The social factor of human evolution is heredity and variability. What factor of human evolution is classified as social. Struggle for existence

Biological factors of anthropogenesis in human evolution. Man is the most recent biological species that appeared in evolution organic world. Such factors of the evolution of the organic world as hereditary variability, the struggle for existence and natural selection occupy a significant place in human evolution. Ch. Darwin proved these natural patterns in human evolution with concrete examples. Due to the influence of natural factors, important anatomical and physiological changes occurred in the body of ancient apes. As a result, the great apes gradually developed upright posture, the functions of the arms and legs were divided, and the hands adapted to the manufacture of tools. Natural selection created favorable conditions for certain groups of people to improve tools, collective hunting and care for the elderly. As a result of such activities, group selection took place simultaneously with individual selection. However, to explain anthropogenesis, it is not enough biological patterns. In his writings, F. Engels (1820-1895) proved the great importance here of social factors. He especially noted work, the social way of life, consciousness and speech.

Labor is the most important factor in human evolution. Any work begins with the manufacture of tools, carried out with the help of hands. F. Engels highly appreciated the role of labor in the development of man. He wrote that "labor is the first basic condition of all human life, and, moreover, to such an extent that in a certain sense we must say: labor created man himself." If so, then the main social driving force anthropogenesis is labor. Some great apes can use simple tools but are unable to create them. Animals influence nature through their vital activity, while man changes it in the process of conscious labor.

Human influence on nature is significant and diverse. As a result of labor, our ape-like ancestors developed morphological and physiological changes called anthropomorphosis. Labor is the main factor in human evolution. Monkeys lived in the forests, climbing trees, then gradually descended to the ground. This change in their lifestyle created the conditions for walking on two legs. The transition to upright posture "became a decisive step on the path from ape to man" (F. Engels). As a result of upright walking, an S-shaped bend of the human spine appeared, which gave elasticity to the body. The foot (metatarsal bones) became more curved, springy, the pelvic bones expanded, the sacrum strengthened, the jaws became lighter. Such hereditary changes continued for millions of years. The transition to upright posture led to certain difficulties: the speed of movement was limited, the fusion of the sacrum with the thigh made childbirth difficult, the heavy weight of a person led to flat feet. But thanks to upright walking, a person's hands were freed for the manufacture of tools.

AT initial period formation, his hand was underdeveloped and could perform only the most simple actions. Due to heredity, such traits were preserved and passed on to the next generation. F. Engels explained that the hand is not only an organ of labor, but also a product of labor. With the free hand, our ape-like ancestors could use simple tools made of stone and animal bones. All this influenced their level of thinking, behavior and contributed to the improvement of tools. The development of labor led to an increase in the role of social factors in anthropogenesis, but gradually weakened the action of biological laws (Fig. 58).

Rice. 58.

Public way of life as the driving force of human evolution. Any vital actions of animals are carried out reflexively and instinctively. The transition to the herd way of life of animals occurred due to natural selection. From the very beginning, labor was social, and the first ape-like ancestors of man lived in herds. Therefore, F. Engels emphasized that it would be wrong to look for the ancestors of man, the most social being in nature, among non-social animals. Group labor contributed to the development of social relationships, the rallying of members of society, they collectively hunted animals, defended themselves from predators, and raised children. Senior members of society passed on life experience to the younger ones. Man gradually learned how to make and keep fire.

Our distant ancestors gradually switched from plant foods to animal foods. Meat food provided the human body with the necessary useful amino acids, so he began to improve hunting and fishing tools. The transition to meat food led to changes in the human body, such as shortening of the intestines, the development of chewing muscles. The use of fire also made life easier for our ancestors.

With a social way of life, the ancestors of man had great opportunities for the knowledge of nature, the accumulation of life experience. The joint activity of members of the society necessitated communication with gestures and sounds. The first words were directly related to labor activity. Gradually, the larynx, the organs of the oral cavity, as a result of hereditary variability and natural selection, were transformed into organs of articulate speech.

