Summary of Ciencia al Desnudo: Origen del hombre, de donde venimos, National Geographic

00:00:00 - 00:45:00

This video discusses the origins of man and how scientists believe that we evolved from earlier species of primates. It also discusses the findings of archaeological evidence that suggests that human beings evolved from a species of apes. The actor Mike Jamón is used to recreate the appearance of the human form from the fossils available and he is dressed in a costume that makes him look more like the human erectus than earlier human species. The video also discusses the origins of the human brain and how it has evolved over time.

• 00:00:00 The National Geographic video "Ciencia al Desnudo: Origen del hombre, de donde venimos, National Geographic" explores the origins of human beings and where we come from. The search for what makes us human begins in South Africa where scientists hope to discover the secrets of our past, from the development of language and intelligence to the events that have shaped our evolution. Along with Dr. Lee Berger, a detective-scientist, paleoanthropologists such as Werder have uncovered details of our past from the fossil records of Africa. Here, they search for our ancestors, the ancestor of any animal, but something that tells us of our origins, our species, and makes us function as humans. Our species is almost extinct due to a struggle that ended pushing one animal to rise above the others. This is our story, the story of what makes us human. It is a bloody and violent tale because only one of these species will survive to become the modern human. We will learn about the suspects who are not usually associated with evolution - like Australopithecus. Although small, this early human had a brain similar to ours, but still lacked many of the traits that would make us human. He walked on two legs, behaved
• 00:05:00 This video follows up on a 1974 discovery of a human-like fossil found in Ethiopia, which was given the name "Australopithecus afarensis." The video explains that this fossil has features that suggest bipedism, a trait that is the first defining feature of human evolution. The scientists of the 1970s named the species "A. afarensis" after the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." To accurately portray the human-like fossil of A. afarensis, a "bio-mimetic" prosthetic was created by British makeup artist and film director, Mike William's. This prosthetic allows for accurate movement of the mouth and the ability to stand and walk on two feet like humans. To create the prosthetic, Mike William studied the movements of primates, and is currently working on a project to accurately portray the human-like skeleton of A. afarensis. The human-like skeleton of A. afarensis has led scientists to theorize that this species may have been the ancestor of modern humans. This video provides an interesting perspective on human evolution and the origins of human-like creatures.
• 00:10:00 This video discusses how scientists have been able to study the origins of man by analyzing the footprints left by ancient primates. The most important findings from this research have been that ancient primates, including the extinct afarensis, walked on two legs and stood upright. This is a significant milestone for the human species, as it indicates that our ancestors were able to evolve beyond their simian form.
• 00:15:00 The video discusses the origins of the human brain and how primitive behaviors exhibited by early human ancestors were typical of simian animals. However, one important distinguishing feature of the human brain is its size relative to other primates. The proto-human homo erectus had a brain size that was twice as large as that of modern humans, and was on the verge of developing higher cognitive abilities such as language and tool-making. However, due to its extinction, the Homo erectus remains a mystery to modern scientists. One goal of paleoanthropology is to identify and study archaic human-like creatures in order to better understand human evolution.
• 00:20:00 National Geographic investigates the origins of man, discussing the work of an experimental archaeologist who believes that understanding human intelligence through tools is best done through studying how they were made. This research involves studying primitive tools and how they were used by the Homo erectus, a predecessor of modern man. By understanding how these tools were made, as well as the mental skills required to use them, researchers can better understand the evolution of human intelligence. They also learn that the Homo erectus had begun to solve problems early on in their history, another hallmark of modern man. By comparing the tools used by the Homo erectus and those used today, researchers learn that the Homo erectus had an edge in both manual dexterity and tool use. Across Africa, Homo erectus lives in an increasingly dangerous world dominated by predators and uncontrolled fires. Using their growing intelligence, they turned their enemies into formidable foes.
