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Human Evolution from an Observed Perspective in Star Wars

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ORIGNAL ARTICLE

FARAH, Leonardo de Castro [1]

FARAH, Leonardo de Castro. Human Evolution from an Observed Perspective in Star Wars. Revista Científica Multidisciplinar Núcleo do Conhecimento. Year 06, Ed. 02, Vol. 13, pp. 148-170. February 2021. ISSN: 2448-0959, Access link: https://www.nucleodoconhecimento.com.br/history/human-evolution 

ABSTACT

During the 70s and 80s, it appeared in the film premieres of Star Wars (in Brazil: Guerra nas Estrelas). In this science-fiction universe aimed at adults and children, we see several humanoid species interacting with each other. Our task here would be to carry out a thought experiment, with the following focus: if it is possible that human biology could have evolved, in the Star Wars universe and find out, which planets would be propitious for this evolution to happen. The vast majority of characters in the franchise are bipedal, except for Jabba The Hutt (the only invertebrate alien). It seems that biped is the rule in Star Wars, contrary to terrestrial nature. To build our argument, we will rely on the theses of paleoanthropologists who are experts in human locomotion: Dr. Owen Lovejoy, Dr. William R. Leonard, and Dr. Craig Stanford. The planetary geology ideas of Dr. Peter Ward and Alfredo Nunes Bandeira Jr. And the evolutionary ideas of Stephen J. Gould (1941-2002) and the specialist in human evolution, Dr. Walter Neves from USP.

Keywords: extraterrestrial humanoid life in Star Wars, bipedia, intelligence, civilization.

INTRODUCTION

Our text addresses the importance of walking upright as a form of locomotion that led us to colonize the whole world, in addition to enabling the development of diversifying survival strategies and creating civilization. In the saga: Star Wars,we see that most intelligent characters are bipeduplets! This means that in the nature of Star Wars,bipedalism is common. We will try to demonstrate that human bipedalism, besides being a bizarre form of locomotion is completely unusual in the natural world. We will discuss the origin of this more widely publicized locomotion (we will not include in the article, the Teoria do Macaco Aquático, why it would be extensive and there could be an escape from the subject).

1. OUR “STRANGE” WAY OF LOCOMOTION

Paleoanthropology is a science that studies the origin, protolanguage, evolution, behavior, culture and bipedalism of human beings and their ancestors. The object of study of this science are the fossils of hominins[2] preserved in rock. But the question remains: how do we become human? This question is the most complicated answer in the history of paleoanthropology. Humans are bipeds, they live in a group that makes up a society. But monos are also bipeds, especially bonobos and chimpanzees, also live in groups that make up a society. But chimpanzees and bonobos are facultative bipeds. This means that from time to time they walk under two legs (most often they move with the knots of the fingers called: Nodopedalia) (NEVES; PILÓ, 2008). For this reason, chimpanzees and bonobos have the same habitat, which have never left tropical Africa. According to Leonard and Robertson (1997), the reason chimpanzees and Bonobos live in the same habitat would be that nodopedalic locomotion expends more energy than biped locomotion. That’s why we colonize the entire planet: from the tundra, to the deserts, from the coast, to the mountains. The secret of this “success” would be this form of locomotion called bipedia.

Chimpanzees, bonobos and we belong to the same family: Hominoidea. Chimpanzees carry about: 98% of the genetic material similar to ours (NEVES; PILÓ, 2008). The common ancestor between man and chimpanzee separated from the family tree about 7.0 million years ago. Our most recent ancestor, Homo ergaster-erectus evolved in Africa 2.0 million years ago and left there and colonized new ecological niches: Eurasia traveling a distance of almost 8,500km. All this happened thanks to biped locomotion.

For paleoanthropologists, the biped floor preceded the manufacture of lithic instruments. First we stood upright, then we created tools to feed and well later, we started talking (this happened because our brain grew in size, thanks to cooking). The articulated language arose after the domestication of the fire when we changed our food from scavenger to hunter and gatherer. And much later and long after, we became farmers and invented civilization as we know it (writing, accounting, mathematics, architecture, medicine, and history).

