Number of human species in existence

Before 70000 years ago there were a number of human species in existence. By around 35000 years ago we were the last human species. The big question is why did our species survive and not the other humans. What might have given us the edge? One of the biggest differences between ourselves and the other human species has to do with the cultural material that has been left behind in the archaeological record. The most characteristic elements that makes Homo sapiens artifacts different from other species has to do with their symbolic nature and the size of their sites. From their archaeological sites it possible to see that Homo sapiens lived in larger groups compared to Neanderthals Denisovans or Homo floresiensis. In fact its possible to say that our species is the only Human species that has been able to live in a large group. The big question then becomes what allowed us to be able to live in large groups in the first place… especially because it requires cooperation with kin and with friends. The other thing that we see is that our archaeological record becomes filled with cultural artifact that are not just functional but are also abstract in nature. For example in the archaeological record we see that all humans were creating stone blades. Whats different about Homo sapiens is that we are not just creating stone blades like the other humans rather we begin to decorate our stone blades with pigments. Creating art and other symbolic creations dont seem like a big deal unless you compare ourselves to other species and then realize that we are the only ones that consistently create abstract innovations. Your task will be to explore the importance of language and prosocial behaviors in our evolution. View both of the following TED talks so that you can answer the discussion questions. Click on the “Gear icon” located in the top right-hand corner and then click on “Show Rubric” to view the grading requirements for this discussion.

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According to Yuval Noah Harari how does Homo sapiens cooperation differ from other social animals. How might it had given our species an advantage. Mark Pagel explains in his talk that language can allow us to build on the wisdom of others. How might this idea help us explain why Homo sapiens cultural innovations improved over time. Respond to another student post. Make sure you give citations. Please keep your answer to only what is asked in the assignment. I recommend composing your content offline in a text editor and then copy and paste the text into your reply post. If something happens you will have an offline copy of all of your hard work! I highly recommend using Google Docs (Drive) to compose offline as Google plays well with web-based forums. If you are using Microsoft Word to compose offline you may need to do some editing to the format when you paste it into the reply. According to Yuval Noah Harari how does Homo sapiens cooperation differ from other social animals. How might it had given our species an advantage.Mark Pagel explains in his talk that language can allow us to build on the wisdom of others. How might this idea help us explain why Homo sapiens cultural innovations improved over time.Respond to another student post.Make sure you give citations.