Why choose Africa?

[rov1200]

The very first humans appeared in Africa before spreading out to the rest of the world. What is the logical reason for using Africa as the starting point?

[boxtops]

Everywhere north and south was under sheets of ice?

[rov1200]

Nothing to do with Chimps or apes then?

[boxtops]

depends if Darwinism is your preferred theory.. but they still need somewhere to live, not icy.

[Count-A-Strong]

If man descended from Apes, why are they still here. I think you need to educate yourself rov. The conditions fom mankind to develop were obviously just right.

[WaldoMcFroog]

The short answer is that the Homo genus (of which we humans are a part) arose in Africa simply because that's where our ancestor species happened to be.

The Homo genus diverged from other hominids roughly 2.5 million years ago, but it wasn't until about 250,000 years ago that the first Homo sapiens evolved. About 70,000 years ago, Homo sapiens started to move out of Africa into other areas.

[wildwood]

Because Men evolved from the same African apelike branch as the Chimpanzees and Gorillas did. Africa was not chosen, it just happened there.

[chakka35]

The starting point of what, rov1200? Life started and existed in various forms throughout the world long before humans evolved. What is so special about the emergence of humans that we should give their place of origin such importance?

You might as well ask what the logical reason is for using Malvasia as the starting point for the species wellinever. (Both fictitious, but you see what I mean.)

[naomi24]

I don't understand your use of the words 'choose' or 'using' in this context. Your question implies deliberate design rather than evolution, so I'm not sure what you're getting at or where your question is intended to lead.

[123everton]

I think the question is why Africa and not China or Cardiff for instance.
The question is about the foundation of the theory, I'm happy to be corrected by Rov if I'm wrong

[naomi24]

I know what the question asks but I can't see why rov appears to think that a specific geographical location was 'chosen'.

[rov1200]

Right Everton. If there was a creator why choose Africa as a starting point.. If it was evolution what other local species did they evolve from. A neutral observer might choose the latter knowing the high incidence of the ape population.

[joggerjayne]

Africa is God's laboratory.

He does his experiments there.

He tried his hand (sorry, I mean "His" hand, of course) at making humans.

Now he's trying out all his latest inventions on people in Africa ...

... drought, famine, starvation, disease, strife, civil war, AIDS, malaria, yellow fever, scarlet fever, ebola ... things like that.

He's a bit of a git, actually.

[WaldoMcFroog]

"If there was a creator why choose Africa as a starting point."

Of course, if one is a Bible literalist, the first humans were created somewhere in a region bounded by four rivers (Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, Euphrates), and of the two we're sure about, they ain't in Africa...

If you're not a literalist, you're likely to accept the evidence from mitochondrial DNA that Homo Sapiens did indeed arise in Africa.

"If it was evolution what other local species did they evolve from. A neutral observer might choose the latter knowing the high incidence of the ape population."

As above, the best reason for thinking humans arose in Africa is that the DNA evidence shows that it did. Modern Apes and humans evolved from a common ancestor; we split off between 5-10 million years ago, and it would almost certainly be an ape-like creature itself, but we do not have and do not ever expect to have a conclusive answer to what this species looked like. Not only is fossilisation a rare event in the first place, but unless you can extract DNA, you cannot definitely say that there is an ancestral connection to the modern species. What you can say is that you have a species that appears in a rock strata that predates the modern species and has features that appear in both the later species. Nakalipithecus nakayamai is a hominid fossil from the Late Miocene that could be a candidate for our common ancestor.

[mollykins]

There may have been apes of somekind almost all over the world but they died out everywhere else or couldn't even populate anywhere but Africa. So they could only evolve in Africa.

[chakka35]

Excellent answer by Waldo. Says it all.

[brionon]

Yeah I've often wondered why the Eucalyptus chose Australia.

[boxtops]

..and Koala Bears, too.