There are 4,000 species of mammals today. The vast majority of them are quadruped, but humans and their ancestors have a different form of locomotion. In nature there are other types of bipeds, birds, which some have lost their tail in the evolutionary process, a good example of this is chicken. Birds are biped, but do not walk upright (except, the penguin), this is evident when comparing the center of gravity of the human being with the chicken seen in FIGURE 1.1. As we know, its concept is “the point that can be considered the application of gravity in the body formed by particles” (STANFORD, 2004).

FIGURE 1.1 – The figure shows the center of gravity of the human being and a chicken.

Illustration by Felipe Lima Simões.

So why do we get around differently from the animal world? Most mammals are quadruped. Only we are upright bipeds! The answer to this question was given by Dr. Neves and Dr. Piló, in their book: O Povo de Luzia (2008), who suggested: “Unlike what was thought from Darwin until the late 1990s, the fixation of bipedia by natural selection took place in forests, not in savannas” (NEVES; PILÓ, 2008, p 36). What is the relationship between the upright floor and the forests? The answers are diverse, there is nothing defined. So let’s go in parts.

In the 1940s, scientists believed that our ancestors had left the trees to live in the African savannas. The change of habitat forced an evolution in locomotion, allowing the hands to be released, with the intention of carrying objects. However, recent research conducted by paleoecologists believes that there were 3.5 million years ago tropical forests, covering much of Africa, (at this time Australopithecus afarensis lived in this region), currently, the savanna theory can be considered mistaken (STANFORD, 2004).

For Stanford, of the University of Southern California, suggests that bipedalism has nothing to do with a linear route, which would link a more “delayed” to the most “mayor“. The laity imagine that human evolution is associated with the notion of “progress” or “order“. It’s actually a mistake. In fact, evolution means: “modifications suffered by organism population over time; time that exceeds the lifetime of a single generation” (CARVALHO, 2000, p 61). For this we must observe: survival strategies, adaptation to the environment, changes in relationships: sexual, social, food and living habitat.

In the Star Wars franchise,we see that the character: Jar-Jar Binks of the planet Naboo (that its environment is marine) and move quite similarly to the Wookiees (Chewbacca) of the planet Kashyyyk (that its environment is forest). Both creatures are from different planets and from different biomes, how could they have the same locomotion? Some evolutionary biologists would appeal to: convergent evolution that would be an evolutionary response that occurs when living beings of different species develop in the same environment, having the same anatomical characteristics, for example: the shark and the dolphin. The shark is a fish and the dolphin is a mammal, however, both have the same habitat and similar anatomical characteristics. The problem of appealing to convergent evolution would be that humanoid species would have to evolve this locomotion in a similar biome, but that does not happen. To make matters worse, in our evolutionary history bipedia has assumed several configurations over time:

We also discovered that our earliest ancestors were not incompetent bipeds who gradually evolved into “efficient” two-legged walkers. New evidence shows that there was a set of species with a variety of characteristics, and these did not progress linearly from “primitive” to “advanced” bipeds (STANFORD, 2004, preface).

The message Stanford suggests is that bipedia has taken on severaldifferent “models“. For Martin Pickford and Brigitte Senut, the 6.0 million-year-old Orrorin tugenensis could have a more efficient locomotion than Australopithecus. Lee Berger of the University of the Witwatersrand when analyzing the foot bones of a 2.5 million-year-old Australopithecus africanus concluded that he did not have an efficient locomotion when compared to Australopithecus afarensis (3.9-3.0 million years old) which is older (STANFORD, 2004):

A study by Craig Stanford of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, involving more than two hundred hours of chimpanzee observation in the wild, showed that many of them adopted the standing posture on the thicker branches as a way to reach fruits that would not otherwise be accessible (NEVES; PILÓ, 2008, p 36).

