Human evolution

Abstract

The study of human evolution is as old as evolutionary biology itself. Despite this long history, progress was slow in many fields. Until the 1980s, neither the closest living relative of our species nor the geographical origin of modern humans was known. However, since then a flood of new data has provided detailed insights into many aspects of human evolution. Thus, population genetic analyses of DNA sequences unequivocally identified Africa as the continent of modern human origin and provided information about the colonization of the whole globe by modern humans. A whole plethora of recently discovered fossil remains of hominid species show a detailed picture - albeit not yet well understood - of modern human ancestors and side branches. And ancient DNA analyses have revealed our relationship to our closest relatives, the extinct Neanderthals, with the prospect of the complete Neanderthal genome being sequenced soon. Finally, first candidate genes have been identified that may have been of critical importance in the evolutionary process of becoming human. At the same time, traits such as cultural tradition and tool use have been discovered in other primate species, especially our closest relatives, the great apes, leaving few traits that may be exclusively human. Identifying these traits, revealing their genetic basis and understanding the evolutionary forces that lead to their selection will be the challenges to research in human evolution with the aim of eventually understanding what makes us human.