Origin and evolution of man

How did man evolve?

In plain words: over millions of years, our ancestors began to walk upright, their brains grew larger, they began to eat meat, cover their bodies and bury their dead, and finally modern humans spread across the continents, painted caves and began farming.

Two early primates

• About 15 mya, primates called Dryopithecus and Ramapithecus existed. They were hairy and walked like gorillas and chimpanzees (page 124).
• Ramapithecus was more man-like, while Dryopithecus was more ape-like (page 124).

Man-like primates and the australopithecines

• A few fossils of man-like bones have been discovered in Ethiopia and Tanzania. They revealed hominid features, leading to the belief that about 3–4 mya man-like primates walked in eastern Africa. They were probably not taller than 4 feet, but they walked upright (page 124).
• About 2 mya, the australopithecines probably lived in East African grasslands. Evidence shows that they hunted with stone weapons but essentially ate fruit (page 124).

Reading note (page 124): NCERT refers to its Figure 6.11 right after the fossils of Ethiopia and Tanzania. That figure (page 125) does not show those fossils: it compares the skulls of an adult modern human, a baby chimpanzee and an adult chimpanzee (see the section on the skulls below).

The first human-like hominids

• Some of the bones discovered were different. This creature was called the first human-like being, the hominid, and was named Homo habilis. Its brain capacity was 650–800 cc, and it probably did not eat meat (page 124).
• Fossils discovered in Java in 1891 revealed the next stage, Homo erectus, about 1.5 mya. Homo erectus had a large brain, around 900 cc, and probably ate meat (pages 124–125).

Neanderthal man

• The Neanderthal man, with a brain size of 1400 cc, lived in the near east and central Asia between 100 000 and 40 000 years ago (page 125).

They used hides to protect their body and buried their dead.

NCERT Biology (Class 12), Section 6.9, page 125

Reading note (page 125): beyond the NCERT text, the Neanderthals are named after the Neander Valley in Germany, where the first recognised fossil was found in 1856, and they lived in Europe as well as in western and central Asia (Wikipedia, “Neanderthal”, facts in our words). NCERT’s “near east and central Asia” leaves out Europe. In a question built on NCERT’s line, give NCERT’s places.

Modern humans, cave art and agriculture

• Homo sapiens arose in Africa, moved across continents and developed into distinct races. During the ice age, between 75 000 and 10 000 years ago, modern Homo sapiens arose (page 125).
• Pre-historic cave art developed about 18 000 years ago. One such cave painting can be seen at the Bhimbetka rock shelter in the Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh (page 125).
• Agriculture came around 10 000 years ago, and human settlements started. The rest is the human history of the growth and decline of civilisations (page 125).

Reading note (page 125): beyond the NCERT text, two points. First, NCERT gives no date for the rise of Homo sapiens in Africa, and its 75 000–10 000 years is for modern Homo sapiens; the fossil record puts the species in Africa at least 300 000 years ago (Wikipedia, “Homo sapiens”, facts in our words). In a question built on NCERT, give NCERT’s dates. Second, on NCERT’s “distinct races”, the US National Human Genome Research Institute’s glossary says: “Race is a social construct used to group people” (NHGRI Talking Glossary of Genomic and Genetic Terms, public domain). All living humans belong to one species, Homo sapiens (reasoned from NCERT page 125).

The skulls of NCERT Figure 6.11

• NCERT Figure 6.11 (page 125) compares the skulls of an adult modern human, a baby chimpanzee and an adult chimpanzee. The skull of the baby chimpanzee is more like the adult human skull than the adult chimpanzee skull (page 125).
• The adult chimpanzee skull has a long, projecting jaw with large teeth; the adult human skull and the baby chimpanzee skull have a rounded braincase and a flatter face (our reading of the figure’s drawings).

Trends in human evolution

NCERT Exercise 4 (page 126) asks you to trace the components of human evolution: brain size and function, skeletal structure, dietary preference and so on. From NCERT’s account (pages 124–125):

• Dryopithecus and Ramapithecus, about 15 mya: hairy; walked like gorillas and chimpanzees.
• Man-like primates, 3–4 mya: probably no taller than 4 feet; walked upright.
• Australopithecines, about 2 mya: stone weapons, but mainly ate fruit.
• Homo habilis (no date in NCERT): the first human-like hominid; brain 650–800 cc; probably no meat.
• Homo erectus, about 1.5 mya: brain about 900 cc; probably ate meat.
• Neanderthal man, 100 000–40 000 years ago: brain 1400 cc; hides for the body; buried their dead.
• Modern Homo sapiens, 75 000–10 000 years ago: cave art; then agriculture and settlements.

