SUNDAY NIGHT SLIDES
Sometime between 5 and 10 million years ago, our collective primate DNA split into two, through an evolutionary process called speciation: when a genetic difference is significant enough to form an entirely new species.
Members of the first group were the earlier versions of Great Apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans) who were roaming Earth for around 15 million years before the genetic split. Up until this day, they haven't really evolved as their habitats are largely the same and they haven't explored much; still living along the equator, continuing to move around on four legs, living an arboreal lifestyle under the shade of the trees with lighter skin colour and consuming an omnivore diet.
The second group developed to become terrestrial; meaning they lived on land, not in trees, from moving around as quadrupeds to bipeds on their back legs, with the size of their brains significantly increasing to nearly double that of the other group.
Over millions of years and through multiple evolutions since then, the modern human developed and the earliest fossils of our human race have dated back to ~200,000 years ago.
Exclusively in Africa.
Whilst humans evolved, mainly near the equator in blisteringly hot climates due to transportation restraints, their skin naturally adapted to permanently produce more melanin (a natural skin pigment) better protecting against the strong UV rays of the equatorial sun.
And as the Earth rotates on an axial tilt, fewer UV rays reach places further away from the equator and those UV rays are critically important for synthesizing Vitamin D in the body, therefore the lighter skin that absorbs more easily later evolved in those further environments.
As one human race, it's our genetically shared resilience that has enabled us to adapt to our explored environments and produce a richly diverse population that inhabits all four corners of Earth.
Equal reflections of her beauty.
We're all in this together.
Love for the originals.
FINAL THOUGHTS 💭
In memory of Josh Taylor ❤️