Human evolution: the hard evidence of an ever-changing bush

Journal title PARADIGMI
Author/s Jacopo Moggi-Cecchi
Publishing Year 2017 Issue 2017/2
Language English Pages 23 P. 89-111 File size 285 KB
DOI 10.3280/PARA2017-002007
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The numerous discoveries of fossils from different periods occurred in recent years in Africa, Asia and Europe, along with the re-interpretation of data available for some time, have allowed scientists to propose new and more complex models of human evolution. To describe the diversity of hominin species documented to date in the fossil record in the last 7 million years the metaphor of the evolutionary bush is often used. It allows to describe the complexity of morphologies and variability of adaptations observable in numerous species prior to the appearance of Homo sapiens more accurately than the old idea of a unilinear model of evolution. This paper summarizes our current knowledge on the various phases of human evolution, in a situation in flux, with each new discovery imposing a reconsideration of the current interpretative models and the formulation of new ones.

Keywords: "Bush" model, Data re-interpretation, Fossil Hominins, Human evolution, Hu-man origins, Unilinear model.

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Jacopo Moggi-Cecchi, Human evolution: the hard evidence of an ever-changing bush in "PARADIGMI" 2/2017, pp 89-111, DOI: 10.3280/PARA2017-002007