If we evolved from single celled organisms, why did we not retain the ability to survive extreme temperatures?

Question

I mean, extreme temperatures existed long into man's existance. Yet we still had to wear clothes. The oldest human found was wearing clothes. Humans have died in extreme temperatures even as far back as then. Maybe this is a stupid question, but what are your thoughts?

Answer 1

It is true that there are bacteria that can exist at very high temperatures, beyond the boiling point of water, but many single cell creatures, ie protozoans have similar ranges of temperature that they can exist in as we do. It is also likely that earlier hominids were much more hairier then ourselves. Perhaps our lack of hair is an evolutionary adaption to wearing clothes. By studying the mutational changes in mitochondrial DNA it has been determined that all modern human beings alive on the Earth today originated in Africa less then a 100, 000 years ago. There were other Hominids outside of Africa before this time but they all died out. Perhaps the climate of Africa they evolved in precluded the need for clothes. Also your statement that the earliest human found was wearing clothes is not correct. The earliest bone human fossils we have are just bone fragments.

Answer 2

Not all single cell organisms can survive temperature extremes. You may be refering to the extreme "thermophiles" that have been found in deep sea vents where the temperatures are above 100C. Most biochemistry occures between 0 and 50C. The key word is evolve. Organisms that can survive extreme temperatures were not the baseline. A niche was found and the enzymatics mutations over time allowed these organisms to adapt to these conditions.
As far as man's existance, temperate environments (10-40C)have been the primary condition in which life has existed for perhaps the last billion years or so since eukaryotic organisms developed. The reason, again, is that, proteins, as we commonly know them, function primarily within this temperature range. The reason that this temperature is predominant is due to the particular distance we are from the sun.
Hope that helps.
Hope that helps

Answer 3

We didn't RETAIN the ability to surive extreme temperatures because we never HAD that ability. There are certain types of single-celled organisms that can survive in extreme environments, but it's important to remember that these organisms have been evolving just as long as we have. Humans and thermophillic bacteria both came from the same primative cells. But those cells probably couldn't survive in a thermal vent any more than we can. While we were evolving the features we have now, other lines of cells were evolving to survive extreme temperatures.

We started out in Africa, where the climate certainly won't kill us, and we're quite well suited to that environment, just like most species are well suited to their environments. But then we left, and went to colder and hotter places that we weren't built for since we'd adapted for the climate in Africa. Most species would have either died or adapted, but humans had something that allowed them to survive envirnoments they weren't so well suited for: intellect. Humans made clothing to allow them to survive in an environment they hadn't evolved to live in.

Adpating to extreme climates take a long time. Bacteria that live in extremely high temperatures actually have enzymes that are fundimentally different at a chemical level so they can function at those higher temperatures. That's not something that happens overnight. Humans may have left Africa a long time ago in the scale of human history, but on an evolutionary time scale it hasn't been long at all. And the fact that people could make clothing to protect them from harsh climates negated the biological need to adapt to the climate through evolutionary change.

Answer 4

The thing is that single celled organisms are a lot more simple than multicellular organisms are such as humans. The human body needs millions of enzymes to work together to carry out complicated functions. As you may know, enzymes have a pH and temperature interval at which they are most efficient. The single celed organisms that can withstand such temmperatures only have the enzymes that withstand it. Also, they have no way of living otherwise so therefore they adapt to their environment, unlike us that are able to move and protect from undesireable climates.Also, the fact that we have EVOLVED from those organisms is the answer right there. As an organism evolves, gene expression is categorized by darwins theory of natural selection. Some mutations that bring about evolution are mutations that make the mutated organism "better" than the rest, because otherwise that organism would die out. Therefore our genetic makeup allowed us to swivel away from that characterisitc of extreme temperature survival.

Answer 5

The single celled organisms we evolved from did not have these abilities. Not every single cell organism can survive extreme temperatures. Actually most of the single celled organisms that can survive are not even eukaryotes. Are closest single celled relative is probably the paramecium (the oval thing with many cilia pushing it along). these are by no means able to survive the extreme temperatures that i think you are talking about when it comes to what some other organisms can survive in.

Answer 6

MOST single-celled organisms that exist today are mesophiles - that is, they thrive at the temperatures that WE do. We have discovered very few extremophiles (which could be due to the fact that we don't like going into extreme temperatures!), but one of the most famous examples is Thermus aquaticus, a bacteria that we got out of geysers and use scientifically in PCR (Taq polymerase).
However, the fact that most of the organisms we have discovered live at temperatures similar to the ones we live at (approximately 25 degrees Celsius) would lead a person to believe that ALL organisms (bacteria, your puppy dog, humans) evolved to live optimally in THIS temperature - so organisms that could live in extreme temperatures would be selected against since they couldn't reproduce or live very well under this moderate temperature.
We didn't retain the ability to survive extreme temperatures because most habitable places in this world (note: this excludes places like the bottom of the ocean and its sea vents, etc.) are of moderate temperature. MOST bacteria live in the moderate temperature, because the organisms they infect and feed off of ALSO live at these temps! Everything evolved together.

Answer 7

Because of the physical characteristics of complex multicellular organisms they are inherently more delicate.

It's like the difference between a crowbar and a grandfather clock. Only extreme brute force can break the crowbar, but an accidental nudge is all that's needed to utterly ruin the clock.

Where did you read 'the oldest human found was wearing clothes' at? It isn't true.

Answer 8

Which is easier to mess up: something very simple, or something very complex? Why, something very complex is. Complex systems need care and maintenance, and they only work as long as their most vulnerable vital part can stand the ambient conditions.

Complexity is either worth its while, or not. Humans *have* been able to obtain clothing all though history, probably ever since we lost our primate fur. We lost our claws, but we learned to make knives. We lost our ability to create vitamin C internally (as cats still can), but we learned to cultivate fruit.

As compensation for these and other losses, we grew more brainy, more capable of adapting exosomatic energy and materials to our use. We became more conscious, more introspective. We became able to anticipate the future, and so make plans for it, and so to preserve the best of the past in oral tradition and then as written history.

Of course, evolution didn't proceed at the same rate everywhere. In conditions for which survival required rapid adaptations, the culling was more severe and the survivors were more highly selected for the adaptive traits. In the colder climates, people adapted with larger brain size (a defense against freezing as well as an increased facility in planning for winter food shortages) and with a prolonged ability to digest milk sugars.

Answer 9

We evolved into different organisms from a common ancestor! The purpose was to diversify and concur different niches, if all organisms still carried the same qualities of a thermophile (archaeic heat-loving bacterium) then we would all want to live in deep-ocean-vents ( and would've died out!).

Answer 10

because the organisms we advanced from got here upon that being multi-cellular and residing on land turned right into a extra acceptable area of interest then that they had beforehand (IE it more desirable prices of survival, provided an benefit to breeding ECT), some organisms got here upon the area of interest ideal them and survived and altered little or no as there changed into no opt to. that is a fable we advanced from chimps, people and chimps have a difficulty-free ancestor that branched off into 2 paths or extra paths faster or later. That difficulty-free ancestor changed into ill adapted and is now extinct and changed into replaced by using its extra acceptable adapted offspring. i comprehend it really is demanding to understand, it really is why its a lot less demanding merely to bypass "god did it"