In 2001, Dr. Leonard and Dr. Robertson wrote for: American Journal Of Physical Anthropology an article suggesting that monkeys, especially chimpanzees, expend much more energy when getting around than humans. The chimpanzee’s energy expenditure is much higher compared to even the average quadrupeds (dog, for example), both traveling, the same distance (LEONARD; ROBERTSON, 2001). In conclusion, Dr. Leonard, professor of anthropology at Northwestern University “suggests that bipedalism developed in our ancestors, in part, because it is less expensive energetically than displacement on four legs” (SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN BRASIL, 2003, p 83). For Lovejoy, there are other factors, highlighting the sexual factor: “one may not believe that walking upright has something to do with sex, but that it has, it has” (JOHANSON; MAITLAND, 1996, p 409), Stanford, expands Lovejoy’s thesis, suggesting that: “the main reason for standing and walking upright is closely associated with survival and reproduction” (STANFORD, 2004, p 142).

Undoubtedly, the standing floor is more economical energetically, the hands could be released to carry: tools, food and puppies (LOVEJOY, 1988), to be taken to a certain location (Home Base of Glynn Isaac). This locomotion helps in sexual intercourse. In conclusion, our locomotion caused us certain disadvantages, such as:

By gaining stability, the biped lost power. By gaining energy efficiency to walk, he lost that same efficiency to climb. For pregnant women, the price to pay was terrible. Natural selection reworked the pelvis to accompany new muscle functions, but it also narrowed the birth canal in relation to the size of the unborn child’s skull, which needs to be squeezed to pass through it (STANFORD, 2004, p. 77).

Figure 1.2 illustrates the situation of pregnant women, in which the lumbar spine compresses to make room for the development of the fetus. Bipedia caused several “physical imperfections” that are not diagnosed in quadruped animals: back pain, varicose veins, stretch marks, parrot beak, scoliosis and lordosis (LIMA, 1994).

FIGURE 1.2 – Compression of the lumbar spine of a pregnant woman due to the development of the fetus.

Illustration by Felipe Lima Simões.

When we become totally fixed to the ground we lose by the body that is present in the monos (in particular, chimpanzees and bonobos). Orthodoxly speaking, the totally upright posture appeared to 2.0 million with Homo ergaster-erectus, which became the first nomadic (migrated to Eurasia in search of food) they could walk for hours on end under the scorching sun, what helped him was the fact that he possessed an extra lumbar vertebra (LATIMER; WARD, 1993). This hominide was one of the first to have sweat glands that helped regulate the internal temperature, making him sweat.

2. SOME REGRINHAS, TO HAVE HUMANOID LIFE OUT THERE

According to Dr. Alfredo Nunes de Bandeira Junior, in his book: Nós Estamos Sós: Uma Humanidade Solitária (2000) and the book: Rare Earth (in Brazil with the title: “Sós no Universo”? 2000) of Dr. Peter Ward and Dr. Donald Brownlee in both works suggest that intelligent life in the universe is rare. So for it to occur will depend on a sequence of events (including random),summarized in seven stages:

Table 1 – Rules for the development of intelligent life.

The human life of the Star Wars franchise to have evolved should meet these criteria above. So it is to be expected that the environment, propitious should be similar to that of the Earth.

1st Relative Distance from the Sun (being in the call: habitable zone). The Earth has a distance of 150 million km from the sun, this allows the planet to stay in a comfort zone, neither too hot nor too cold. In addition, the planet should also have an ideal mass to allow the atmosphere to be retained by the planet’s gravity. In addition, with a severity of 1G (having average: 12-13 thousand km in diameter), offering an ambient temperature, for the development of life.

2nd Emergence of a Mild Atmosphere. It would be necessary for this planet to have in its atmosphere, the chemical basis for life: CHON (Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and Nitrogen). For example, with oxygen (essential element for animal life). The planet over time would develop a protective film in the atmosphere, ozone (O3), which protects animals and vegetables on its surface. Without oxygen, it is not possible to have fire, and without fire, no cooking and nocooking,it is not possible to develop a large brain (WRANGHAM, 2010) to create tools and create spaceships like the “Millenium Falcon”.

