Question

Which of the following statements on human evolution is true?

A)Modern humans arose in Africa around 2 million years ago.

B)	Modern humans arose in Africa around 200,000 years ago.

C)	Humans share the most recent common ancestor with gorillas.

D)	Modern humans arose in Asia about 200,000 years ago.

Answer 1

Option B is the correct answer.

During a time of dramatic climate change 200,000 years ago, Homo sapiens evolved in Africa. Like other early humans that were living at this time, they gathered and hunted food, and evolved behaviors that helped them respond to the challenges of survival in unstable environments. Homo sapiens, has a very close relationship to another group of primate species, the apes. Humans and the great apes (large apes) of Africa -- chimpanzees (including bonobos, or so-called “pygmy chimpanzees”) and gorillas -- share a common ancestor that lived between 8 and 6 million years ago. Humans first evolved in Africa, and much of human evolution occurred on that continent.