Man, like animals, perceives signals from the outside world through irritation of the senses. This is the first signal system. The second signaling system is associated with the higher nervous activity of a person. The emergence of speech, the relationship of ancestors through the word contributed to the development of the brain, thinking - speech gradually turned into a means of education. Speech strengthened the communication of our ancestors, contributed to the development public relations. The evolution of our ancestors took place under joint action biological and social factors. Natural selection gradually lost its importance as a leading factor in evolution human society. Against, social factors(labor, speech) have become fundamental in the evolution of man. If the morphological and physiological characteristics of a person are inherited, then the abilities for collective labor activity, thinking and speech have never been inherited and are not transmitted now. These specific qualities of a person historically arose and improved under the influence of social factors and develop in each person in the process of his individual development only in society thanks to upbringing and education. Known cases of a sufficiently long isolation of a child from human society from an early age (upbringing by animals) have shown that when he returns to normal conditions, his ability to speak, think, he develops very poorly or does not develop at all. This confirms that these qualities are not inherited. Each older generation passes on life experience, knowledge, spiritual values to the next in the process of upbringing and education. With the development of society, the work of people became more diverse. Various branches of the economy appeared, industry developed, science, art, trade, and religion arose. Tribes formed nations, states.

Thus, the main driving forces of anthropogenesis were biological (hereditary variability, struggle for existence and natural selection) and social factors (labor activity, social lifestyle, speech and thinking) (Scheme 2).

There are three main stages in the social evolution of man.

The first is the knowledge of the environment through works of art. For example, rock paintings.

The second stage is directly related to the domestication of wild animals and the development of agriculture. Thus, man began to influence the natural environment.

The third stage - development scientific and technological progress that began in the 15th century. during the Renaissance. At present, the main social factor has become human mind. Humanity, having spread widely to the globe, explores space. The biosphere inhabited by people passes into the noosphere controlled by the human mind.

Biological factors of anthropogenesis. Social factors of anthropogenesis. Anthropomorphosis. Cro-Magnon. Noosphere.

1. The biological factors of anthropogenesis include hereditary variability, the struggle for existence and natural selection.

2. Labor is the main step in human evolution.

3. Progressive changes in human evolution are the making of tools by hand and the transition to upright posture.

4. The social way of life, speech, thinking, mind have become the main social driving forces of evolution.

1. What are the biological driving forces of anthropogenesis?

2. Explain the importance of social factors in human evolution.

3. What signs have developed in the structure of the human body as a result of upright walking?

1. What is the role of labor in human evolution?

2. What is the place of speech in human evolution?

3. What is anthropomorphosis!

1. Describe social factors.

2. Name three stages of human social evolution.

3. What is the current influence of social factors on human evolution?

Explain with examples the driving forces of evolution using diagram 2, which shows the biological and social driving forces of human evolution.

Man, like any other biological species, was formed in the process of evolution and is the result of the interaction of its driving forces. Anthropogenesis is based on such biological factors as hereditary variability, the struggle for existence and natural selection. C. Darwin believed that it was natural selection, and especially one of its forms, sexual selection, that played the main role in anthropogenesis.

The role of social factors in the process of human origin is considered in the work of F. Engels "The role of labor in the process of transformation of a monkey into a man" (1896). F. Engels showed that it was labor, social life, consciousness and speech that distinguished man from the animal world.

Background of anthropogenesis. The highly developed ability to orientate in the environment and the division of functions between the fore and hind limbs were essential prerequisites for further morphophysiological progress during the transition of tree monkeys to a new habitat, to open treeless spaces.

Movement on two legs at first was ineffective and did not provide any special advantages in the struggle for existence compared to other mammals. However, when the forelimbs were freed from the function of walking, the direction of natural selection changed. The shortcomings in movement speed, low muscular strength and the lack of powerful fangs and claws were compensated for by the use of tools for defense and attack. Due to the vertical position of the body, the amount of perceived information significantly increased, which made it possible to react in time to the approach of a predator. Since all this is directly related to survival, the pressure of natural selection increased in this direction.

Labor as a factor in human evolution. The release of the hand from the support function, according to F. Engels, was a necessary condition for its further improvement. The hand became a very special organ that could act at a distance with the help of various objects. In addition, the hand began to be used for the manufacture of tools. This skill has been acquired over a long period of time.

In the process of making and using tools, the hand improved functionally and morphologically, which had an impact on the entire body. Some researchers have noted a link between hand function and the development of certain areas of the brain. Increasing pressure of natural selection in an unprecedentedly short time has led to a significant increase in the size of the brain in hominids. For about 1 million years, the average volume of the cranium almost doubled (Fig. 6.25). Apparently, the intensity of selection in this direction was determined by the need to rationally use tools and the need for an effective system of communication, i.e. speech.