3rd Climate Stability. What stabilizes the climate on Earth would be two factors. 1st – the existence of the Moon. Without it, the sea level was much higher than it is today. 95% of the planet would be underwater (just like the 1995 film Waterworld – with Kevin Costner), plus the Earth would be oscillating on its axis like Mars. This would cause devastating tornadoes and hurricanes on its surface. 2nd – the Tectonic Plates. The plates end up creating areas of subduction, this causes carbon dioxide to become trapped in the rocks, which over time would go inside the Earth and would only reappear in the atmosphere, through volcanic processes. So the earth’s climate would be more or less mild. The planet Venus, for example, has no Tectonic Plates and carbon dioxide has been trapped on the planet’s surface since its formation. This caused an uncontrolled greenhouse effect. The temperature on Venus is 450º C, while on Earth it is 15º C.

4th Existence of an Electromagnetic Field of the Earth. At the beginning of the formation of the solar system another planet (Web) would have been shocked by the Earth. It is likely that the earth’s crust and mantle would shattere and the result of this megacollection were two things: 1st the formation of our Moon and 2st Maybe somehow this colossal impact, would have affected the mantle and liquid core rich in iron and nickel that in motion would form the Electromagnetic Field that protects the Earth from the rays and solar winds. Without it, the earth’s surface would be desert.

5th Existence of liquid water on the planet’s surface is essential for the development of complex life (animal and plant). At the beginning of the formation of the Earth meteors and asteroids collided with the Earth. According to astronomers, they brought water to the planet. We humans use 1% of all the water on the planet.

6th The existence of a gigantic planet to attract asteroids and comets – straying from Earth. Jupiter is a giant protector. In July 1994, the comet named Shoemaker-Levy 9 smashed into nine pieces and collided with Jupiter. This comet could have come to Earth, it was not due to jupiter’s gravity that it attracted this object into its orbit. Jupiter is 11 times, greater than Earth. Without Jupiter the probability of any space object wandering the solar system could very well, if it collides with the Earth at some point.

7th Geological Stability – Earth History shows that there have been numerous mass extinctions. The worst occurred in the Permian period, 250 million years ago that decimated 95% of Earth’s terrestrial and marine life, caused by internal factors (caused by Siberian Traps) (WARD, 1997). Could this extinction occur on other Star Wars planets?

3. THE ENVIRONMENTS IN STAR WARS, FOR THE HUMANOIDES HAVE EVOLVED

The Star Wars saga is known all over the world. There are fans and toys in this franchise. The films in the series have a lot of realism. What is striking is that the main characters are completely human, starting with the Emperor: Palpatine, Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker), Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo. Other characters are not human, such as Chewbacca, a Wookiee. But all zooanthropomorphs in the series have a biped anatomy. I’m sorry to the fans of the series, but, “Houston, we have a problem!” Human bipedalism, as has already been said, would need ideal conditions: geographical, planetary, atmospheric, climatic and hydrographic to occur and yet, in this galaxy, in which these stories pass, we do not find an ideal planet that we can say: yes there evolved humanoide life forms! And even if we find this planet on favorable terms. And unlikely, that this evolution would occur (it will be commented on in the following topic).

3.1 TATOOINE

The first candidate for humanoid life to have evolved is the planet Tatooine, home planet of Anakin and Luke Skywalker. According to the Star Wars saga, this planet is in a binary system, that is, Tatooine orbits two suns. These suns are called Tatoo I and II. They don’t appear to be white dwarfs or pulsars (if they were, there would be no life thousands of light years away). According to the images in the film, these suns are not gigantic (thousands of times larger than our sun, although there are many of these around our galaxy). What I mean is that these two suns are about the same size as our sun (very rare). For this reason, the entire planet is a desert, with only 1% liquid water on its surface, most of it underground (in limited amounts).

Tatooine there are some cities and it is home to the Bantha a large animal (which would look like the elephant). The producers of the 1st Film of the Saga (Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope – 1977) coated an elephant with plumage to look like a Bantha. Planet Earth has: 70% liquid water on its surface, only 1% are available for the consumption of humans and animals. Imagine em Tatooine? If the whole planet is practically a desert. There are no trees or forests, water is limited and perhaps rationed, how can there be cities and large animals?

FIGURE 3.1 – The Bantha an animal domesticated by the people of the sand, in the movie: Star Wars.

