descent of man
Evolution of humanity
The descent of man refers to humanity's evolutionary origins from earlier primates—the idea that humans share common ancestors with apes rather than appearing through special creation.
The phrase gained currency from Darwin's 1871 book of that title, which extended his theory of natural selection to human evolution.
It now appears in discussions of evolutionary biology, anthropology, and debates between science and creationism: The descent of man remains controversial in some religious communities.
- evolutionSpecies changing over generations
- human evolutionOur species' biological origin
- DarwinBritish naturalist, species theorist
- ancestryFamily line of descent
- originStarting point or source
common ancestor · ape · primate · species · lineage · hominid · fossil · natural selection · survival · adaptation · Galapagos · skull · bone · upright · bipedal · migration · Africa · cave painting
- Biology HistoryDarwin, Mendel, evolution, natural selection, cell theory
- origins debatecreationism, evolution, intelligent design, creation science, Darwinism
descent of mancreationism
Divine origin doctrine
divine creation · special creation · intelligent design · creation science · Adam and Eve
descent, descend, descends, descended, descending, descendant, descendants, manhood, mankind