Paleoanthropology Today, Essay Example

What are seven of the major uncertainties, debates, or controversies in palaeoanthropology today?

One of the most significant debates includes the assignment of a particular genus or species to a particular assemblage of human remains since there is an assumption that there is considerable variability in genre and species for the past million years hence few taxonomic categories (79). Another debate involves linking various populations where there is an assumption that one population of Australopithecus species evolved into the first member of the genus homo. There is also debate on the variability of population DNA, especially in the debate why most living people contain only DNA discovered in the neandertal population. Further debates concern a lack of consensus on what defines particular genera and species since no ultimate authority can decide these criteria of placing these species (79). There is a debate on which genus was the first hominin, though most biological anthropologists accept Sahelanthropus (week 9). Also, there is debate on which species was ancestral to Homo georgicus or why they went extinct. Similarly, there is a consensus that Homo erectus/ergaster is ancestral to Homo sapiens. That means we are all descended in some way from Homo erectus (week 9)