The Politics of Evolution

Abstract

Our standard view of evolution today is to an extent coloured by cultural norms, the ubiquity of the first image above means it is often the first thing many people will think of when they hear the word evolution. The reality of human evolution is, however, far closer to the tree like structure in the second image with it's many offshoots. The fact that only one species of human exists today is actually the exception rather than the norm and for much of our evolutionary history multiple hominid species co-existed.