• 00:25:00 The video discusses how humans differ from other animals in terms of their cranial anatomy and intelligence. It discusses how some scientists believe that evidence of human intelligence can be found in the way that our ancestor used it to survive in an environment where victory was unlikely, by attacking and killing their opponents with sharper teeth. This is what faced Homo erectus when they faced off against leopards, a predator that Homo erectus knew well. Doctor Brian Jones of the National Geographic Museum in South Africa discovered these cave remains of Homo erectus, and this particular specimen has been found to have evidence of human fire use, indicating that Homo erectus was beginning to dominate their environment. To test this theory, they needed to rule out the possibility that the bones would have burned as a result of a natural fire. Shaker, a volunteer firefighter, was used to conducting controlled fires in wild environments, and he was able to determine that the bones were burned but not to the point of being unrecognizable. The results of this study show that Homo erectus may have been using fire as early as 1 million years ago, which would make them one of the first species on earth to do so.
• 00:30:00 The National Geographic video "Ciencia al Desnudo: Origen del hombre, de donde venimos, National Geographic" discusses the origins of the human race and how scientists believe that the human form evolved from earlier species of primates, such as the Homo erectus. The video also discusses the findings of archaeological evidence that suggests the human form evolved from a species of primates that were more physically resembled apes. The actor Mike Jamón is used to recreate the appearance of the human form from the fossils available and he is dressed in a costume that makes him look more like the human erectus than earlier human species. The actor's brain was enriched with a carnivorous diet and he was able to communicate using a language that was not spoken by our ancestors. However, after a while the situation improves for our human-like creatures and they start to look less like apes. The human form is finally complete when the hair is eliminated.
• 00:35:00 The video discusses the origins of man, from where we come, and National Geographic's search for the first human "sage" of the animal kingdom. Homo sapiens first appeared 200,000 years ago but did not possess all the human characteristics that distinguish us from our animal ancestors. One of these characteristics is a relatively large brain size, relative to other species. This brain growth occurred over millions of years, culminating in the emergence of our species around 60,000 years ago. The first human beings were relatively human-like, but not what would be considered fully human. About 50,000 years ago, something happened which led to a great leap in human development- spoken language emerged. This allowed the human race to move from a culture that was quite shy towards the modern era to becoming fully industrialized and capable of creating complex civilizations in a relatively short amount of time. However, there is still some debate about whether the first human beings, known as the archaic Homo sapiens, were truly human. If this is true, it would mean that human beings have been evolving for over two million years, which is quite impressive. One possibility is that something catastrophic happened which forced the most capable and imaginative humans of our species to adapt and survive. Alternatively, it is
• 00:40:00 According to scientists, the population of humans on Earth may have decreased to a few thousand people in the past few hundred years as a result of climate change. The decrease in temperature may have also led to a global ice age. Since the discovery of DNA and the ability to study it, scientists have been able to study the history and DNA of humans and find that we all have a common ancestor. They believe that human beings became fully modern around 40,000 years ago, when we started communicating and developing art. However, when the climate changed, we may have become extinct but in fact it was the climate change that may have led to the development of our abilities, language and culture. Scientists have been able to study the ancestry of all humans by collecting their DNA samples and studying them. They believe that they have found the oldest tribe on Earth, the Suns, who are the direct descendants of the few thousand humans that survived the cataclysmic event known as the Pleistocene. This discovery not only confirms that we are all human, but also provides us with a glimpse into the origins of our ancestors.
• 00:45:00 The video discusses how modern human beings originated from their genetic roots and how this led to the incredible explosion of human creativity which changed the world forever. 2000 people who surpassed what we call the "neck of the bottle" extinction were our ancestors. These were the first modern humans. And their progeny spread throughout the world and now there are over 6000 million human beings on Earth. The development of human qualities has taken more than 4 million years to evolve. Our ancestors gradually learned to walk on two feet and to make tools to compete with predators and to dominate their environment. In the end, they survived a great natural disaster. Despite this, the development of human qualities may have been sped up by an event known as a "supervolcano eruption." This event may have helped humanity become what it is today and set us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom.