As a group we believe that all of the organisms in our phylogenetic tree are connected to each other somehow. Therefore, as a result we came up with the following mind map. In the mind map that we created, showed a great format explaining information and attributes of each species, Gorilla, Chimpanzees, Homo Sapiens (Humans), Homo Erectus, Homo Neanderthalensis, Paranthropus Boisei, Australopithecus Afarensis, Astralopithecus Africanus, Sahelanthropus Tchadensis. Attributes involved were the habitats (live), what time period they lived in, what caused them to go EXTINCT (if they did), brain size, hand shape, overall body size, how they communicated, and how they traveled.
We believe that Paranthrophus Boisei and Chimpanzees evolved from Australopithecus Africanus because of the characteristics that they share and don't share. According to http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils, it stated that Paranthropus share similar limb structures as Astrolopithecus Africanus that explain that they walked bipedally and adapted to climbing (paraphrased quote). Not only did they share similar limb structures but foot, shoulder and hand bones. With these features, my group and I inferred that if they had similar bone structures and their purposes, it was logical to make the statement that Paranthropus boisei evolved from Australopithecus Africanus.
We believe that Homo Erectus evolved from Paranthropus Boisei because of similar and different features that they share such as how they travel. Both organisms move from place to place by walking on two legs (bipedal) such as homo neanderthalensis and homo sapiens. Their periods are quite near to one another, homo Erectus was followed by Paranthropus boisei. According to, http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/paranthropus-boisei, Paranthrihropus boisei lived around 2.3 to 1.2 billion years ago and Homo erectus lived around 1.9 to 00,00 years ago (paraphrased quote). With this data we can infer that they were present in each other's periods, supporting our argument that homo Erectus evolved from Paranthropus boisei.
We believe that Australopithecus Africanus evolved from Australopithecus Afarensis because of the attributes that they might share and differ from. As stated in http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/australopithecus-africanus "Au. Africanus was anatomically similar to Au. afarensis, with a combination of human-like and ape-like features." With this information gathered, it clearly states that they share quite the same features anatomically such as foot, hand and limb bones. From this, we can infer that Australopithecus Africanus evolved from Astralithecus Afarensis. Besides, they both have an average brain size of almost 1/3 of a human brain which is within the ranges of 380-450 cubic centimeters.
We believe that Homo Neanderthalensis evolved from Homo Erectus because of certain attributes that are alike and unlike in both organisms such as a similar diet. Both organisms ate meat, berries, vegetables, and nuts. Their overall height was quite similar at around 5 ft and 5.4 ft. They both walked upright and walked two legs. Unlike other organisms, they did not swing from branch to branch instead adapted the skill of walking with two feet (bipedal). According to https://www.livescience.com/41048-facts-about-homo-erectus.html, it stated that homo Erectus were able to adapt to walking using their two feet (paraphrased quote).
We believe that Australopithecus Afarensis and Gorillas evolved from Sahelanthropus Tchadensis because of the different and similar features that all three species share such as, the way they walked. For example in http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/sahelanthropus-tchadensis it said that they walked upright and also climbed on trees. It said that since they walked upright it helped them survive in diverse land such as grasslands and forests. We only have the cranial material from them but so far that little piece shows us they have a combination of human and ape features.
We believe that humans evolved from Homo Neanderthalensis because of certain factors that they might share and differ from. First off, humans and homo neanderthalensis are quite similar in appearance, angled cheekbones, prominent (popped out) brow ridges and widened noses. Both organisms traveled from places to places with an upright position using two legs (bipedal). They also have almost similar brain size at around 1200 to 1400 cubic centimeters.Besides, their average overall height that varies around 5.2 ft to 5.6 ft. Although homo neanderthalensis were hunting gatherers meaning that they hunted for their food, unlike us humans, we are able to use our own intelligence and sources to get our foods.According to https://www.britannica.com/topic/Neanderthal, it states that they emerged 200,000 years ago which is not so long ago. (paraphrased quote)