Freshwater lakes in the re Although this rift has grown lower than 1 inch (2.54 centimeters) consistent with yr, the dramatic results include the formation and ongoing spread of the Red Sea, as well as the East African Rift Valley, the panorama that might were home to the primary humans. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . From the evolutionary data records, we see that the first "modern" humans finally appeared about 1,600,000 years ago. The East African Rift (EAR) is an active continental rift zone in East Africa. It is up to 370 miles wide and includes mountains reaching a maximum . The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22-25 million years ago. Answer (1 of 2): Why would tectonic geological events play any particular role in biological aspects of the human species legacy of defining DNA/Genetics as a chance happenstance life form relative to some aspect of the Great Rift Valley, or any other animated life form? Did volcanic activity play a role in early human evolution ... Did climate change jump-start human evolution in East Africa? It is both the location of the earliest fossils of anatomically modern humans and, later, become an important route for human migrations 'out of Africa'. Many fossils such as hominids and related finds have pointed to the evolution of man in walking upright and developing a bigger brain suitable to his environment. EAST LANSING, Mich. — The huge changes in the Earth's crust that influenced human evolution are being redefined, according to research published March 26 in Nature Geoscience. How Climate Change and Plate Tectonics Shaped Human Evolution Kenya is particularly rich in fossil sites, with over 100 located mainly in the eastern branch of the Great Rift Valley, around Lake Victoria and the coastal region. Understanding the evolution, dispersals, behaviors, and ecologies of early African Homo sapiens requires accurate geochronological placement of fossils and artifacts. Researchers in the College of Arts and Sciences have published new details about the evolution of the East African Rift (EAR) Valley, one of the world's largest continental rift zones. Again, the East African Rift uplift occurred sometime over the past 30 million years, with likely the most uplift occurring sometime after 7 million years ago. Most of the AGL lie directly within the African Rift Valley, a system of fault-bounded basins that extends from Djibouti in the north (12 N) to Malawi in the south (15 S). Rift Valley - National Geographic Society Genetic and fossil evidence tells us that our species, Homo sapiens, evolved in Africa in the last 200,000 years, and spent the first 70% of its history within the continent. In the past, it was considered to be part of a larger Great Rift Valley. It is up to 370 miles wide and includes mountains reaching a maximum . Early human evolution is characterised by pulsed speciation and dispersal events that cannot be explained fully by global or continental paleoclimate records. The study from our inter-disciplinary research team, published in Nature Communications, illustrates that groundwater springs may have been far more important as a driver of human evolution in Africa than previously thought. Scientists show shifts from dry to wet and back in East Africa's Rift Valley caused the development of the . The study focuses on water in the Rift Valley. The mountainous landscape makes these basins very sensitive to small . Great rift valley. Olduvai Gorge, in Tanzania's Great Rift Valley, is one of the most important sites for the study of human evolution. Many rift valleys are part of "triple junctions," a type of divergent boundary where three tectonic plates meet at about 120° angles. Drought followed by brain: How climate change spurred evolution of human intelligence. New drill core shows a boom-bust landscape in the east African rift valley at a defining moment in human evolution, technology and culture. Human Evolution Tied to Uplift of 'Wall of Africa'. Africa is the 'Cradle of Humankind' - the place where a number of early hominid species first started to emerge from the continent's forests and walk on two legs across the plains. The system of rift valleys that characterizes the African continent represents a perfect environment to understand the evolution of mankind; for the important paleoanthropological discoveries in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zaire, the African rift valleys are indeed considered the "cradle of mankind", that is the place where our species evolved and diversified . Learn about the over 20 early human species that belong in our family tree and how the natural selection of certain physical and behavioral traits defined what it means to be human. Turkana, part of the Great Rift Valley straddling Kenya and Ethiopia, has been a hallowed site for the study of human evolution ever since Maeve and Richard Leakey began uncovering fossils there . Redgeographics, CC BY-SA. Our ancient ancestors seem to have survived some pretty harsh arid spells in East Africa's Rift Valley over five million years . The Great Rift Valley in Africa is a real treasure trove for discovering early human fossils. Olduvai, also known as Oldupai, was the site of a large lake 500,000 years ago. The East African Rift System. The Great Rift in Easter Africa, formed between 20 and 4 Ma, can be considered the cradle of the hominines, our lineage after the split of the chimpanzees. A surge in volcanic eruptions between 320,000 and 170,000 years ago appears to have changed the course of human evolution. The Great Rift Valley is seen as the cradle of humankind, provide a reason for this. Louis Leakey is known for convincing eminent scientists that Africa is where human evolution began, and that Africa is the cradle of mankind; a view that is now universally accepted. The rift is a complex series of faultlines that runs from the Red Sea down into Mozambique. East Africa & # x27 ; s trunk of such remains in of. 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