LONDON — Believing the first 11 chapters of the Bible to be real history and that all things were created in six days was a lot easier in 1859 than it is today.
Although Charles Darwin did not specifically address the subject of human evolution in “The Origin of Species,” which he published in that year, the implications of his evolutionary theory were clear to contemporary readers.
Discoveries in the Great Rift Valley have provided the richest tangible evidence to date that human beings evolved from great apes. The valley runs north and south for about 3,100 miles. An environment favorable for the preservation of remains was created by the erosion of the surrounding highlands, filling the valley with sediment.
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Hominids are members of the biological family Hominidae — the great apes — which includes humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. The numerous hominid fossils found in the valley have helped scientists piece together the various stages that resulted in Homo sapiens diverging from chimpanzees about 5 million years ago and from gorillas about 8 million years ago.
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