Thus, bipedalism freed the forelimb to turn it into an organ of labor activity. The increasing volume of perceived information, together with work activity, led to the rapid development of the brain and the ability to group adaptive behavior.

Public way of life as a factor of evolution. The difficulty of the survival of the ancestors of hominids in the difficult conditions of the struggle for existence during the transition to a terrestrial way of life was aggravated by low fertility. It was easier for a group to resist predators than for individuals. Human ancestors made up for the shortcomings of natural organs with artificial tools. Thus, labor already at its origin was social.

Labor contributed to the rallying of ancient people into collectives. Cases of mutual support and joint activities became more and more frequent. The older members of the team taught the younger generation to find natural materials necessary for the manufacture of tools, taught the methods of making such tools and their use.

Social work had a great influence on the development of the brain and sense organs. Joint labor activity required coordination. There was a vital need for the exchange of information. In the process of evolution, the ancestors of modern man underwent such changes in the vocal apparatus and brain that led to the appearance of speech.

The interconnected development of social labor, speech and consciousness has led to the improvement of the entire human organism and humanity as a whole.

Features of the process of human evolution. The evolutionary transformations of human ancestors, due to the pressure of natural selection, were the biological prerequisites for the development of social relations. Improving the ability to make various tools and use them in their defense, as well as in obtaining food, was a decisive success factor in the struggle for existence and qualitatively separated man from the animal world. However, this did not exclude the effect of the general laws of the development of living nature on man. Biological and

social factors in the process of human evolution operate in parallel, but at different speeds: the first - with a slowdown, the second - with acceleration.

On the early stages anthropogenesis natural selection was crucial. First, there was a selection of individuals more capable of making primitive tools for obtaining food and protection from enemies. Gradually, the object of selection becomes such a property characteristic of hominids as herding and the relatively developed forms of communication associated with it. Moreover, individual selection formed mainly morphophysiological features of the organization of the human type (upright walking, developed hand, large brain), and group selection improved social organization (forms of relations in the herd).

A characteristic feature of anthropogenesis is the unidirectionality of evolutionary transformations associated with the gradual development of upright posture, an increase in the ability to accumulate and practically use information about environment(development of the brain and hand), the improvement of the collective way of life.

Having mastered the culture of producing perfect tools of labor, cooking, and arranging dwellings, man isolated himself from adverse climatic factors to such an extent that he got out of the strict control of natural selection and to a large extent began to depend on social conditions and upbringing.

Qualitative differences of a person. The first representative of the genus Homo - skillful man isolated from the animal world on the basis of labor activity. Not just the use of a stick or stone as a tool, but the production of various tools was the line that separated man from humanoid ancestors.

Monkeys often use sticks and stones to get food, as do many animals (one of the Galapagos finches, the sea otter). No matter how striking the manipulations of animals with various objects, they are either accidental, or arose on the basis of conditioned reflexes, or are caused by programmed behavioral features and do not directly determine their survival.

The general plan of the structure of the human body is the same as that of all mammals. Differences are associated with upright walking, the presence of speech and the ability to work. The human skeleton differs from the skeleton of all mammals, including great apes, in the shape of the spine, chest and pelvis, structural features of the limbs, and their proportions.

In connection with upright posture, four curves of the spine were formed in a person. The balance of the skull on the cervical vertebrae is ensured by moving the foramen magnum closer to the center of the base of the skull (Fig. 6.26).

Bipedalism and labor activity of a person also affected the proportions of the body. The bones of the lower limbs in humans are longer than the homologous bones of the upper limbs, the stable position of the body on long legs is ensured by the shortening of the spinal column (Fig. 6.27). The chest is flattened in the dorsal-abdominal direction, the pelvic bones are bowl-shaped (a consequence of the pressure of the organs of the chest and abdominal cavity) (Fig. 6.28). The monkey's originally flat grasping foot acquired an arched structure (Fig. 6.29). The human hand is distinguished by its small size, thinness and mobility, the ability to a variety of movements. The thumb is set aside and can be opposed to all the others, thanks to which a person is able not only to grab an object, as monkeys do, but also to grasp it, which has great importance during operation (Fig. 6.30).

