The Rise of Humans: Great Scientific Debates

Illustrating scientific debates over the rise of humans; the ancestry casts Ramapithecus out; witnessing fossil evidence and molecular evidence, working both together and independently; explaining some of anthropology's most complex issues.

Discovering and debating over fossil remains of a possible Homo ancestor, Australopithecus afarensis, in 1970; following the story from the perspective of the key personalities involved, scientists Don Johanson and Richard Leakey.

Discovering the 4.4-million-year-old remains of Ardipithecus ramidus; debating whether it is a true hominin or not; suggesting a mix between an effective climber and walking bipedally; examining the fossil and genetic evidence of this "ground ape."

A human's brain separates them more from apes than any other anatomical feature; investigating the gradual increase in hominid brain size; fossil skulls revealing facts about blood circulation; shedding light on brain size and skull structure.

Exploring the link between diet and morphology in Australopithecus robustus and Africanus; the teeth and jaws of these two species offer fierce debates about dietary hypotheses; adaptive differences between robust and gracile hominids.

Wondering whether Africa or Asia is closer to human origins; drawing on the ideas and theories of prominent scientists like Charles Darwin, Ernst Haeckel and Louis Leakey; learning how scientists trace the origin and evolution of the genus Homo.