Human

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here are two humans.
A man is on the left and a woman is on the right. This drawing was put on the Pioneer 11 spacecraft to show beings outside the Sol system who they are.

A human or human being is a person. An adult male human is a man, an adult female human is a woman, male human child is a boy, a female human child is a girl. All the humans in the whole world as a group are called humanity, man or mankind to mean all humans. The scientific name is Homo sapiens sapiens, or in English "Wise Wise Man".

[edit] Humans are primates

Humans are an animal species that belongs to the group called primates. Monkeys are primates too, but the primates most like humans are other apes like gorillas and chimpanzees. Millions of years ago, there were animals that looked a little bit like humans and a little bit like chimpanzees. Those animals are extinct, but both humans and chimpanzees evolved from them.

There are many ways in which humans are like other primates. Their bodies have similar shapes. They live in societies. They learn from their parents and teach their children. There are many ways in which humans are different. They have less hair, and they wear clothing. They speak complex languages and tell stories. They read and write, and they do mathematics and science. They have religions and philosophy.

The human species is called Homo sapiens sapiens by biologists. Before today's human species, there were other hominids or human-like animals. The neanderthals were hominids. They looked very much like humans, but shorter, broader and with sloping foreheads. They had culture, and many scientists believe they had religion because they buried their dead.

Evolution is a scientific theory of how animals, including humans, became what they are today. Some people do not think that this theory is true. For example, some people believe in creationism instead of evolution.