Illustration by Felipe Lima Simões.

On Earth, during the Triassic period (250-200 million years), the planet was different from what it is today. There was no grass[3]. There was no ice in the poles. The days were shorter (maybe, about 22 hours). There were two seasons: the rainy and the dry. All continents were united in a supercontinent called Pangea. On the coast there was vegetation and water, but in the interior of Pangea there was a huge desert (larger than the Saara). In this environment there were animals from the previous period (Permian) living in the conditions: arid and dry, such as: Lystrosaurus (reptile therapsidio). There was also a new creature that evolved especially in this desert habitat: Coelophysis (theropod dinosaur) in the north (United States) and the Herrerasauro (theropod dinosaur) in the south (Argentina). They were 1 meter high and 3 meters long. The first dinosaurs that evolved in the Triassic were small. Its success was that by defecating it eliminated little water and consumed few calories. They were opportunists, stakes and fast. What biology is telling us is that in the desert habitat, where there is little water, the animals that evolved there would be small (HAINES; CHAMBERS, 2005).

Some paleontologists may draw attention to the Plateossaurus which was a large animal, up to 9 meters long, about 2.0 meters tall and weighed four tons and lived, between: 214-201 million years (BARRETT, 2002). Plateossaurus was the largest animal in the Triassic, consuming a lot of water and vegetable (it was herbivore). However, this dinosaur lived in an environment in transition, for the later period, the Jurassic. Its habitat had places that offered water and food. Returning to Tatooine your biome is even, all over the planet. There were no different biomes, like on Earth. So how could Bantha have evolved on this desert planet?

In Star Wars we see that Tatooine owned a city (outpost). Of course we have examples of similar cities here on Earth located in desert regions. We can mention two: Cahuachi in Nasca (100-800 d. C) was located in Peru, in the Atacama Desert. The other city is the culture of the Anasazi (Pueblo), which was located in Colorado, in the Western United States. They both built water wells for agriculture. Even so, a severe drought hit the Nasca civilization around 550-600 a.m. C (period called by the archaeologists of Nasca 05) and the peoples who lived from agriculture began to abandon Cahuachi and the region.

In addition to the opportunity created by the demise of Cahuachi, other factor player an important role in the development of Nasca society in Nasca 5 times. One of these was climate. Archeologists know that climatic conditions deteriorated in the Central Andes throughout much of the sixth century A.D: droughts occurred in AD 540-560 and AD 570-610 with the latter reaching extreme conditions[4] (SILVERMAN; PROULX, 2002, p 253).

Around 1276-1299 d. C, in the Anasazi region, cities were abandoned (COE; SNOW, 2006) due to a severe drought. On Earth, the first cities settled near the rivers: Cahokia (Mississippi), Ancient Egypt (Nile), China (Yellow River), India (Ganges River), Mesopotamia (Tigris and Euphrates rivers) and Rome (Tiber). Our mathematics, science, medicine and history come from these civilizations. Without water, no life, no agriculture and no civilization.

It is known to consist of a molten core wrapped in a rocky blanket and a crust of silicate rocks. Fossil records suggest that Tatooine was covered at least once by large oceans, which dried up, exposing many geological formations of the pre-arid period (http://pt.starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tatooine 20/04/2014 – 21hs:30min).

What we know about Tatooine is that this planet has three moons, so the gravitational pull force must be considerable. For comparison, Jupiter must have 100 moons. Io, one of Jupiter’s moons has several volcanoes, must be at least 50. The fact that Io is the way it is would be due to the gravitational force exerted by Jupiter, which moves inside as a tidal force. The same could happen on the moons of Tatooine or even on the planet itself.

The franchise doesn’t tell us if humans evolved there or colonized that planet. Another important thing to be said, would be about the presence of oxygen. We can’t explain how oxygen came up in Tatooine. It is seen that the planet, there is no presence of algae and microorganism to turn carbon dioxide into oxygen. On Earth, the accumulation of oxygen in the atmosphere took billions of years to happen. So we can conclude that Tatooine is not an ideal planet for humanoide life to have evolved there. The same goes for single-celled, plant or animal life.

