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In Search of Human Origins, Part I
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Program Overview
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For most of the past century, scientists searching for the missing
link on the evolutionary path from apes to humans held the theory
that our earliest ancestors probably resembled apes but had larger
brains. Their theory was based on the idea that the central feature
separating humans from primates is intelligence. Therefore, it came
as a surprise when, in the 1970s, anthropologists found bone fossils
of a small-brained, apelike species that walked upright on two feet
and that lived over three million years ago. These findings prompted
the development of a new theory of human development: our ancestors
walked on two feet before they developed large brains. In this first
episode of a three-part series, anthropologist Donald Johanson and
his team demonstrate how they collect and analyze fossil evidence,
and how they are attempting to answer the questions raised by their
new theory.
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