Human[1] Temporal range: 0.1950Ma Middle Pleistocene Recent Adult human male (left) and female (right) from Southeast Asia Conservation status Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Primates Family: Hominidae Tribe: Hominini Genus: Homo Species: H. sapiens Binomial name Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Subspecies
Homo sapiens idaltu White et al., 2003 Homo sapiens sapiens
Modern humans (Homo sapiens or Homo sapiens sapiens) are the only extant members of the hominin clade, a branch of great apes characterized by erect posture and bipedal locomotion; manual dexterity and increased tool use; and a general trend toward larger, more complex brains and societies.[3][4] Early hominids, such as the australopithecines whose brains and anatomy are in many ways more similar to non-human apes, are less often thought of or referred to as "human" than hominids of the genus Homo,[5] some of whom used fire, occupied much of Eurasia, and gave rise to [6][7]anatomically modern Homo sapiens in Africa about 200,000 years ago where they began to exhibit evidence of behavioral modernity around 50,000 years ago and migrated out in successive waves to occupy[8] all but the smallest, driest, and coldest lands. In the last 100 years, this has extended to permanently manned bases in Antarctica, on offshore platforms, and orbiting the Earth. The spread of humans and their large and increasing population has had a destructive impact on large areas of the environment and millions of native species worldwide. Advantages that explain this evolutionary success include a relatively larger brain with a particularly well-developed neocortex, prefrontal cortex and temporal lobes, which enable high levels of abstract reasoning, language, problem solving, sociality, and culture through social learning. Humans use tools to a much higher degree than any other animal, are the only extant species known to build fires and cook their food, as well as the only extant species to clothe themselves and create and use numerous other technologies and arts.
Humans are uniquely adept at utilizing systems of symbolic communication such as language and art for self-expression, the exchange of ideas, and organization. Humans create complex social structures composed of many cooperating and competing groups, from families and kinship networks to states. Social interactions between humans have established an extremely wide variety of values,[9]social norms, and rituals, which together form the basis of human society. The human desire to understand and influence their environment, and explain and manipulate phenomena, has been the foundation for the development of science, philosophy, mythology, and religion. The scientific study of humans is the discipline of anthropology.
Humans began to practice sedentary agriculture about 12,000 years ago, domesticating plants and animals, thus allowing for the growth of civilization. Humans subsequently established various forms of government, religion, and culture around the world, unifying people within a region and leading to the development of states and empires. The rapid advancement of scientific and medical understanding in the 19th and 20th centuries led to the development of fuel-driven technologies and improved health, causing the human population to rise exponentially. By 2014 the global human population was estimated to be around 7.2 billion.[10][11]
In common usage, the word "human" generally refers to the only extant species of the genus Homo anatomically and behaviorally modern Homo sapiens. Its usage often designates differences between the species as a whole and any other nature or entity.
In scientific terms, the definition of "human" has changed with the discovery and study of the fossil ancestors of modern humans. The previously clear boundary between human and ape blurred, resulting in "Homo" referring to "human" now encompassing multiple species. There is also a distinction between anatomically modern humans and Archaic Homo sapiens, the earliest fossil members of the species, which are classified as a subspecies of Homo sapiens, e.g. Homo sapiens neanderthalensis.
The English adjective human is a Middle English loanword from Old French humain, ultimately from Latin hmnus, the adjective form of hom "man". The word's use as a noun (with a plural: humans) dates to the 16th century.[12] The native English term man can refer to the species generally (a synonym for humanity), and could formerly refer to specific individuals of either sex, though this latter use is now obsolete.[13] Generic uses of the term "man" are declining, in favor of reserving it for referring specifically to adult males. The word is from Proto-Germanic mannaz, from a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root man-.
The species binomial Homo sapiens was coined by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th century work Systema Naturae, and he himself is the lectotype specimen.[14] The generic name Homo is a learned 18th century derivation from Latin hom "man", ultimately "earthly being" (Old Latin hem, a cognate to Old English guma "man", from PIE demon-, meaning "earth" or "ground").[15] The species-name sapiens means "wise" or "sapient". Note that the Latin word homo refers to humans of either gender, and that sapiens is the singular form (while there is no word sapien).
The genus Homo diverged from other hominins in Africa, after the human clade split from the chimpanzee lineage of the hominids (great ape) branch of the primates. Modern humans, defined as the species Homo sapiens or specifically to the single extant subspecies Homo sapiens sapiens, proceeded to colonize all the continents and larger islands, arriving in Eurasia 125,00060,000 years ago,[16][17]Australia around 40,000 years ago, the Americas around 15,000 years ago, and remote islands such as Hawaii, Easter Island, Madagascar, and New Zealand between the years 300 and 1280.[18][19]
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