FIGURE 3.2 – Tatooine’s desert planet in Star Wars IV: A New Hope.

Illustration by Felipe Lima Simões.

3.2 ALDERAAN

Another candidate for human evolution in Star Wars is the planet Alderaan. Home of Princess Leia. The planet is in a habitable zone, its atmosphere and global temperature are mild and possibly liquid water is present on the planet’s surface, which has forests, mountains, lakes and seas. However, Alderaan does not have a moon to stabilize the axis of the planet. Therefore, without the Moon there would be no influence of the tides. Without a Moon, the days in Alderaan would be shorter, maybe 14 hours a day or less:

This is because lunar gravity, in addition to holding the earth’s axis, causes the speed of our planet’s rotation to slowly decrease. If there wasn’t a satellite around us, this braking wouldn’t occur and the Earth would keep running too fast[5].

Some animals that migrate and or even mate during the phases of the moon, would not be able to do so, because there would be no time for mating. Without the moon, the planet’s axis would be uncontrolled tilting more than 50º (WARD; BROWNLEE, 2001).

The north pole would become the South Saara! But with the 90-degree slope, equatorial regions would receive much less energy on average in the year and become colder (WARD; BROWNLEE, 2001, p 250).

The change of inclination and planetary oscillation would stir the surface of the planet causing: hurricanes, tornadoes, cyclones and typhoons over 250 km/h. Life on the surface would be unbearable. Alternatively, life would be adapted to the marine world and biped locomotion would not develop. So we can’t consider Alderaan as a place prone to human evolution in this franchise.

3.3 THE FOREST MOON OF ENDOR

Another candidate as a local, for human origin, is not a planet, but a moon. It would be the forest moon of Endor. It is there that the Ewoks (mammals similar to bears being 1 meter high, who walk under two legs and build simple tools and shelters). As we have said, biped locomotion caused the first humans to lose by the body, allowing the appearance of glands to expel water through the body (sweat). The Ewoks have flat feet (just like ours), their brains are big, eat cooked or roasted meat, tame fire, possess sophisticated communication. However, the Ewoks have excess hair. When adopting a locomotion fixed to the ground they should not have hair. There are other characters in the franchise, who are bipeds, but have no body hair.

Analyzing the geography of the moon of Endor we note that it has: water in liquid state on its surface forming: seas and lakes. There are ice caps at the poles. There are mountains covering a vast area. The climate is temperate. The atmosphere is rich in oxygen (there is perhaps ozone to protect the moon). The moon is orbiting a huge gaseous planet (slightly larger than Jupiter). “Here’s a problem.”

A gas giant has an extremely strong gravitational force. To the point of tearing the entire surface of the moon. As has already been said, Jupiter’s moons: Io and Europa are distorted by the planet’s gravitational force. now… Jupiter is eleven times larger than Earth, and its strength is felt in the solar system. Thus, Jupiter messes with the interior of Io causing a hot core and that is why, Io have several volcanoes. The same goes for Jupiter’s Moon Europa. Its surface is frozen, below the surface has an ocean of liquid water of miles deep. It’s likely there will be hot fountains and perhaps harbor marine life. The geology of the Moon of Europa is cold on the surface and hot beneath this icy crust, enabling the existence of a nutrient-rich ocean to suit plant and animal life, but not humanoides.

It is to be expected that the planet Endor, which is a gas giant, will assert its gravitational force by stirring inside the Moon of Endor. But, it seems, there is no trace of volcanism on this moon or tectonic plates. Its core of the forest moon appears to be paralyzed, so there is no electromagnetic field that protects the moon from the sun’s rays and radiation caused by the electromagnetic field of the gaseous planet. All this added up was to be expected that there was no life on the surface of this moon.

What Endor’s forest moon does is defy the laws of gravity and classical mechanics. What we expected to see is a volcanic moon, similar to Io or a moon frozen on the surface, similar to Europa or even, something like Saturn’s moon Encelala, which ejects gases into space by geysers. All these scenarios, shows that human life on the surface of these moons would be unfeasible, thus also their anthropogenic[6]. It is obvious that the forest moon of Endor should behave with what we see, on the moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus. I want to end by saying, that it is possible that life finds a way to exist in these environments, but at the same time, these niches are a danger to human life, which would be our object of study, in this work.

