientists agree that your wisdom teeth are DNA “leftovers” from when humans ate a primarily plant diet. They thought the same thing about the appendix for a long time, but now it’s apparently not useless after all: it’s a "safe house" for the beneficial bacteria living in the human gut.

Human Evolution facts

29. Hiccups

Hiccups may also be a leftover from when we were aquatic species. Basically, the same muscle used to process water in a fish’s gills is the same contraction we feel when the diaphragm goes into spasm.

Human Evolution facts

28. Hands On

Humans differ from primates in that we contract the ring and index finger to the thumb, allowing us to use tools, but more importantly play video games!

Human Evolution facts

27. Pink Eye

The small pink tissue in the corner of the eye is leftover from a third eyelid, similar to that found in a bird or reptile. It protects the eye by moistening it. Does this support the Reptile Illuminati Theory?

Human Evolution facts

26. Ear Wiggle

Can’t wiggle your ears? Don’t worry, you’re amongst 85% of the population. Scientists believe this is leftover from when our early primate ancestors moved their ears in the direction of sound. Whaatttt???!!!!

Human Evolution facts

No one has quite the ear wiggling skills as this guy.

25. Foot Muscle

The plantaris muscle is used by primates to hold and manipulate objects, something humans have no need for. It’s so useless, scientists use the muscle when reconstructing other parts of the body. 9% of humans are born without it.

Human Evolution facts

24. No Hair Care

Humans have less hair than other mammals. Scientist believe we evolved to have less hair to help forage food in shallow water, lose heat, and reduce the instance of parasites. Also it saves on shampoo bills.

Human Evolution facts

23. Lip Twitching

This reaction to getting angry is a leftover from when we used to bare our teeth. A trait that can be seen with dogs and chimpanzees. Pretty effective if you ask me.

Human Evolution facts

22. Humans on Humans

Over a dozen species of early humans have been proven to have existed, some of these living at the same time as each other. Of those, Homo Sapiens are the only ones to remain. And you thought your uncle Mike was different.

Human Evolution facts

21. Big Jaw More Dates

According to biologists, women are attracted to men with a big jaw, which indicates to a partner that they have more testosterone. Men seem to like women with small chins, meaning more estrogen.

Human Evolution facts

20. Small Tooth Big Brain

We have discovered the human brain got bigger as tooth size decreased. We’re pretty certain they happened independently, but either way, we’re the only primates where this occurred.

Human Evolution facts

19. Meat = Brain

Scientists think that the increased consumption of protein might have contributed to increased brain sizes. When measured, protein domains occur in higher quantities in humans when compared to chimps, gorillas and mice. Take that vegetarians!

Human Evolution facts

18. Neanderthals

This subspecies of human lived with us until about 25,000 years ago. They were shorter, much stronger, and had a smaller prefrontal cortex. Scientists are still unsure of what happened to them. Pretty sure they’re working security at most clubs.

Human Evolution facts

17. Neanderthal Culture

Humans think we’re the only ones with a culture, but studies have found that Neanderthals buried their dead with flowers, suggesting some form of religion and, therefore, culture. Scientists are yet to confirm if their was Neanderthal Pop Music.

Human Evolution facts

16. Neanderthal and Humans

Researches have found that some humans have Neanderthal DNA, suggesting that humans probably reproduced at some crossover period.

Human Evolution facts

15. Long Life, Slow Metabolism

Humans live a long time, when compared to other mammals, and this is a result of our slower metabolism. Slow rates of ageing match our slow rate of energy expenditure (We burn calories 50% slower), giving you a reason not to complain after the holiday season.

Human Evolution facts

14. Born Sailors

50,000 years ago, humans built crude boats and used these to sail the Indian Ocean, reaching the continent of Australia. I get seasick from watching people sail.

Human Evolution facts

13. Blushing

Humans are the only animals capable of blushing, and evolutionarily it elicited sympathy, which showed other animals that we meant no harm!

Human Evolution facts

12. Climb On

When people feel threatened, they may have an urge to lift their feet or climb to an elevated area. This is leftover from when mammals would climb trees when threatened.

Human Evolution facts

11. Goosebumps

When humans had hair, goosebumps allowed us to look bigger, scaring off any predators. Nowadays we just get them from listening to a rad song.

Human Evolution facts

10. Hobbits Among Us

Scientists discovered a species of early humans in Indonesia that averaged 3 foot 6 inches tall, had tiny brains, and used tools. They lived with pigmy elephants and giant komodo dragons. The scientist who discovered the species was not J.R.R Tolkien.

Human Evolution facts

9. Survival of the Quotiest

Darwin did not come up with the quote “survival of the fittest.” Philosopher Herbert Spencer came up with the phrase.

Human Evolution facts

8. Theory of De-Evolution

One third of Americans reject the Theory of Evolution.

Human Evolution facts

7. Banana Republic

Humans share about 50%-60% of their DNA (genes) with a banana. So stop eating your cousin, you awful, awful bannanibal! Jokes jokes, we also share our DNA with most other living things, including a chicken (60%) and a cow (80%).

Human Evolution facts

6. Hairy Humans

One square inch of human skin has as many or more hair producing follicles as other primates. The difference is ours is lighter, thinner and shorter.

Human Evolution facts

5. Clothing Evolution

The evolution of clothing has influenced the evolution of animals such as the louse, which clings to clothes not to the body. The peppered moth is another example, as it evolved to look black during the Industrial Revolution. That’s probably not a good thing. Just guessing.

Human Evolution facts

4. Grandma’s Caveman Cookies

Scientists have discovered that grandmas actually contributed to human evolution. Grandmas taking care of children allowed mothers to have more kids, contributing to the flourishing of our species. In that case, tell us another tale of the Old Country, Granny!

Human Evolution facts

3. Humans Throw

A team lead by Neil Roach concluded that throwing makes us distinctly human. No other species can throw as fast as us, and this evolutionary trait allowed us to hunt in larger capacities, significantly contributing to other aspects of our evolution, including brain size. So does that mean Javelin is the most evolved sport?

Human Evolution facts

2. Face Symmetry

Humans are biologically driven to be more romantically and sexually attracted to someone who has a more symmetrical face. Symmetry is an evolutionary indicator of good health and strong genes. Is that why I can’t find a spouse? Blasted Symmetry!

Symetry

1. Who Runs the World? Homo Sapiens

Homo Sapiens—which is all us modern humans—have been around for 200,000 years! That’s a long time. For all you kids out there, that’s just under 2 billion episodes of Game of Thrones.

Human Evolution facts

Thank you evolution 

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 , 7, 8

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