Ancestral Lines. Evolutionary biologists use a cladogram, the treelike diagram of evolutionary branches or clades, to organize species into lines of evolutionary descent across time.
Biologists use three types of evidence to deduce evolutionary connections: genetics, morphology, and geologic dating. (Behavior, normally a key part of evolutionary studies, can only be inferred in extinct species — for example, by examining the ecology in which the species flourished and the species adaptations for eating and locomotion.) Analyses of primate fossils and the genetic relatedness of living primates converge to the conclusion that humans and chimpanzees branched from a common ancestor about 7 million years ago. Interactive Documentary.
Human Culture: Characteristics of Culture. In order to better understand culture, it is useful to closely examine its characteristics and their ramifications.
In this section of the tutorial, you will learn about the specific advantages that culture gives our species. You will also learn about culture's limitations and shortcomings. Ancestry5_large.jpg (Image JPEG, 3000x1536 pixels) - Redimensionnée (51%) World-resources-map-r2.gif (Image GIF, 1450x1450 pixels) 7 Billion: How did we get so big so fast? [VIDEO] Worldclock.swf (Objet application/x-shockwave-flash)