3.4 NABOO

Another likely candidate in which humanoide life has evolved is the planet Naboo. Birthplace of Princess Amidala and home of the troubled Jar-Jar Binks. They’re both bipeds. It has big brain and tool makers (culture). The planet is in a habitable zone within its solar system. There is water in the liquid state, on its surface with deep and abyssal oceans. There are mountain ranges. The climate is temperate. But the planet has three moons (relatively large). That’s a problem.

Thanks to the study of our Moon, it makes the day last for 24 hours. Imagine with three moons? Of course, this would alter the rotation of the planet, which could exceed perhaps 30 hours the duration of the day. The tidal force would be more devastating due to the gravitational force of three moons. The menstrual cycle and mating and reproduction of the animals would be affected. The axis of the planet Naboo would be stable, more stable than the Earth’s being tilted 23degrees. The slope of Naboo would be between 1st or 2nd. This would be terrible for the planet, as there would be no seasons (summer, winter, spring and autumn). The climate in the northern and southern hemisphere would be the same without changing season or temperature, taking into account differences in latitudes.

Faced with this new scenario, instead of having forests, lakes, deep oceans, there could be huge deserts (larger than the Saara). To make matters worse, there is no record of the planet having plate tectonics or volcanism, so the core would be paralyzed, so there would be no electromagnetic field to protect the planet’s surface from the sun’s rays. Naboo is more likely to be like Mars.

Of course, the locations of the Star Wars saga that we reviewed were very little. yes, the Star Wars universe is huge. But, we have set the environments, which appear most in the franchise, and when we analyze it we realize, that there do not have the means necessary for human evolution could occur. Therefore, it is very unlikely to claim that human evolution would be repeated on other planets seen in other films and anime, such as: ET, the Extraterrestrial, Star Trek, Predator, Avatar, Alien and Space Battleship Yamato 2199/2202/2205 (remake of japanese anime).

4. WHAT DOES THE PUNCTUATED EVOLUTION SAY?

Darwin in the 19th century studied, wrote and published his famous book: A Origem das Espécies (1859) suggesting that life: microorganisms, animals and vegetables were connected by a common ancestor, which over time would have undergone process evolution in form: linear and gradual, leaving a “connection lost” in its path.

In the 20th century, Darwin’s idea was confirmed and enriched thanks to the study of genetics, emerging neo-Darwinism. But in 1972, Stephan Jay Gould (1941-2002) of Harvard University and Niles Eldredge of the American Museum of Natural History in New York studied Ernst Mayr’s thesis[7]. With this information, Gould-Eldredge suggested that evolution should not be seen only slowly and gradually, but observed in a non-gradual and non-linear manner. The Pointed Balance Hypothesis was born, which was an explanation of how an evolutionary process combined with isolation can occur in a sexual reproduction organism. These species (animal and plant) can stay a high amount of time, without morphological change (called sissy,derived from the word morphological stability).

For Gould the emergence of new species happens much faster, not leaving a transient ancestor (missing link). If the living being changes environment due to migration or emergence of a natural barrier, in the environment this creates a form of adaptability of organisms, which would lead to several anatomical changes occurring in small populations that would be isolated by the natural barrier mentioned. Climate or environmental change could provide several changes: social, sexual and food. And anatomical changes would occur very quickly. In conclusion, the living being would have to change his behavior in a fraction of time and very short space and doing so would be able to adapt and evolve. Those who could not, on the other hand, would have their birth rate reduced and probably soon be extinct.

We know that there were several animal and plant species and even hominin, which remained thousands of years without suffering significant anatomical changes, an example of this was the discovery of an Australopithecus afarensis dated 3.9 million years ago discovered in Ethiopia, which had the same anatomical features that we see, in a more recent species, 1.0 million years old. Now… Anyone who studies Punctuated Equilibrium suggests that this was evidence of hominin stasis (GOULD, 1998).

