Was There Another Civilization Before Us

Bright Side

Ah, the age-old question: was there another civilization before us? Some folks delve into ancient mysteries, pointing at curious structures and artifacts, wondering if a super-secret ancient society left their mark. Archaeologists, though, rely on evidence, and so far, there's no concrete proof of a prehistoric advanced civilization. While we've got wonders like the pyramids and Stonehenge, attributing them to ancient ingenuity is the consensus. It's a cosmic mystery waiting for more clues! ️‍♂️  Credit:  CC BY 2.5 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Darwinius radiographs: Jens L. Franzen, Philip D. Gingerich, Jörg Habersetzer1, Jørn H. Hurum, Wighart von Koenigswald, B. Holly Smith, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...  Darwiniusfig: Bogdan Bocianowski, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...  Papio hamadryas: Manuel González Olaechea y Franco, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...  Homme de Tautavel: Gerbil, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...  H. habilis: John Hawks, Marina Elliott, Peter Schmid, Steven E. Churchill, Darryl J. de Ruiter, Eric M. Roberts, Hannah Hilbert-Wolf, Heather M. Garvin, Scott A. Williams, Lucas K. Delezene, Elen M. Feuerriegel, Patrick Randolph-Quinney, Tracy L. Kivell, Myra F. Laird, Gaokgatlhe Tawane, Jeremy M. DeSilva, Shara E. Bailey, Juliet K. Brophy, Marc R. Meyer, Matthew M. Skinner, Matthew W. Tocheri, Caroline VanSickle, Christopher S. Walker, Timothy L. Campbell, Brian Kuhn, Ashley Kruger, Steven Tucker, Alia Gurtov, Nompumelelo Hlophe, Rick Hunter, Hannah Morris, Becca Peixotto, Maropeng Ramalepa, Dirk van Rooyen, Mathabela Tsikoane, Pedro Boshoff, Paul H.G.M. Dirks, Lee R. Berger, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...  Purgatorius PNAS: Patrick Lynch/Yale University - http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/..., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pu...  evrimagaci / Reddit  Animation is created by Bright Side.  #brightside  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD...   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook:     / brightside    Instagram:     / brightside.official   TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.of...   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me

Transcript

00:00 At some point in its long and very interesting history, our dear planet Earth was sort of snoozing, just doing its planetary thing, spinning around the sun, and then...

00:11 Bam! Life starts getting fancy. Plants and animals start strutting their stuff, showing off their complexity.

00:18 Fast forward a bit, about 65 million years ago to be exact, and a cosmic disaster strikes.

00:26 Or at least that's what we presume. An asteroid probably smashed into Earth, wiping out the dinosaurs and other big animals.

00:34 We can't pinpoint specifics about the asteroid. But we do know that it was extremely large and it crashed into our precious planet, creating a dusty mess that settled everywhere.

00:46 You can still find remnants of that dust layer in sedimentary rocks today. If you dig beneath it, you'll uncover a whole bunch of fossils.

00:55 These prehistoric creatures were living it up before the asteroid crashed the party.

01:00 Think of it as the planet going on a cleaning spree, leaving a bunch of empty spaces waiting to be filled.

01:06 And guess who took the opportunity? Mammals! These furry little critters were the ones to rise to fame.

01:14 But why is it that this disaster became such a great opportunity for mammals?

01:19 It's pretty simple, actually. With no big bullies around, they grew, multiplied, and had a population expanse.

01:26 All kinds of mammals joined to fill in the blanks. Primates, rodents basically, the whole furry gang.

01:34 We're talking about placental mammals, marsupials, and even egg-laying mammals, adding some serious variety to the mix.

01:41 We like to think of primates as our closest relatives here on Earth. What's their story?

01:47 Well, around 63 million years ago, just a couple of million years after the dinosaurs' final dance, the primates decided it was time for a family reunion.

01:58 They split into two groups, the dry-nosed primates, who became the cool monkeys and apes we know today,

02:04 and the wet-nosed primates, who went off to become lemurs and aye-ayes, hey-heys.

02:10 The fun didn't stop there. About 58 million years ago, the dry-nosed primates began their own little mission.

02:18 One special guest called the tarsier, Tarsier, arrived on the scene, featuring big eyes that were perfect for late-night shenanigans.

02:28 This tarsier took a different path from its primate relatives, embracing its unique niche and evolving separately.

02:35 To this day, the tarsier is the only primate that feeds exclusively on meat.

02:40 These little guys have a taste for insects, small birds, rodents, and even lizards.

02:46 But that's not all that makes them unique. Their eyes are twice the size of their brains.

02:51 Also, their heads can do a full 180-degree spin, just like an owl.

02:57 Because of their features, the tarsiers are the true kings and queens of the night.

03:03 With their superpower of ultrasonic tracking, they can spot their prey instantly.

03:09 Plus, their legs and feet are like springs ready to launch them into action.

03:14 They've got this special ankle bone called the tarsus, which gives them those epic leaping skills.

03:20 Hence the name, if you were wondering.

03:24 But let's leave these little critters to rest and get back to our story, shall we?

03:29 About 55 million years ago, the Earth cranked up the heat, literally.