In connection with the development of the brain, the brain part of the skull reached its largest size (up to 1500 cm 3). In terms of volume, it is 4 times larger than the front one (in primates, this ratio is 1: 1). The lower jaw is horseshoe-shaped, with a protruding chin, which is associated with speech activity and the development of the muscles of the tongue.

A distinctive feature of the higher nervous activity of a person is the presence of a second signaling system, under which I.P. Pavlov understood the word; as well as the abstract thinking associated with it, the construction of logical chains and generalizations.

A person is characterized by a special, not related to genetic mechanisms, form of information transmission in a number of generations - the continuity of culture, knowledge, traditions. The experience acquired by a person throughout his life does not disappear with him, but becomes an integral part of the universal culture. All this became possible thanks to the development of speech, and then writing.

Morphophysiological features of a person are inherited. However, the human body is not yet a person in the social sense. Abilities for labor activity, thinking and speech develop in the process of individual development of a person on the basis of upbringing and education. Outside of human society, the formation of specific human qualities is impossible.

There are cases of development of children under the age of 5 years in isolation from other people. After returning to normal conditions, their ability to speak and think either developed very poorly or did not develop at all (depending on the age at which the child entered isolation).

Anthropogenesis is based on biological (hereditary variability, struggle for existence and natural selection) and social (labor, social life, consciousness and speech) factors. Labor was already social in its inception. It was easier for a group to resist predators than for individuals. Joint labor activity required coordination of actions, necessitated signaling not only with gestures, but also with sounds, which led to the appearance of speech. The interconnected development of social labor, speech and consciousness has led to the improvement of the entire human organism and humanity as a whole. The general plan of the structure of the human body is the same as that of all mammals. Differences are associated with upright walking, the presence of speech and the ability to work. A distinctive feature of the higher nervous activity of a person is the presence of a second signaling system.

The qualitative originality of human evolution lies in the fact that its driving forces were not only biological, but also social factors, and it was the latter that were of decisive importance in the process of the formation of man and continue to play a leading role in the development of modern human society.

Biological factors of human evolution. Man, like any other biological species, appeared on Earth as a result of the interconnected action of factors in the evolution of the living world. How did natural selection contribute to the consolidation of those morphological features man, in which he differs from his closest relatives among animals?

The main reasons that once forced arboreal animals to move to life on earth were the reduction in the area of tropical forests, the corresponding decrease in the food supply and, as a result, the enlargement of body size. The fact is that an increase in body size is accompanied by an increase in absolute, but a decrease in relative (i.e., per unit body weight) food needs. Large animals can afford to eat less high-calorie foods. The reduction in the area of tropical forests has increased competition between monkeys. Different species approached the solution of the problems that confronted them in different ways. Some have learned to run fast on four limbs and have mastered open terrain (savannah). Baboons are an example. Gorillas, their enormous physical strength allowed them to stay in the forest, while being there is no competition. Chimpanzees were found to be the least specialized of all the great apes. They can deftly climb trees and run quite quickly on the ground. And only hominids solved their problems in a unique way: they mastered the movement on two legs. Why was this mode of transportation beneficial for them?

One of the consequences of an increase in body size is a lengthening of life expectancy, which is accompanied by a lengthening of the gestation period and a slowdown in the rate of reproduction. In great apes, one cub is born every 5-6 years. His death as a result of an accident turns out to be a very expensive loss for the population. Bipedal great apes managed to avoid such a critical situation. Hominids have learned to take care of two, three, four cubs at the same time. But this required more time, effort and attention, which the female had to devote to her offspring. She was forced to give up many other forms of activity, including the search for food. This was done by the males. The release of the forelimbs from participating in movement allowed males to bring more food for females and cubs. In the current situation, movement on four limbs became unnecessary. On the contrary, upright walking gave hominids a number of advantages, the most valuable of which turned out to be the possibility of making tools after 2 million years.

Social factors of human evolution. The creation and use of tools increased fitness ancient man. From that moment on, any hereditary changes in his body that turned out to be useful in instrumental activity were fixed by natural selection. The forelimbs underwent an evolutionary transformation. Judging by the fossils and tools, the working position of the hand, the way of grip, the position of the fingers, and the force tension gradually changed. In the technology of making tools, the number of strong blows was reduced, the number of small and precise movements of the hand and fingers increased, the factor of force began to give way to the factor of accuracy and dexterity.

