Africa The Cradle of Civilization the Birthplace of Humanity
... It is the cradle of civilization, the birthplace of humanity-it is Africa. Most can agree that bipedalism began in Africa, however, the questions of when, how, and why it occurred perplexes the minds of many. ... She argues that, “Global climatic forcing of speciation rhythms has been of major importance to the diversification of mammals on the huge continental landmass of Africa in the Neogene” (Vrba, 229). ... About eight million years ago, a tectonic crisis arose in what is now Africa. The convergence of a continental plate and an oceanic plate created a rift valley in Africa. ... Around the same time, the hominid families of Hominidae and Panidae were developing is the areas of east Africa. ... Archeological findings show that they had shared a common ancestor not very far back in time, geologically speaking, but Hominidae fossils were found to exist roughly seven or eight million years ago in east Africa whereas Panidae, at the same time, were not. “Before Hominidae and Panidae had separated, the rift valley did not constitute an irregularity sufficient to divide equatorial Africa (Coppens, 91). Africa consisted of one homogenous structure until the rift valley crisis. ... 4 million years ago, that the whole earth cooled and that eastern Africa became dry” (Coppens, 93). ... Along with a large brain came curiosity and for the first time in the history of hominids, humanity spread from its origin(Coppens, 95). At the same time as the rift valley was forming in east Africa producing a drier climate, weather patterns were shifting to bring less rain and warmer temperatures to the area. ... This continued to dry out the region, allowing grasses to accumulate and warding off luscious vegetation previously found in east Africa.