Evidence of the origin of man from apes, mammals. Evidence for the origin of man from animals. New theory of human origin

ALL TRUTH PASSES IN THE HUMAN MIND THROUGH THREE STAGES: FIRST - "What nonsense!",THEN - "THIS IS SOMETHING" AND FINALLY -"WHO DOES NOT KNOW THIS!"

ALEXANDER HUMBOLDT

One of the mysteries is the theory of the origin of life on Earth in general, and the origin of man in particular. To date, several hypotheses are known that try to explain the appearance on Earth of a man - a rational being (lat. Homo sapiens). We will name only three of them, the main ones.

Basic concepts of the origin of people on earth

First (the concept of creationism)- the most ancient and classical: God created the Earth, all life on it from inanimate matter, including man. The first people - Adam and Eve gave life to the next generation of people.

And it was, according to the Bible, about seven and a half thousand years ago. Maybe this is so, and there should be no questions, but it is important what is generally understood by the concept of God, the Almighty or the Creator, abstracting from religious terminology. In addition, it is scientifically established and there is evidence that people appeared much earlier, about 40-45 thousand years ago.

The second (the concept of panspermia) - life on Earth was brought from other more developed planets. This version is brand new, only a few decades old. It assumes the existence of life in the Universe always, since the appearance of the Universe itself. Life, as the planets formed and the conditions for the existence of life appeared, was brought to them from the Cosmos, by dispersion.

The third is scientific concept is based on evolutionary path development of all life on Earth, including humans. The founder of this theory, Darwin, gave a clear, strictly verified scheme for the origin of species of living organisms in the course of natural selection and their changes as a result of evolution and cell mutation. Even earlier than Darwin, similar views were expressed by the French scientist Georges-Louis Buffon, who asserted the unity of the origin of the plant and animal world.

Every schoolchild knows that according to this theory, the ancestor of a person is declared primates - chimpanzees - representatives of hominids (the very first and ancient of them is Sahelanthropus).

So, whether or not we would like to have this type of animal as our fellow, there is no getting away from it. So far, nowhere ... But something in this theory does not converge a little.

The process of separating a person from the animal world is called "anthropogenesis". The scientific assertion that man is a direct descendant of the monkey has undergone an adjustment today. It is possible that the human ancestor, like the ancestor of the modern ape, had common roots of origin, but in the course of evolution their paths diverged.

The complete formation of man on Earth, according to modern theory, was preceded by the evolutionary appearance Neanderthals and it is not clear where they came from Cro-Magnons.

Neanderthals were short, stocky, round-shouldered people with large brow ridges and an almost complete absence of a chin. The volume of their brain was not inferior to the human, although it was arranged more primitively. They could hunt, provide themselves with food, make their own shelter, and even buried their dead relatives, decorating their graves. They had the beginnings of the birth of religion. But, as scientists suggest, for some reason this branch of civilization has ceased to develop. It has been proven that the early Neanderthals were more advanced than their descendants.

With the onset of continental glaciation, the Neanderthals, unable to adapt to new conditions, simply died - this is the version of their disappearance from the face of the Earth. The branch of development of Neanderthals is recognized as a lateral, dead-end branch of civilization.

Archaeologists find the remains of people like us, whose age is established by radiological method and is approximately 40-50 thousand years. These direct ancestors of ours are called Cro-Magnons.

What is especially interesting, according to the research of archaeologists, it is clear that Neanderthals still live, and the first Cro-Magnons have already appeared next to them. And sometimes, just in the caves of Neanderthals, the remains of Cro-Magnons are suddenly found, the paths of whose appearance have not been identified.

Cro-Magnons form single genus and the Homo Sapiens species is a reasonable person. Their monkey features were completely smoothed out, there was a characteristic chin protrusion on the lower jaw, indicating their ability to articulate speech, the Cro-Magnons were far ahead in the art of making various tools from stone, bone and horn compared to their Neanderthal neighbors.

Interestingly, there is not the slightest similarity between Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals genetically. But such an absolute similarity is found between a man and a Cro-Magnon. And there are also some genetic similarities between humans and Neanderthals. And this suggests that the paths of development of the ancestors of man and Neanderthals diverged about 600 thousand years ago, and maybe even earlier. So, we must look for a link between the anthropoid apes and Cro-Magnons. But this link is just missing. Where did the handsome men come from - the Cro-Magnons are unknown ..., it is still unknown ...

