The term "hominid" refers to us (humans) and all the known fossils thought to be within the human lineage.
Human evolution is a topic of fiece debate and argument however as many people refuse to accept that we, modern humans, have evolved at all.
Charles Darwin found this problem when his Origin if Species was published: his book was laughed at by many and cartoons of hairy humans appeared in the newspapers.
Yet, we should look at the evidence for human evolution as scientists and objectively; evolution through modification is at the heart of the process whereby we can trace a link or lineage between an earlier life form and, the following one of the same kind.
In humans, a few ancestors can be identified according to certain common characteristics. If it is accepted that hominids descended from an early primate (see table of primate characteristics), then a few named fossils can be then identified as follows:
- A genera called Australopithicus - from which a number of species have been identifed e.g. see Image 1 of Lucy, a hominid approx 3.5million years old
- A much earlier species that may have been involved with human evolution - Ramapithecus
Table to identify characteristics that distinguish primates from other animals:
| opposable thumb & big toe | expanded forebrain |
| fingernails & not claws | emphas is on learned behaviour |
| single birth | extended period of parental care |
Image
Image 1. Lucy
