Photo Credit: BBCNews
The evolution of humans (Homo Sapiens) has a long history, which seems to have continued to this day.
The progression of humans since the start of our roots has been a result of adapting to our environment. The ability to change over time and overcome uncontrollable obstacles has always been key to our survival. “Adaptability is, I think, really the crucial hallmark of our species,” said Rick Potts, who is a paleoanthropologist for the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History according to National Geographic.
A discovery was made by scientists proving how humans are still evolving. There have been cases of an extra artery being present in the body, its purpose is to carry oxygen directly from the heart to the tissues and it’s located in the forearms. This artery has been noticed before, however it would deteriorate by the first trimester of pregnancy or at most, two months after birth. The study from the University of Adelaide in Australia and Flinders University indicated how some people have been surpassing the 2-month stage and continue to have the extra artery as they grow.
The artery “is a perfect example of how we’re still evolving because people born more recently have a higher prevalence of this artery when compared to humans from previous generations,” said Dr. Maciej Henneberg according to The Science Times.
Also, a study in 2015 from the Journal of Dental Research documents that “the complete disappearance of third molars in some cases may indeed be an example of recent evolution, in which people lacking wisdom teeth didn’t face dental crowding issues and weren’t at a chewing disadvantage because their diets had softened,” stated in a Discover Magazine according to LI Intelligencer. Wisdom teeth developed because it helps chew harder foods. This could be connected to when humans lived in the wild, however, since our way of living and eating has changed, the wisdom teeth that grow don’t have enough space to comfortably fit. Over time our jaws have become smaller because we eat softer foods, resulting in our bodies adapting by no longer producing wisdom teeth, according to Mental Floss.
Evidence of continuing evolution for homo sapiens will not cease, but as humans stay dominant over the environment then the less our bodies need to adapt and only microevolutions may occur.