The use of tools for butchering carcasses and cooking on fire resulted in a reduction in the load on the chewing apparatus. On the human skull, those bony protrusions to which powerful chewing muscles are attached gradually disappeared. The skull became more rounded, the jaws - less massive, the facial section - straightened.

An instrument of labor can only be made if a mental image and a conscious purpose of labor are formed in the imagination of its creator. Human labor activity helped develop the ability to reproduce in the mind coherent ideas about objects and manipulations with them.

A sufficiently developed brain, which allowed a person to associate various sounds and ideas, had to serve as a prerequisite for the development of speech. Speech owes its origin to the imitation and modification of various natural sounds (voices of animals, instinctive cries of the person himself). The benefits of community rallying through speech cues were becoming apparent. Training and imitation made speech more and more articulate and perfect.

In this way, distinctive features human — thinking, speech, the ability to tool activity — arose in the course and on the basis of its biological development. Thanks to these features, a person has learned to withstand the adverse effects of the environment to such an extent that his further development began to be determined not so much by biological factors as by the ability to create perfect tools, arrange dwellings, get food, raise livestock and grow edible plants. The formation of these skills occurs through training and is possible only in the conditions of human society, i.e. in the social environment. Therefore, tool activity, along with the social way of life, speech and thinking, is called the social factors of human evolution. Children who grew up isolated from people do not know how to speak, are not capable of mental activity, to communicate with other people. Their behavior is more reminiscent of the behavior of animals, among which they found themselves shortly after birth.

The formation of a person is inextricably linked with the formation of human society. In other words, anthropogenesis is inseparable from homogenesis. Together they constitute a single process of the formation of mankind - yantroposociogenesis.

Correlation of biological and social factors in human evolution. Biological factors played decisive role in the early stages of hominin evolution. Almost all of them are still active today. Mutational and combination-type variability support the genetic heterogeneity of humanity. Fluctuations in the number of people during epidemics, wars randomly change the frequencies of genes in human populations. These factors together provide material for natural selection, which operates at all stages of human development (culling of gametes with chromosomal rearrangements, stillbirths, barren marriages, death from diseases, etc.).

The only biological factor that has lost its significance in evolution modern man, is isolation. In the era of perfect technical means of transportation, the constant migration of people has led to the fact that there are almost no genetically isolated population groups left.

Over the past 40 thousand years, the physical appearance of people has hardly changed. But this does not mean the end of the evolution of man as a biological species. It should be noted that 40 thousand years is only 2% of the time of the existence of the human race. It is extremely difficult to capture human morphological changes in such a short period of time on a geological scale.

With the formation of human society, a special form of communication between generations arose in the form of the continuity of material and spiritual culture. By analogy with the system of inheritance of genetic information, we can talk about the system of inheritance of cultural information. Their differences are as follows. Genetic information is passed from parents to offspring. Cultural information is available to anyone. The death of a person leads to the irrevocable disappearance of a unique combination of his genes. On the contrary, the experience accumulated by a person flows into the universal culture. Finally, the rate of dissemination of cultural information is much greater than the rate of transmission of genetic information. The consequence of these differences is that modern man as social being develops much faster than as a biological being.

In the course of evolution, man has acquired the greatest advantage. He learned to maintain harmony between his unchanging body and changing nature. This is the qualitative originality of human evolution.

human races. AT modern humanity three main races are distinguished: Caucasoid, Mongoloid and Equatorial (Negro Australoid /. Races are large groups of people that differ in some external features, such as skin color, eyes and hair, hair shape, facial features. The formation of racial characteristics was facilitated by that human settlement on the Earth 100 10 thousand years ago took place in small groups that made up a small part of the original population.This led to the fact that the newly formed isolated populations differed from each other in the concentrations of certain genes.Since the population of the Earth during this period was very small (no more than 3 million people 15 thousand years ago), newly formed populations in different parts of the world developed in isolation from each other.

in different climatic conditions under the influence of natural selection, on the basis of differing gene pools, the characteristic external features of human races were formed. However, this did not lead to the formation of different species, and representatives of all races are classified as one biological species - Homo sapiens. According to the ability to know, to labor activity, creativity all races are the same. At present, racial traits are not adaptive. The increase in population, a sharp decrease in the level of isolation of populations, the gradual disappearance of racial, ethnic and religious prejudices lead to the blurring of interracial differences. Apparently, in the future these differences should disappear.

