In the thirty-four million years between the time of the Old World anthropoid Aegygptopithecus, and the appearance of Homo Erectus, our primate predecessors went through a world of change. The fossil, climatic, and archaeological evidence available to us allows us to examine how individual characteristics, both physical and cultural, allowed these creatures to respond and adapt to a changing environment. These characteristics did not develop simultaneously, but as part of a process of mosaic evolution - separate traits and behaviors developed at different times for different reasons. To understand how our ancestors came to be, we must examine how and why these separate characteristics evolved over time.…
