Essay Example on The American Museum of Natural History's Spitzer Hall Of Human Origins

Introduction The American Museum of Natural History's Spitzer Hall Of Human Origins is an Archeological depiction of the evolution of hominids The Meet Your Relatives portion of the exhibit displays the fossils and artifacts of early hominids and their development Archaeological definition refers to hominids as being a part of a family which includes apes gorillas chimps along with humans and their fossils After a close look at the skeletal structure of the fossil on exhibition it is evident that differences exist between the chimpanzee Pan troglodytes human homo sapien and neanderthal Homo neanderthalensis By contrast there are also some similarities between the fossils Darwin's theory of evolution equates the similarities to the process of natural selection An overview of Darwin's theory will seek to understand how and why hominids have evolved Darwin's Theory of Evolution According to Darwin's Theory of evolution species have evolved from earlier species As a result of natural selection individuals tend to pass on heritable features that enable them to cope better with their environment to future generations Over time populations of individuals will exhibit more of the better adapted features Spitzer Hall of Human Origins Glossary AMNH 2018 In other words natural selection is based on the species ability to adapt and reproduce Archaeological research suggests that there was diversity among the hominids It is believed that humans are the only remaining descendants of a once varied family of primates called Hominidae In different places over the past six or seven million years groups of early hominids adapted to their habitats and many distinct species emerged 

The likelihood of a species survival depends on traits passed on to the next generation However environmental factors also played a role in the extinction of the early hominid All species rely on their environment for survival if there is a change in the environment the species dies Research attributes habitat pressures and variations in the earth temperatures as a possible cause for the extinction Hominid Homo Sapien Development As it Pertains To Darwin's Theory The exhibits Tree of life or Phylogenetic tree is an evolutionary history of extinct species and living species Generations of scientists have created tree of life diagrams by studying and comparing the physical features of different species Tree of Life AMNH 2018 In theory natural selection revealed that similarities in the hominid species determined their relation to homo sapiens Moreover today s genetic research DNA or analyzing the fossil record have found that Darwin's work is fundamental to their own Evolution Today AMNH 2018 The process of evolution has been broken down into three phases natural selection genetic drift and mutation Natural selection reveals that traits are passed on from earlier species for survival Genetic evidence indicates that as DNA is inherited it has the ability to mutate as it is passed on the next generation Overtime mutation may or may not impact the ability to survive Spitzer Hall of Human Origins Glossary AMNH 2018 In terms of genetic drift gene and traits will increase in abundance over generation by chance Spitzer Hall of Human Origins Glossary AMNH 2018 which is primarily found in small populations All these factors are used in determining how evolution happened