The presence on Earth in our time will not surprise anyone. But there are facts that the first aliens were seen by ancient people and mentioned this in their pictograms, manuscripts, annals. The ancient Greeks and Romans and even the Sumerians (presumably the most ancient civilization) left their impressions of “barrels of fire”, “shining moons” or “hanging logs” descending from heaven and “sons of God” coming out of them and taking “daughters of men” as wives. Messages about are also found in medieval chronicles, and Russian ones. There are mentions of them in the Bible - a source that cannot be questioned.

All this suggests the idea that something from the outside influences the civilization of mankind. The only question is what kind of force it is, and what is the general plan of this influence. Maybe the genetic code of the first Cro-Magnons was borrowed from representatives of other worlds? And our blue planet The Earth with its endlessly multiplying problems has been under the vigilant eye of more developed civilizations or Reason in general since the very moment when the first Cro-Magnons appeared, and maybe even earlier from the moment of its inception. Who knows ... Or remembering the instruction from the bible:

"Hidden things belong to the Lord, but things that are revealed to the sons of men",

Let's wait until the veil is lifted...

Russian scientists from the Paleontological Institute. Borisyak were able to prove that the first living organisms appeared on Earth as a result of the so-called panspermia (a hypothesis about the appearance of life on the planet as a result of the introduction of the so-called "germs of life" from outer space). It happened about 3.8 billion years ago, during the fall of a meteorite, which brought the most ancient microorganisms to Earth, from which all subsequently developed. modern forms life.

Scientists have studied ancient meteorites found in Mongolia. The analysis showed that bacteria were present in them, which existed even before the formation of the Earth.

Disputes about the origin of man have been going on for a long time. One of the theories, namely evolutionary, was developed by C. Darwin. This concept is the basis of all modern biology.

This article is intended for persons over 18 years of age.

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Mistakes and

Evidence for Darwin's theory

According to Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, humans evolved from apes. Traveling the world and learning different types flora and fauna, the scientist came to the conclusion that the world is constantly evolving. Living organisms, adapting to changing environmental conditions, change themselves. Having studied the results of research in physiology, geography, paleontology and other sciences that existed at that time, Darwin created his theory, which described the origin of species.

• the idea of ​​the evolution of living organisms of the scientist was prompted by the discovery of the skeleton of a sloth, which differed from modern representatives of this species in larger sizes;
• Darwin's first book was a phenomenal success. During the first day, all the books in the circulation were sold;
• the explanation of the process of the appearance of all life on the planet did not have a religious connotation;
• despite the popularity of the book, this theory was not immediately accepted by society, and it took people time to appreciate its significance.

The main provisions of Darwin's theory

If we remember school course biology, her hallmark is a peculiar approach to the structuring of materials. Species are not considered separately, but in such a way that one of the species is derived from the other. Let's try to explain what we mean. The basic principles of the theory demonstrate that amphibians are descended from fish. The next stage of evolution was the transformation of amphibians into reptiles, and so on. A natural question arises, why, then, are the processes of transformation not taking place now? Why did some species take the path evolutionary development and others don't?

The provisions of Darwin's concept are based on the fact that the development of nature occurs according to natural laws, without influence supernatural forces. The main postulate of the theory: the cause of all changes is the struggle for survival based on natural selection.

Prerequisites for the emergence of Darwin's theory

• socio-economic — high level of development Agriculture allowed to pay considerable attention to the selection of new species of animals and plants;
• scientific - a large amount of knowledge was accumulated in paleontology, geography, botany, zoology, geology. Now it is difficult to say what data of geology served for the development of the concept of evolution, but in combination with other sciences they made their contribution;
• natural science - the emergence of cell theory, the law of germinal similarity. Darwin's personal observations made during his travels made it possible to develop the basis for creating a new concept.

Comparison of evolutionary theories of Lamarck and Darwin

In addition to the well-known evolutionary theory of Darwin, there is another theory, the author of which is J. B. Lamarck. Lamarck argued that changing the environment changes habits, so some organs also change. Since parents have these changes, they are passed on to their children. As a result, depending on the habitat, degrading and progressive series of organisms arise.

Darwin refutes this theory. His hypotheses show that environment affects the death of unadapted species and the survival of adapted ones. This is how natural selection works. Weak organisms die, while strong ones multiply and increase their population. The growth of variability and adaptability leads to the emergence of new species. To understand the overall picture, it is important to analyze the similarities and differences between Darwin's conclusions and the synthetic theory. The differences are that the synthetic theory arose later, as a result of combining the achievements of genetics and the hypotheses of Darwinism.

