Evloution Question?

Question

What happened about 8 to 5 million years ago in Africa that may have led to the development of many different species of hominids?

this is NOT a religious fight, just a science project that im forced to do. Thanks!

Answer 1

Climate change forcing the hominid population to spread out into different areas, allowing genetic drift and local pressures to produce a radiative effect on development of new species.

Answer 2

The conditions probably just happened to be exactly right, coupled with the existence of the right kind of primates.  To the best of my knowledge, there were few primate species outside Africa at that time.

Answer 3

the stratigraphy and fossil records seem to indicate a massive deforestation. the pre-human, pre-chimapanzee ancestor was forced to spend more time on the ground, searching for food or just moving from one stand of trees to another. moving across grasslands made walking upright a good adaptation in order to view predators walking on all fours. this freed the hands and when the hands were freed, the mind followed. i say again, free hands led to a freer mind, (a hard-wired to an open-ended mentality).  it's counter-intuitive, but so many true things are. (yes, of course, this is my opinion). language developed to a greater degree because as a form of communication, it radiates out in a 360 degree radius and is almost instantaneous within earshot. the pre-human ancestor opted to spend more time on the ground. the pre-chimpanzee ancestor opted to spend more time in the trees. that's how the family separated into two distinct species.

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Answer 4

natural selection,

Answer 5

http://www.indiana.edu/~origins/

Might be a stepping stone. If that doesn't help just google "evolution from africa"