Biological factors of human evolution

Man, like any other biological species, appeared on Earth as a result of the interconnected action of factors in the evolution of the living world. How, then, did natural selection contribute to the consolidation of those morphological features of man, in which he differs from his closest relatives among animals?

One of the consequences of an increase in body size is a lengthening of life expectancy, which is accompanied by a lengthening of the gestation period and a slowdown in the rate of reproduction. In great apes, one cub is born every 5-6 years. His death as a result of an accident turns out to be a very expensive loss for the population. Bipedal great apes managed to avoid such a critical situation. Hominids have learned to take care of two, three, four cubs at the same time. But this required more time, effort and attention, which the female had to devote to her offspring. She was forced to give up many other forms of activity, including the search for food. This was done by the males. The release of the forelimbs from participation in movement allowed males to bring more food for females and cubs. In the current situation, movement on four limbs became unnecessary. On the contrary, upright walking gave hominids a number of advantages, the most valuable of which turned out to be the possibility of making tools after 2 million years.

Social Factors of Human Evolution

The creation and use of tools increased the adaptability of ancient man. From that moment on, any hereditary changes in his body that turned out to be useful in instrumental activity were fixed by natural selection. The forelimbs underwent an evolutionary transformation. Judging by the fossils and tools, the working position of the hand, the way of gripping, the position of the fingers, and the force tension gradually changed. In the technology of making tools, the number of strong blows was reduced, the number of small and precise movements of the hand and fingers increased, the factor of force began to give way to the factor of accuracy and dexterity.

An instrument of labor can be made only if a mental image and a conscious purpose of labor are formed in the imagination of its creator. Human labor activity helped to develop the ability to reproduce in the mind coherent ideas about objects and manipulations with them.

Thus, the distinctive features of a person - thinking, speech, the ability to use tools - arose in the course and on the basis of his biological development. Thanks to these features, man learned to resist the adverse effects of the environment to such an extent that his further development began to be determined not so much by biological factors as by the ability to create perfect tools, arrange dwellings, get food, breed livestock and grow edible plants. The formation of these skills occurs through training and is possible only in the conditions of human society, i.e. in the social environment. Therefore, tool activity, along with the social way of life, speech and thinking, is called the social factors of human evolution. Children who grew up in isolation from people do not know how to speak, are not capable of mental activity, to communicate with other people. Their behavior is more reminiscent of the behavior of animals, among which they found themselves shortly after birth. The formation of man is inextricably linked with the formation of human society.

Correlation of biological and social factors in human evolution. Biological factors played a decisive role in the early stages of hominin evolution. Almost all of them are still active today. Mutational and combi-type variability support the genetic heterogeneity of humanity. Fluctuations in the number of people during epidemics, wars randomly change the frequencies of genes in human populations. These factors together provide material for natural selection, which operates at all stages of human development (culling of gametes with chromosomal rearrangements, stillbirths, barren marriages, death from diseases, etc.).

The only biological factor that has lost its significance in the evolution of modern man is isolation. In the era of perfect technical means of transportation, the constant migration of people has led to the fact that there are almost no genetically isolated population groups left.

Over the past 40 thousand years, the physical appearance of people has not changed much. But this does not mean the end of the evolution of man as a biological species. It should be noted that 40 thousand years is only 2% of the time of the existence of the human race. It is extremely difficult to elude the morphological changes of a person in such a short period of time on a geological scale.
With the formation of human society, a special form of communication between generations arose in the form of the continuity of material and spiritual culture. By analogy with the system of inheritance of genetic information, we can talk about the system of inheritance of cultural information. Their differences are as follows. Genetic information is passed from parents to offspring. Cultural information is available to anyone. The death of a person leads to the irrevocable disappearance of a unique combination of his genes. On the contrary, the experience accumulated by man flows into the universal culture. Finally, the rate of dissemination of cultural information is much greater than the rate of transmission of genetic information. The consequence of these differences is that modern man as a social being develops much faster than as a biological being.

human races. In modern humanity, there are three main races: Caucasoid, Mongoloid and Equatorial (Negro Australoid /. Races are large groups of people that differ in some external features, such as skin color, eyes and hair, hair shape, facial features. The formation of racial characteristics contributed the fact that human settlement on Earth 100-10 thousand years ago took place in small groups that made up a small part of the original population. This led to the fact that the newly formed isolated populations differed from each other in the concentrations of certain genes. Since the population of the Earth during this period was very small (no more than 3 million people 15 thousand years ago), newly formed populations in different parts of the world developed in isolation from each other.