Refutation of Darwin's theory

Darwin himself did not claim that he put forward the only true theory of the origin of all living things and there can be no other options. The theory has been debunked many times. The criticism is that, given the action evolutionary concept, for further reproduction there must be a pair with the same characteristics. What cannot be according to Darwin's concept and what confirms its inconsistency. Facts that refute evolutionary hypotheses reveal lies and contradictions. Scientists have not been able to identify genes in fossil animals that would confirm that there is a transition from one species to another.

A natural question arises, what had to happen in order for creatures that reproduced by laying eggs to begin to reproduce sexually? Thus, humanity has been deluded for a long time, blindly believing in evolutionary theories.

What is the essence of Darwin's theory?

Building the theory of evolution, Darwin was based on several postulates. He revealed the essence through two statements: the world is constantly changing, and the reduction of resources and limited access to them leads to a struggle for survival. Perhaps this makes sense, since as a result of such processes, the strongest organisms are left that are capable of producing strong offspring. The essence of natural selection also boils down to the fact that:

• variability accompanies organisms throughout their lives;
• all the distinctions that a creature acquires during its lifetime are inherited;
• organisms with useful habits have a higher propensity to survive;
• organisms multiply indefinitely, if conditions favor it.

Errors and advantages of Darwin's theory

When analyzing Darwinism, it is important to consider the pros and cons. The advantage of the theory, of course, is that the influence of supernatural forces on the emergence of life was refuted. There are many more disadvantages: there is no scientific evidence for the theory and examples of “macroevolution” (transition from one species to another) have not been observed. Evolution is not possible at the physical level, this is due to the fact that everything natural objects age and decay, for this reason evolution becomes impossible. A rich imagination, curiosity in studying the world, the lack of scientific knowledge in biology, genetics, botany, led to the emergence of a trend in science that does not have scientific basis. Despite criticism, all evolutionists can be divided into two large groups who speak for and against evolution. They give their arguments, speaking for and against. And it's hard to say who's really right.

There is a debate in scientific circles on the topic: "Darwin abandoned his theory before his death: true or false?". There is no real evidence for this. Rumors arose after the statements of one pious person, but the children of the scientist do not confirm these statements. For this reason, it is not possible to reliably establish whether Darwin abandoned his theory.

The second question that follower scientists struggle with is: “In what year was Darwin’s evolutionary theory created?”. The theory appeared in 1859, after the publication of the result of scientific research and discoveries of Charles Darwin. His work "The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Breeds in the Struggle for Life" became the basis for the development of evolutionism. It is difficult to say when the idea of ​​creating a new trend in the study of the development of the world arose, and when Darwin formulated the first hypotheses. Therefore, it is the date of the publication of the book that is considered the beginning of the creation of an evolutionary trend in science.

Evidence for Darwin's theory

Is Darwin's hypothesis true or false? There is no definite answer to this question. Followers of evolutionism lead scientific facts, the results of studies that clearly show that when living conditions change, organisms acquire new abilities, which are then transferred to other generations. AT laboratory research experiments on bacteria. And Russian scientists went even further, they experimented on sea ​​fish stickleback. Scientists relocated fish from sea ​​waters in fresh. For 30 years of habitation, the fish has perfectly adapted to new conditions. Upon further study, a gene was discovered that is responsible for the possibility of their habitat in fresh water. For this reason, to believe in the evolutionary origin of all living things or not to believe is a personal matter for everyone.

Evidence for the origin of man from animals undeniably confirms evolutionary theory Charles Darwin. The system of views on anthropogenesis, which began to form in ancient times, has undergone significant changes over time.

Biology: the origin of man

Even Aristotle believed that the ancestors of the species Homo sapiens are animals. The scientist Galen agreed with this opinion. Between man and animals they placed monkeys. Their teaching was continued by the famous systematist Carl Linnaeus. He singled out the corresponding genus with a single species. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck suggested that it was speech that was an important factor in anthropogenesis. The most significant contribution to this doctrine was made by Darwin, who provided indisputable evidence of the origin of man from animals.

Anthropogenesis occurred in several successive stages. This is the first. Moreover, there is evidence that they coexisted with each other, actively competing. The oldest people they did not build dwellings, but they knew how to make tools from stones and had the beginnings of speech. The next generation is the Neanderthals. They lived in groups, knew how to make clothes from skins and tools from bones. Cro-Magnons - the first modern people, lived in self-built dwellings or caves. They have already learned pottery, began to domesticate wild animals and grow plants. Evidence of such evolutionary transformations are the results of paleontological excavations, similarities in embryology, anatomy and morphology of humans and animals.

Finds of paleontologists

Scientists have long been interested in this topic. The origin of man from animals is primarily proved by their fossil remains found by paleontologists. Among them there are species similar to modern ones, and their transitional forms. For example, Archeopteryx is a lizard. For humans, these are australo- and driopithecus. In general, fossil finds indicate that organic world became more difficult over time. The result of this development is the modern man.