Reading the stages together:

• Brain size and function: the brain grows from 650–800 cc to about 900 cc and then 1400 cc, and NCERT links the evolution of modern man to that of the brain and language (Summary, page 126). The parts of the human brain, starting with the forebrain, are described in NCERT Class 11 Biology, Chapter 18 (page 235).
• Skeleton: walking upright appears by 3–4 mya.
• Diet: mainly fruit, then probably no meat, then probably meat.
• Culture: stone weapons, hides, burial of the dead, cave art and, last, agriculture.

Solved examples

Common mistakes to avoid

Quick revision summary

• About 15 mya: Dryopithecus (more ape-like) and Ramapithecus (more man-like), hairy, walking like gorillas and chimpanzees.
• 3–4 mya: man-like primates, probably no taller than 4 feet, walked upright in eastern Africa (fossils from Ethiopia and Tanzania). About 2 mya: australopithecines in East African grasslands, stone weapons, mainly fruit.
• Homo habilis, the first human-like hominid: 650–800 cc, probably no meat. Homo erectus: Java, 1891; about 1.5 mya; about 900 cc; probably meat.
• Neanderthal man: 1400 cc; near east and central Asia, 100 000–40 000 years ago; hides; buried the dead.
• Homo sapiens arose in Africa and spread across continents; modern humans during the ice age, 75 000–10 000 years ago; cave art about 18 000 years ago (Bhimbetka, Raisen, Madhya Pradesh); agriculture about 10 000 years ago.

Questions students ask

Why is Homo habilis called the handy man?

Beyond the NCERT text, Homo habilis is called the handy man because that is what its Latin name means, a name chosen in 1964 by Louis Leakey and colleagues, who credited this early human from Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania with the stone tools found at the same site (Smithsonian Human Origins Program, facts in our words). NCERT calls it the first human-like being, the hominid (page 124). Beyond the NCERT text, stone tools have since been found that predate the earliest known fossils of Homo (same source), so, by our reading, the first toolmaker may have been an earlier kind of hominin.

What is the difference between Homo habilis and Homo erectus?

Homo habilis and Homo erectus differ in brain size, build and range: NCERT gives Homo habilis brain capacities of 650–800 cc, while it places Homo erectus about 1.5 mya with a larger brain of around 900 cc (page 124). Beyond the NCERT text, Homo erectus had a skeleton with our kind of proportions, the legs long and the arms short, and was probably the first human species to live outside Africa (Smithsonian Human Origins Program, facts in our words). Two fossils from one area of northern Kenya, a Homo habilis about 1.44 million years ago and a Homo erectus about 1.55 million, show both alive at once (same source), so, by our reading, one did not simply turn into the other.

How were Neanderthals different from modern humans?

Beyond the NCERT text, Neanderthals differed from modern humans chiefly in build and skull shape rather than brain size (Smithsonian Human Origins Program, facts in our words). Their skeletons were shorter and more robust, a compact shape that holds body heat in ice-age cold, and their skulls were oval with a sloping forehead, prominent brow ridges, a large mid-face and a large nose. Our own skulls are high-domed and thin-walled, with an upright forehead and little brow ridge, on a lighter skeleton. Their brains were as large as ours or larger (same source), so, by our reading, they were a cold-adapted human lineage, not a less developed version of us.

Why did the Neanderthals become extinct?

Beyond the NCERT text, nobody knows why the Neanderthals died out about 40 000 years ago: proposed causes include climate change, epidemics, competition with modern humans arriving from Africa and, as one 2019 model argues, the risks that small, scattered populations face from inbreeding and chance alone (Vaesen and colleagues, PLOS ONE, CC BY). Another model suggests that repeated small immigrations of modern humans could have absorbed them through interbreeding, a form of gene flow that could have almost completely replaced their genes over 10 000–30 000 years (Amadei and colleagues 2025, Scientific Reports, CC BY).

Practice questions

Try each question first, then open the answer to check your working.

1. Q1. Where and when were the fossils of Homo erectus that NCERT mentions discovered?

   Show answerHide answer

   In Java, in 1891 (NCERT page 124).

2. Q2. Where can one see pre-historic cave paintings in India, according to NCERT?

   Show answerHide answer

   At the Bhimbetka rock shelter in Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh (NCERT page 125).

3. Q3. What was the brain capacity of the Neanderthal man, and where did he live?

   Show answerHide answer

   1400 cc; in the near east and central Asia, between 100 000 and 40 000 years ago (NCERT page 125).