BOBKAT'S HISTORY OF HUMANKIND, PART 2; DARWINIAN/HOLMES WILMA

This is "WILMA"... A National Geographic composite photo of a (it doesn't specify - I'd say a 20-something year old) Neanderthal woman, assembled and rendered from 43,000 year old bones:

We begin our journey in the origin of our species, pre-humans some 4.4 million years ago. These included a broad variety of hominids, like Australopithecus. Some fossils representing this early species of hominids date back to around 6 million years ago. Two particular discoveries should be noted. In 2009, a female, named ARDI, was introduced. Ardipithecus ramidus. She had a small brain, was 110 pounds, 47 inches tall - 3.9 feet. The face of "Ardi" did not project as much as those of modern apes, but was not as flat and massive as the later Australopithecus. As noted in the article by the Nation geographic Magazine, "Ardi ... shows an unexpected mix of advanced characteristics and of primitive traits seen in much older apes that were unlike chimps or gorillas. As such, the skeleton offers a window on what the last common ancestor of humans and living apes might have been like." ARDI:

And Many of us have probably heard about LUCY, discovered 3.2 million years ago, and once considered to be the "missing link" in our evolution. There isn't any longer a theory or discussion about a missing link, or links. Human evolution is described more like a tree these days, with branches of hominid species, some isolated, others interlinked, all that to go extinct while the whole of our ancestry merges with other branches, branches like a river and all it's tributaries. The first of the genus Homo appears in Africa 2.5 million years ago, and modern humans appear around 200,000 years ago. This was during a period of glaciation, the Riss Glacier in Europe, the Illionian Glacier in North America. A period of time when the earth was cooler and dry. From around 2 million years ago to around 50,000 years ago ancestors of homo must have been migrating/relocating to different parts of the world. I have heard that around 125,000 years ago modern humans made their way out of Africa. It would have been very dry, and it's theorized humans were able to traverse distances normally covered by water in North Africa. It is the beginning of the great deserts on earth. Neanderthals died out around 25,000 years ago. But 50,000 years ago an interesting blend of humans and human cousins populated the earth. In Western Europe it was the Neanderthals, in Asia were the Denisovans - WikiLink1,

" There is DNA evidence that the three groups, humans from Africa included, interacted together and mated, producing off-spring. According to scientist studying human DNA, our genetic make-up is due in part to up to 6% Denisovan, and 4% Neanderthal. According to the source of this news, this cross-breeding gave us a boost in immunity from disease, among other traits. "Sex with Cavemen Gave Humans an Immune Boost: Study". Seems there is no such thing as a pure "White Aryan Race". Next Time: What our 19th Century relatives knew about our evolutionary history, and why, Pres. nominee Rick Perry's views on the Origin of our Species is set from that age of our history.

BOBKAT'S HISTORY OF HUMANKIND, PART 1; BORN TO BE WILD -

Edited Sept 07, 2011 I feel a a lot like Darwin... Charles Darwin... 1809-1892, an English naturalist renowned for his documentation of evolution and for his theory of its operation, known as Darwinism.

Yes, Charles and I share a resemblance too, remote, but there all the same. There's also a similarity in our being innately inquisitive and studious, our love of nature and the way it works. I used to think I was more like Sherlock Holmes, a fictional character based on the genius of writer Sir Author Conan Doyle, 1859-1930.

However, I've never served in law enforcement and Sir Arthur did.

This is my 200th Post, by the way! It's also the week of my birthday, some 3557 year's old now (more on my age later). Born to be wild... I wish. I heard from my family today... my cousin Becky, who was like a sister growing up, died today of alcoholism, age 55. Was I close to my cousin? Yes, until about 15 years ago when she'd had enough of the family abuse and detached herself from all of us, or tried to. Today she detached herself permanently... my thanks to the Federal government for it's charity when it comes to the abundance of access to alcohol, to drown one's soul, while continuing to prohibit and make criminals of those who might chose a safer alternative. Cannabis/marijuana I suggest, not only safer but therapeutic too... not the poison alcohol is. My cousin might be alive alive today had she and many millions of others had a choice, a natural choice!!! Seems people I know are either dying from alcohol related causes or tobacco... not a one from cannabis, and I know many people who enjoy it. All harmless, hard-working, honest citizens - albeit criminals. This post is about history, it is... but our origins, and where we are today are vitally important when looked at together. Fact is the race of humans goes back at least to 10 Million years BC and I plan to write about facts recently discovered that were of interest to me. In the next post - how Homo Sapiens screwed around with not only Neanderthals, but Denisovans too. Seems, the human race and it's complicated history is much more than Whites, Blacks, Asians and Jews. Seems we have a lot more to consider than putting people in prison for possession of plants, when the majority of harms to our society are alcohol, tobacco and interpersonal cultural hatred. Was I really born over 3000 years ago? Yes. To be continued... In Memory of My Cousin Becky!