Evidence for biogeography

The fact that man descended from apes is also evidenced by the evidence of science, which studies the distribution of vegetation and animals on the Earth. It's called biogeography. Scientists have established a certain pattern: isolated areas of the planet are home to species that are very different from others and are found only within a certain range. The process of their evolution seems to be suspended. Such species are called relics. Examples are the platypus in Australia, the tuatara in New Zealand, the biloba ginkgo in China and Japan. In anthropogenesis, too, there is such a species. This is one of the most interesting riddles nature - Bigfoot.

Similarities in embryonic development

Embryology also provides evidence of the origin of man from animals. They are based primarily on the fact that different species have similar features. embryonic development. So, the embryos of all chordates are similar in anatomical and morphological structure. They have a notochord, neural tube, and gill slits in the pharynx. And already in the process of development, each of them acquires individual characteristics. In humans, the neural tube transforms into the spinal cord and brain, the notochord into parts of the skeleton, and the gill slits overgrow, allowing the lungs to develop.

Comparative anatomical evidence

Features of the internal structure of organisms are also studied by biology. The origin of man from animals proves the commonality common features structures of man and animals. Some organs are homologous. They have general structure but perform different functions. For example, these are the forelimbs of a bird, flippers of seals and human hands. A person also has rudimentary, underdeveloped organs, which have lost their functional significance in the process of evolution. These are wisdom teeth, coccygeal bones, third eyelid, muscles that move the auricles and set hair in motion. If in the process embryonic development disturbances occur, these organs may develop into enough. Such phenomena are called atavisms. Their examples are polynipillarity, the appearance of a continuous hairline, the underdevelopment of the cerebral cortex, the appearance of a tail.

similarity of karyotypes

Genetics also testify that man descended from apes. First of all, it is Y, it is 48, and for representatives of the species Homo sapiens - 46. This is indisputable evidence of the origin of man from animals. And the 13th pair of their chromosomes is similar. In addition, the amino acid sequence similarity in human and chimpanzee protein molecules reaches 99%.

Step towards evolution

Charles Darwin formulated the biological and social human. The first group includes natural selection and hereditary variability. On their basis, social factors develop - the ability to work, social lifestyle, meaningful speech and abstract thinking. Charles Darwin thought so.

At the same time, modern man has acquired such features, thanks to which he has reached the pinnacle of evolution. This is an increase in the brain and a decrease in the facial part of the skull, rib cage, flattened in the dorsal-abdominal direction. Thumb human brush is opposed to the rest, which is associated with the ability to work. An important change was the upright posture. Therefore, the spine has four smooth bends, and the foot is arched. This provides cushioning while moving. The bones of the pelvis have taken on the shape of a bowl, as he experiences the pressure of all internal organs. In connection with the appearance of speech, cartilage and ligaments develop in the larynx.

There is also a new theory of the origin of man. According to her, man descended from the Miocene monkey. Its peculiarity is that before it appeared on earth, it lived in water for several million years. Evidence of this theory is the ability of a person to hold his breath for a long time, and when inhaling, to stay on the surface of the water. AT recent times Water births have become very popular. Proponents of this method believe that the child is much more comfortable in the conditions in which he was during pregnancy.

There are a lot of both supporters and opponents of the theory of the origin of man from animals in the world. However, the evidence for this system of views on anthropogenesis is quite numerous and convincing.

As mentioned earlier, in The Origin of Species, which Darwin considered the main work of his life, almost nothing was said about man. And now, twelve years after this work, in 1871, Darwin published a very voluminous work entitled "The Descent of Man and Sexual Selection", containing twenty-one chapters.

“In the Introduction, Darwin explained his intention: since the idea natural origin species (but not natural selection) has already defeated the idea of ​​independent creations, but has never been seriously considered for any species, it is time to apply this idea to a specific species, for which the author has chosen a person.

It was the truth, but not the whole truth, and not even the main part of it. The main truth, in my opinion, was that society expected from Darwin precisely the theory of the origin of man, and even with the most liberal attitude to logic, it was not possible to derive it from the idea of ​​natural selection ”(Yu. Tchaikovsky,“ Evolution ”) .

Society finally waited - Darwin decided to speak directly about the "monkey pedigree" of man. Evolution as such and as a general process immediately faded into the background - at least for the average reader.

What did Darwin suggest to this ordinary reader?