03:34 This sudden hot pod was a bit too much for many deep ocean dwellers and plants to handle, and they bid their farewells.

03:41 But hey, every goodbye is an opportunity for something new, right?

03:45 The oceanic mammals known as cetaceans, suetaceans, saw their chance and took it.

03:51 They splashed into those empty niches, becoming the rulers of the sea.

03:56 In this category of creatures, you can find the blue whale and the dolphin.

04:01 A special primate guest made an appearance around 47 million years ago.

04:06 Scientists now affectionately call the fossil of such a creature "Ida".

04:11 This little wonder caused quite a stir, initially hailed as the missing link in human evolution.

04:18 But here's the hilarious part. It turned out Ida was not one of us dry-nosed primates, but a cheeky wet-nosed one.

04:25 Moving forward to 40 million years ago, this is when another big event happened in the primate world.

04:32 The New World monkeys, our distant cousins, decided to take a different path and branch off from our lineage of Old World monkeys.

04:42 They packed their bags and set off to conquer South America, where they're still living it up today.

04:49 What's the difference between the two, you might ask?

04:54 Well, one crucial thing that sets them apart is the fact that the Old World monkeys had nostrils that pointed downwards.

05:02 Around 25 million years ago, another troop of apes entered the scene, and these guys had something special - the lack of a tail.

05:12 These unique creatures would go on to become our closest relatives.

05:16 We're talking apes and great apes, the cool gang who share a whole lot of genetic similarities with us.

05:22 The first ape to break free from the monkey madness was the gibbon.

05:26 About 18 million years ago is when this little acrobat swung into the picture.

05:32 A few million years later, the great apes made their grand entrance too.

05:38 Orangutans were the pioneers venturing into the wilds of Southern Asia.

05:42 We're getting closer and closer to the present.

05:45 It was 7 million years ago when the great apes took a major fork in the evolutionary road.

05:50 One path led to our ancestors, the future Homo sapiens, and the other path led to chimpanzees and bonobos.

05:58 These two primate branches remained united for a few million years before finally going their separate ways.

06:04 5.6 million years ago, a game-changing ape called Ardipithecus made its way into our evolutionary history.

06:14 It had a special talent - bipedalism.

06:17 That's right, this was one of the first apes to walk on two feet, probably making its primate buddies raise an eyebrow or two.

06:24 The real showstoppers, however, arrived around 4 million years ago - the Australopithecus crew.

06:31 These were the earliest members of the Hominina Homme Inina sub-tribe - our tribe.

06:36 What made them so special?

06:38 Well, probably the fact that they brought some serious tools to the game.

06:42 Stone tools, to be precise.

06:45 It seems that at some point in their evolution, these clever primates started using stones to make their lives easier.

06:53 Now here comes a crucial turning point in our story.

06:56 About 2 million years ago, our ancestors faced a food shortage.

07:01 Survival of the fittest was the name of the game, and two strategies emerged.

07:06 Group 1 went for stronger jaws, allowing them to chomp on tough foods like nuts.

07:11 Group 2 had a different idea - they opted for weaker jaws, but bigger brains.

07:16 They wanted access to a wider range of food options.

07:20 Obviously, the bigger-brained group took the prize.

07:23 And here's where our gang comes into play.

07:26 Around 2.5 million years ago, a type of primate also known as Handyman made its mark on history.

07:34 These clever beings had larger brains and knew how to put those neurons to good use.

07:40 About 1.9 million years ago, a new star emerged - Homo erectus.

07:46 These creatures not only walked upright, but also had brains that were almost twice the size of the Handyman's.

07:53 They took the world by surprise, becoming the first of our direct ancestors to venture out of the African continent.

08:00 They even knew how to tame fire!

08:02 Approximately 700,000 years ago, the world witnessed a culinary revolution.

08:08 The earliest evidence of cooking appeared.

08:11 And around 500,000 years ago, our ancestors decided it was time to become a bit more fashionable,

08:18 donning the first evidence of clothing.

08:21 Our very own species came to be just 300,000 years ago.

08:25 Told you we were late to the party.

08:28 But the world was never the same after the appearance of Homo sapiens, the anatomically modern humans.

08:36 Alongside our other relatives, we emerged, ready to conquer the world with our innovative minds and complex societies.

08:44 The exact path of our evolution remains a bit of a mystery.

08:48 But what we do know for sure is that Neanderthals joined the party around at some point too.

08:54 As Homo sapiens flourished, so did our capacity for language.

08:59 Modern speech is believed to have emerged almost hand in hand with our species.

09:04 We started expressing ourselves, sharing stories and shaping the world with our words.

09:10 So, there you have it.

09:13 It took 13.8 billion years of cosmic history for humans to make their entrance.

09:18 Think about it.

09:20 99.998% of the time since the Big Bang, we weren't even around.

09:27 Our species, Homo sapiens, is the toddler of the Earth's family, existing for just the tiniest fraction of the universe's timeline.

09:37 Yet, in this blink of an eye, we've managed to unravel the entire story that led to our existence.

09:44 The story won't end with us.

09:46 It's an ongoing saga, still being written with every passing moment.

09:50 That's it for today.

09:51 So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.

09:56 Or, if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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