Human beings are the products of organic evolution. Over one hundred million years ago a
population of small, nocturnal, insectivorous creatures scurried about at the feet of dinosaurs. The combined action of evolutionary processes, like natural selection, recombination, and mutation, transformed these shrew-like creatures into monkey-like animals clambering through the vast tropical rain forests that covered most of the world 35 million years ago, then into bipedal apes roaming the hot savannas of Africa 5 million years ago, and finally into modern humans living on Earth today, primates who adapt to their environments using culture.
In this course, the student will learn how these transformations took place, and why they are important for understanding our bodies, our behavior, and the structure of societies. The student will learn how evolution works, and how evolutionary processes shaped the behavior and morphology of our closest living relatives, monkeys and apes. The student will also learn how this knowledge can be combined with fossil, archaeological, and genetic evidence to reconstruct human evolution. Finally, the student will see how evolution has shaped the morphology and behavior of contemporary humans.