Rice. 34.The similarity of the structure of the human skeleton and great apes (according to Huxley)

In the first chapter of his work, Darwin gives three groups of facts that he considered proof of the origin of man from some lower form. Let's make a reservation right away - these facts were revealed by other researchers, Darwin only generalizes and analyzes them.

The first group includes homologous (that is, similar) formations in humans and lower animals and a huge number of similarities between humans and lower animals. This similarity extends not only to general type body structure, but also on many details of anatomical, physiological and biological nature.

Another group of facts relates to embryonic development. Darwin points out that the human embryo is especially similar to the monkey embryo. In addition, he notes that the human embryo is in many respects similar to the forms of some adult animals.

Rice. 35.The similarity of embryos in the early stages of development

The third group of facts concerns vestigial organs. Darwin paid much more attention to her than to the first two groups combined. And this is no coincidence.

The fact is that both the homology of organs and the similarity of embryonic development were used not only by supporters, but also by opponents of the evolutionary approach. Opponents used them as some kind of "evidence" of a single intelligent plan, which was allegedly chosen by the divine will when creating animals. Such were, for example, the ideas of Louis Agassiz, who considered the change of paleontological forms to be a manifestation of this reasonable plan. Agassiz considered the hierarchy of living creatures, the development and change of fauna in the history of the earth as a kind of "triad", reflecting the intention of the Creator, who thus allegedly realized the idea of ​​perfection.

According to Darwin, rudimentary organs lost their main significance precisely in the course of evolutionary development, remaining in humans as useless "surpluses". And accordingly, they were evidence of evolution. Although, in my opinion, if desired, they could be interpreted as "details of a single plan."

I note here that I personally adhere to evolutionary views and am inclined to consider the three groups of facts mentioned as evidence of an evolutionary process. However, taking the position of an impartial outside observer, I cannot but admit that this is only evidence, but by no means evidence of evolution (as is often presented). Moreover, evidence that can be interpreted as manifestations of that very “reasonable plan” ...

Rice. 36.Rudimentary organs in humans

The second chapter is devoted to the presentation of Darwin's ideas about how the development of man from some lower form was carried out.

He begins by citing facts that indicate that the living man is subject to many changes and that this variability, which embraces all his organs, is in many cases fixed by heredity. As the causes of variability in man, Darwin considers the direct effect of living conditions, the influence of increased exercise or non-exercise of organs and parts of the body. At the same time, Darwin comes to the conclusion that the causes of variability are the same in humans and animals, and similar signs show similar changes in them.

Then, paying tribute to the ideas of Malthus, Darwin gives various considerations about the speed of reproduction in a living person and in his "half-human progenitors." Recall that the conclusion of Malthus about a certain geometric progression in the growth of populations, adopted by Darwin as one of the causes of natural selection, has not passed the test of time and empirical data.

Next, Darwin considers the role of natural selection in the process of human origin. A significant part of this section is an attempt to refute the views of Wallace, who considered it impossible to explain the emergence and development of the most important physical and mental properties and characteristics of a person using the theory of natural selection.

Wallace believed that neither the vertical position of the body, nor the foot of the supporting type, nor the large and complex brain, nor the organs of speech, nor the skin bare from hair could appear as a result of natural selection, since either they did not bring any benefit to primitive man (as , for example, big brain and speech organs) or caused direct harm (such as loss of grasping function of the foot and loss of body hair). Based on this, Wallace comes to the conclusion that the development of man was guided by some higher " sentient being”, which directed this development towards a special goal, just as man directs the development of animal and plant forms in the course of artificial selection.

Rice. 37.Does walking on two legs have any advantages?

Darwin, on the other hand, takes the position that it was beneficial for our ancestor to switch to walking on two legs, while freeing up his hands, since the features of the physical structure corresponding to upright walking provided a person with the opportunity to make tools, make fire, and train the accuracy of throwing spears and stones at a target. The development of the size and abilities of the brain and speech also gave people certain advantages.

As the progenitors of man assumed a more and more vertical position, the shape of not only his feet, but also other parts of his body gradually changed - the pelvis expanded, the spine acquired bends characteristic of a person, the head took a different position (compared to animals). The free use of hands and the ability to use stones and clubs in battle with enemies led to a decrease in the power of the jaws and teeth, which now served mainly for chewing. The reduction of jaws and teeth led to a weakening of the masticatory muscles, which in turn caused a decrease in the ridges on the skull. The enlargement of the brain, in turn, had an additional effect on the shape of the skull and gave it the features characteristic of a person. The physical weakness of a person was compensated in abundance by his mental abilities and social inclinations. All these changes, according to Darwin, occurred as a result of the struggle for existence and natural selection, and increased exercise of various parts of the body contributed to natural selection.

Note that the debate about the evolutionary benefit - and hence the possibility of the appearance in the course of evolution - of these or those mentioned differences between humans and animals continues to this day. So, say, the transition to upright posture, according to the whole logic of natural selection, due to a corresponding change in the position of the pelvic bones, leading to a narrowing of the birth canal, should have led not to an increase in the size of the skull (from the brain), but to their decrease. In fact, the observed increase in the brain in human ancestors was provided by additional changes - mobility pelvic bones during childbirth and the birth of a child with an unformed skull. And these additional changes should have turned on not one by one as a result of random variations, but simultaneously and coordinated with a change in body position. How did these additional mechanisms instead of a direct effect, leading to a decrease in the size of the brain, it is not at all clear from the theory of natural selection. Darwin's arguments are powerless here...

The peculiar position of Darwin on the issue of the disappearance of human hair is curious. He rejects the suggestion that man became naked through exposure to the sun or because the absence of hair rid him of insects. Darwin saw the reason for the disappearance of hair on the human body in the action of sexual selection, believing that men and women gradually lost their hair due to the preference that turned out to be less hairy individuals of the opposite sex.

These considerations of Darwin have not actually been developed and are now little known to the general public. There is no doubt - now the preference in society is really given to people who do not have dense vegetation on the body (although everyone has different tastes), and women spend a lot of effort to maintain the absolute smoothness of the skin on their legs. But the assumption that this preference has a history of hundreds of thousands, and even millions of years (as required by the modern view of the origin of man), to put it mildly, is very doubtful. The weakness of Darwin's arguments is emphasized, say, by the fact that just in intimate area when a person reaches puberty, hair appears - and sometimes very thick ...

Rice. 38.Smooth legs are not only a dream of women

The third chapter of the book "The Origin of Man and Sexual Selection" is devoted to comparing the mental abilities of man and animals. Darwin's basic idea presented in this chapter is that no basic, deep, qualitative difference regarding mental abilities between man and higher mammals does not exist. Darwin seeks to prove that in higher mammals one can see the manifestation in a rudimentary form of all human feelings, curiosity, imitation, attention, memory, imagination, and even such abilities, according to which man is usually opposed to animals - reason, the ability to use tools and improve them, speech , feelings of beauty and the like.

Modern research confirms these conclusions of Darwin, and the abilities revealed in some higher animals sometimes simply amaze our imagination. So, let's say, when studying the life of a herd of chimpanzees, they were found to be capable of even such activities, which in humans we would call politics. At the same time, the monkeys not only demonstrated "political" behavior in the current momentary situation, but could also act in such a way as to achieve an increase in their influence on their relatives in the distant future! ..

A significant place in the third chapter is occupied by the question of the origin of speech. Darwin comes to the conclusion that articulate speech originates from the imitation and modification of various natural sounds, the voices of other animals, as well as man's own instinctive cries. The difference in this respect between man and animals, according to Darwin, is only that man has an infinitely greater ability to associate in his mind the most diverse sounds and ideas. He owes this, of course, to the high development of his mental faculties.

Rice. 39.The herd of chimpanzees has its own hierarchy

The fourth chapter is devoted to the social inclinations of man and his moral feelings. Darwin's main conclusion is that the first foundation of a person's moral disposition is in his social instincts. The enormous influence of these social instincts in man, their ability to overcome the feeling of hunger or self-preservation, is explained by the fact that social instincts are much more permanent than all others and, moreover, are encouraged by society.

And as later studies have shown, the beginnings of moral behavior are laid in the animal world long before the appearance of man.

“In numerous animal communities, there are laws that we can rightly call the beginnings of morality: in a herd, animals, as a rule, do not harm each other, on the contrary, they often help their fellows - they protect themselves together, get food together, strict order reigns in their groups, complex hierarchy. Therefore, the basic moral laws are instinctive! No one is surprised by the instinct of individual self-preservation inherent in every animal, no one is surprised by the instinct of procreation - everyone understands that they are inherent in all living things. But instinctive morality - the desire not to harm each other, should be called the instinct of collective self-preservation - without such an instinct, herd animals would simply die. It can be assumed that the instinct of collective self-preservation, which forbids killing relatives, forcing them to imitate their elders, has been fully inherited by a person from his animal ancestors ”(M. Chulaki,“ Eternal Anxiety of the Spirit ”).

Rice. 40.Elephants are also not alien to moral feelings.

In the fifth chapter, Darwin analyzes the question of how the development of mental and moral abilities took place in primitive times and among civilized peoples. In his opinion, these abilities were of exceptionally high importance for primitive man and its ape-like progenitors, and therefore Darwin considered it necessary to admit that they improved and developed under the influence of natural selection.

Darwin suggested that people acquire the habit of helping others primarily out of selfish motives, hoping to receive help in turn, and the habit of doing good for several generations could become hereditary, as well as the feeling of sympathy generated by this habit. An even stronger motivation for the development of morality, according to Darwin, was the approval or censure from their own kind. But even this social instinct was acquired by natural selection. Finally, if the moral sense is high level its development gave very small advantages to its owner in comparison with other members of the collective, then, according to Darwin, the entire collective as a whole acquired huge advantages over other collectives due to the fact that he possessed a large number moral people in their environment.

However, in the part that is devoted to the influence of natural selection on civilized peoples, Darwin himself was forced to declare that the theory of natural selection is powerless to explain, for example, the phenomena of the rise and fall of culture.

Rice. 41.The rise and fall of culture does not explain natural selection

Chapter six is ​​devoted to just what the general public has been waiting for so long from Darwin - the question of the genealogy of man, as well as the place and time of his origin.

According to Darwin, from a genealogical point of view, a person is only a special family, and maybe even only a subfamily. Based on the large number of similar structural features in humans and anthropomorphic apes, he concludes that "our progenitor was some ancient member of the anthropoid subgroup." At the same time, Darwin makes a very important warning, pointing out that it should not be assumed that the ancient ancestor of the entire ape family, including man, was identical or even only closely similar to any of the apes that exist today.

Darwin does not consider it possible to accurately determine the period when the human branch separated from the family tree of primates. He suggests that this separation may have occurred during the Eocene, which began 56 million years ago and ended about 34 million years before present.

As regards the place of origin of man, Darwin first of all excludes the two American continents, Australia and the oceanic islands, and limits the ancestral home of man to the Old World. At the same time, he singles out Africa as an area where, in all likelihood, the ancestors of the gorilla and chimpanzee lived.

“... and since these two species are the closest relatives of man, the assumption that our ancient ancestors lived on the African, and not on any other continent, becomes even more likely” (Ch. Darwin, “The Origin of Man and Sexual Selection ").

In this way, modern research of a very different profile, asserting the origin of man precisely on African continent, go back in this to the assumption of Darwin, who, however, was forced to make a reservation that the discovery of an anthropoid ape (driopithecus) in the Miocene layers of Europe does not allow us to consider the question of the African ancestral home of man finally resolved.

In favor of the African version, Darwin cites the assumption that hair loss occurred in a hot climate. The hot climate of the ancestral home of man is also evidenced, in his opinion, by the fact that our ancestor ate primarily vegetable fruits (based on the analogy with the great apes).

We note in passing that the arguments cited by Darwin in support of the version of the African ancestral home are very, very weak ...

Restoring the lower levels in the human genealogy, Darwin outlines the next descending series of our ancestors - the lower narrow-nosed monkeys, lemurs, ancient ancestors of viviparous mammals, ancient marsupials, ancient monotremes, amphibians, fish like scales, creatures similar to lancelets, marine animals similar to larvae of living ascidians today.

Darwin ends the chapter with an experiment in restoring the appearance and structure of our ancestor on the basis of materials on rudimentary organs.

Rice. 42.Dryopitek (reconstruction)

In the seventh chapter, Darwin deals with a number of issues related to the human races. Having weighed in detail the numerous facts and considerations that can be cited in favor of recognizing the human races as separate species, Darwin then analyzes the arguments in favor of the opposite point of view. Ultimately, he concludes that "... it is of little importance to decide whether the so-called human races should be regarded as races, species, or subspecies, although the latter name seems to be more correct." What Darwin insists on is the descent of all human races from ancestors who belonged to the same species, that is, from one common root. In this unity of the origin of the human races, Darwin is convinced by the great similarity between the various races.

Considering the question of the causes of the emergence of races, Darwin comes to the conclusion that the most characteristics human races cannot be explained by direct influence various conditions life. In the process of racial formation, Darwin is ready to give some, albeit an insignificant role to the reduced or increased exercise of the organs, as well as to correlative variability. With regard to natural selection, Darwin does not consider it possible to give it in this case great importance, since "none of the external differences between the human races is of direct or special benefit to them." About the lack of adaptive, useful value racial characteristics evidence, in his opinion, their great variability.

Recognizing the impossibility of explaining the origin different races natural selection, Darwin elevates sexual selection to the role of the main driving factor in this process. Although he was forced to make a reservation that he does not consider this position strictly proven and that not all differences between races can be explained using this principle.