In different climatic conditions, under the influence of natural selection, on the basis of differing gene pools, the characteristic external features of human races were formed. However, this did not lead to the formation of different species, and representatives of all races are classified as one biological species - Homo sapiens. All races are the same in terms of the ability to know, to work, to creative abilities. At present, racial traits are not adaptive. The increase in population, a sharp decrease in the level of isolation of populations, the gradual disappearance of racial, ethnic and religious prejudices lead to the blurring of interracial differences. Apparently, in the future these differences should disappear.

Factors of human evolution

In the early stages of human evolution dominated biological factors evolution - variability, struggle for existence, natural selection, etc.

In the later stages of human evolution, the main social factors evolution - a social way of life, the use of tools, the use of fire, the development of speech.

Stages of human evolution

Races

These are divisions within a species adapted to specific conditions. Races are found in all widespread species. In humans, 3 large races are distinguished (Negroids, Caucasians, Mongoloids).

Racist theory (racism) rejects the unity of the human races, i.e. claims that different races of man are descended from different ancestors. This is not true, all human races easily interbreed and give fertile offspring, i.e. belong to the same species.

Differences between humans and apes

Speech, chin protrusion.

Second signal system, large brain, the brain part of the skull is larger than the front.

Labor activity(creation and use of tools), the thumb is opposed to the rest and well developed.

bipedalism: arched foot, extended pelvis, curves in the spine (S-shaped spine), chest expanded to the sides.

Answer

Choose one, the most correct option. The racial theory is based on the denial
1) similarities between humans and anthropoids
2) the unity of the origin of human races
3) human belonging to primates
4) morphological unity of races

Answer

Choose three options. Man is different from animals
1) has a cerebral cortex
2) forms various natural populations
3) has a second signal system
4) can create an artificial habitat
5) has the first signal system
6) can create and use tools

Answer

Choose three options. Man, unlike animals
1) affects the environment in the process of life
2) has an S-shaped spine
3) forms various populations
4) has the first signal system
5) has a second signal system
6) creates and uses tools

Answer

Choose three options. In humans, unlike mammals
1) the body is vertical
2) the spine does not have bends
3) the spine forms four smooth bends
4) the chest is expanded to the sides
5) the chest is compressed from the sides
6) the facial part of the skull prevails over the brain

Answer

Choose one, the most correct option. The second human signaling system is
1) conditioned reflexes
2) unconditioned reflexes
3) speech
4) instincts

Answer

1. Establish a correspondence between the example and the factor of anthropogenesis that illustrates it: 1) biological, 2) social
A) spatial isolation
B) genetic drift
B) speech
D) abstract thinking
D) social labor activity
E) population waves

Answer

2. Establish a correspondence between the example and the factor of anthropogenesis for which it is characteristic: 1) biological, 2) social
A) work activity
B) abstract thinking
B) isolation
D) mutational variability
D) population waves
E) second signaling system

Answer

Choose three options. Which of the following features characterize the social factors of human evolution?
1) public lifestyle
2) the ability to transmit acquired traits by inheritance
3) abstract thinking and speech
4) joint labor activity
5) modification variability
6) natural selection and care for offspring

Answer

Indicate the historical sequence of the main stages of anthropogenesis
1) Modern man
2) Australopithecus
3) Cro-Magnon
4) Pithecanthropus
5) Neanderthal

Answer

Set the chronological sequence of anthropogenesis
1) skillful person
2) Homo erectus
3) driopithecus
4) a reasonable person

Answer

Choose three features of the skeleton that are unique to humans
1) the presence of clavicles
2) the presence of a chin protrusion
3) lightening the bone mass of the upper limbs
4) the presence of five-fingered limbs
5) S-shape of the spinal column
6) arched foot

Answer

1. Choose three options. In connection with upright posture in humans
1) upper limbs are released
2) the foot becomes arched
3) the thumb is opposed to the rest
4) the pelvis expands, its bones grow together
5) the brain region of the skull is smaller than the facial
6) hairline decreases

Answer

2. Choose three correct answers from six and write down the numbers under which they are indicated. The adaptations of a person to walking upright are the following signs:
1) the human spinal column has acquired distinct bow-shaped bends, two of which are directed forward, the other two are backward
2) the thumb is opposed to all the rest
3) development of the cerebral cortex
4) the formation of the arched structure of the foot
5) rotation of the pelvis and its sharp expansion
6) the presence of a diaphragm

Answer

3. Choose three correct answers from six and write down the numbers under which they are indicated. In humans, due to upright posture
1) the spine forms four bends
2) the bones in the joints are connected movably
3) the fingers of the hand are connected to the metacarpus
4) the belt of the lower extremities is wide, has the form of a bowl
5) arch is well expressed in the foot
6) the thumb is opposed to all the rest

Answer

4. Choose three correct answers from six and write down the numbers under which they are indicated. In humans, due to upright posture
1) the spine is S-shaped
2) the chest is flattened from the sides
3) the belt of the lower extremities is bowl-shaped
4) the mass of the vertebral bodies decreases from the cervical to the lumbar
5) the arch of the foot has formed
6) the bones of the upper limbs are more massive

Answer

Choose three options. The human skeleton, unlike the skeleton of mammals, has
1) straight spine without bends
2) chest, compressed in the dorsal-abdominal direction
3) chest, compressed from the sides
4) S-shaped spine
5) arched foot
6) massive facial part of the skull

Answer

Choose three options. What are the similarities between the human skeleton and the skeletons of mammals?
1) the spine has five sections
2) the foot has an arch
3) the cerebral part of the skull is larger than the facial
4) there are paired articular limbs
5) there are seven vertebrae in the cervical region
6) the shape of the spine is S-shaped

Answer

Establish the sequence of evolution of the fossil ancestors of modern man in chronological order. Write down the corresponding sequence of numbers.
1) African Australopithecus
2) reasonable Neanderthal man
3) Pithecanthropus
4) driopithecus (xeniapithecus)
5) skillful person

Answer

1. Choose three correct answers out of six and write down in the answer the numbers under which they are indicated. In a person, in connection with labor activity, the following specific features have been formed:
1) fine motor skills hands
2) abstract thinking and speech
3) bowl-shaped pelvis
4) S-shaped spine
5) arched foot
6) a significant increase in the size of the brain

Answer

2. Choose three options. What features have been formed in a person in connection with labor activity?
1) arched foot
2) development of the clavicles in the shoulder girdle
3) bowl-shaped pelvis
4) complication of the cerebral cortex
5) opposing the thumb to everyone else
6) speech and thinking

Answer

Choose one, the most correct option. The adaptability of a person to work activity is manifested in
1) movable connection of bones
2) the presence of different parts of the brain
3) the presence of five fingers
4) Diversity of hand functions

Answer

Analyze the table "Differences in the structure of man and great apes." For each cell marked with a letter, select the appropriate term from the list provided. Write down the chosen numbers, in the order corresponding to the letters.
1) the facial part of the skull predominates, there are solid superciliary ridges, there is no chin protrusion, the brain volume is about 700 cm3
2) the arms are longer than the legs, the big toe is opposed to the rest, there is an arch of the foot
3) chest
4) cervical and lumbar spine
5) the facial part of the skull predominates, there are superciliary arches, the chin protrusion is poorly developed, the brain volume is about 1100 cm3
6) thoracic and sacral spine
7) the legs are longer than the arms, the thumb is opposed to the rest, the foot is arched
8) spine

Answer

Set the chronological sequence of the stages of anthropogenesis. Write down the corresponding sequence of numbers.
1) Australopithecus
2) skillful person
3) Homo erectus
4) Neanderthal
5) Cro-Magnon

Answer

Choose one, the most correct option. What feature of a person was formed under the influence of biological factors anthropogenesis?
1) making tools
2) joint work
3) the appearance of the diaphragm
4) arched foot

Answer

Establish a correspondence between the signs and representatives of the class Mammals, for which these signs are characteristic: 1) an ordinary chimpanzee, 2) a reasonable person. Write down the numbers 1 and 2 in the order corresponding to the letters.
A) the predominance of the facial part of the skull over the brain
B) the belt of the lower extremities in the form of a bowl
B) arched foot
D) the presence of a chin protrusion
D) developed superciliary arches
E) laterally compressed chest

Answer

Factors of human evolution

Stages of human evolution

Races

Differences between humans and apes

Read also