To be fair, we note that modern science not far from Darwin - the origin of the races has not yet been explained. So far, no one has been able to build at least some intelligible theory, which, in particular, is hampered by a negative attitude in modern society in general to the question of the differences between races from each other ...

Rice. 43.The origin of human races is an unresolved issue

To substantiate the erection of the principle of sexual selection as the main driving force in the process of human formation, Darwin cites extensive factual material that he gleaned from zoology. The consideration of this question and the analysis of secondary sexual characteristics in the lower classes of the animal world, then in insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, including monkeys, occupies Darwin's lion's share of his entire book - from the eighth to the eighteenth chapter inclusive. Only in the nineteenth chapter does Darwin return to man again and subject detailed analysis in this and the twentieth chapters the secondary sexual characteristics of a person and the process of their formation.

Chapter twenty one is general review and conclusion of the whole book.

Such, in brief, is the content of The Descent of Man and Sexual Selection, which is regarded in Darwinism as the seminal work on the subject...

The situation changed radically after the publication of the works of Charles Darwin. In 1871, his book "The Origin of Man and Sexual Selection" was published, where he substantiated the animal origin of man from the standpoint of the theory of evolution. His evolutionary theory made it possible to build a picture of the development of living nature and man as an integral part of it. Darwin emphasized that great apes cannot be considered as human ancestors - they are, as it were, our "cousins".

Catholic Church on the animal origin of man

Only in the middle of the 20th century Catholic Church was forced to admit the natural origin of man as a biological being. In his encyclical "The Descent of Man" (1950), Pope Pius XII proclaimed: "The teaching of the Church does not forbid the doctrine of evolution, in accordance with the state of human science and theology, to be the subject of research ... specialists as long as they conduct research on the origin human body from already existing living matter, despite the fact that the Catholic faith obliges us to adhere to the view that souls are created directly by God.

The proximity of humans and great apes

It turns out that humans and apes are very similar in DNA. If we compare the DNA of humans and chimpanzees, it turns out that they are very close. On average, every hundredth nucleotide is different, which means that humans are 99% genetically identical to chimpanzees.

Greater apes are much closer to humans than to lower apes in terms of the structure of leukocytes and genetic features. So, in humans, the diploid number of chromosomes is 46, and in great apes - 48, while in lower apes this number ranges from 54 to 78.

Chimpanzees have blood types 1 and 2. Moreover, these are not just analogues of blood groups. These are absolutely identical to human blood groups. That is, it is possible to transfuse blood from a chimpanzee to a person, which was done by the French scientist Troisier, who set up such a bold experiment. He transfused blood from a chimpanzee to a human, and the result was brilliant. For the lower monkeys, human blood is absolutely alien.

Many human and chimpanzee proteins, such as growth hormone, are interchangeable.

In the chimpanzee brain there are such fields, such regions, which correspond in the human brain to the fields associated with speech, with labor, with subtle manipulations, i.e. a complete system of evolutionary preparations to make a man out of such a creature. Of course, all this is not as developed as in humans.

The patterns of the fingers and palms are extremely close in humans and great apes. They have speech centers in the brain. But the question arises - why don't humanoids talk? The fact is that the larynx is arranged differently in humans and great apes. The human larynx is located lower. This allows you to significantly expand the range of spoken sounds. Monkeys can't. But this does not mean that no verbal contact with monkeys is possible. In the 1960s, brilliant experiments were carried out by American researchers who taught monkeys the language of the deaf and dumb. And they got amazing results. With a monkey it became possible to talk for half an hour, for example, as with a child of 5 years of age.

Higher apes, for example, chimpanzees, are characterized by the “humanity” of everyday behavior in the wild: they hug when they meet, pat each other on the shoulder or back, touch hands. Under experimental conditions, monkeys try to make primitive tools, for example, split a board with a sharp stone, learn and communicate with humans on sign language deaf and dumb.

However, the anatomical differences between humans and higher apes are quite significant. And the main ones are those that provide a person with the opportunity for a full-fledged labor activity and rich verbal communication.

Human family tree

1 - plesiadacis, 2 - African Dryopithecus, 3 - Ramapithecus, 4 - Australopithecus, 5 - Australopithecus warrior, 6-7 - Homo erectus, 8 - Neanderthal, 9 - Homo sapiens, 10 - modern man.

Biologist Ernst Haeckel in his book The Natural History of the Universe for the first time suggested the existence in the distant past of an intermediate form between the great apes and the first people, the search for which began in the 19th century and led to the discovery of a number of "missing links" in human evolution.