4.1 THE CHANCE FACTOR

The causes for the evolution of species including ours, run into the evolutionary mechanisms that are: genetic drift, gene flow, mutations that occur at some moments randomly, and finally, isolation (vicariance and dispersion). In this context there is also the chancefactor, which can change evolutionary trends of lesser or greater degree. A good example of fortuitous was the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago by an asteroid (BARRETT, 2002). This means that evolution is not something ordered as has already been talked about, sometimes the fortuitous happens.

Any animal or vegetable of the past would have no means of re-emerging again, in natural ways even if they wanted to. That means all our human ancestors won’t show up again. Not even, the dinosaurs already mentioned. What Gould tells us is that sometimes, some kind of succession of events (variables) happened in the earth’s past, which under normal conditions would not happen again. In short, over time, there were several variables (biological, geological and others) that would be difficult to reappear certain living beings.

This “something fortuitous” happened 65 million years ago and allowed small mammals under 10 kg to survive in the world without large predators. That was the case with Purgatorius. This animal gave rise to several other mammals leading to evolutionary irradiation, among them was an arboreal mammal, called Plesiadapis, which later became the ancestor of anthropoid species, such as proconsul which in turn would give way to hominins (and then we entered the scene). Have you ever wondered if at any time the four species of Proconsul were extinct before the first hominins appeared?

4.2 THE EVOLUTION OF HOMININS TO THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION

It’s not enough just for evolution to go its own way (or its evolutionary trend). There would also have to be a succession of variables and other events, not foreseen that would lead to the emergence of the 1st hominid (our ancestor). This kind of upright posture, allowing the arms to be free (LOVEJOY, 1988) with the aim of harvesting fruits and making simple tools (Olduvaiense), how to break the bones of dead animals (being necrophage) and feed on marrow. Adopting this feeding would provoke the emergence of the first human would discover the means to domesticate fire: through trial and error (WRANGHAM, 2010). With the fire, it was possible to roast the meat (cooking) and hunt animals, leaving the necrophagy. With the combination of meat: raw and roasted, it caused meat proteins to be released causing the human brain to increase in size from 900cc to 1350cc. With the increase of the brain, there would be the reduction of prognathism, which in turn allowed the development of vocalization (articulated with syntax), thanks to this would be born to the most sophisticated lithic industries for hunting (Acheulense and Musteriense). But between: 10-8,000 years ago, the human population began to increase. Forcing these humans to create a new survival strategy, discovering agriculture – most often, growing and eating grass: wheat, rye, barley, oats, rice, sugarcane, lemongrass and corn (provoking the Agricultural Revolution). The grasses emerged, between: the Oligocene and the Miocene and is currently abundant in the world, being the basis of our diet. Throughout history, the grass was the scene of uprisings (French Revolution), wars (conflict between Egypt and Rome in the 1st century. C) and increased production (Ancient Mesopotamia). Imagine the world without grass? Would there be civilization? Without it it would be possible, for the Sumerian civilization to begin the Bronze Age (3,000 a. C)?

Another factor that would have helped in human evolution on our planet was our gravity. If we take other human beings to another planet with a gravity different from ours, obviously, over time, these humans could develop other forms of locomotion, other ways of seeking food and acquiring other survival strategies causing change: in their diet feeding, in your sex life and later, in your anatomy.

But, it’s not enough just to evolve on planet Earth or the Star Wars franchise. There must be conditions for the evolution ofother things : tubers, such as: potatoes and cassava. The grasses to be grown. Planetary oxygenation correctly, because if the increase insects can increase their size (in the Carboniferous period, the Earth’s atmosphere had 31% of O2, today we have 21%) (GRAHAN, et al, 1995). Some small factors like these above helped support the evolution of life and human beings, and long after, it served to develop large-scale agriculture. And that was important, but why?

4.3 THE IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE FOR COMPLEX SOCIETY

Now… Thanks to grass farming, the human population grew, forming the first cities on record, at about 4,000-3,200 a. C (in Sumeria: your, Uruk, Eridu, Lagash, Umma and others). Thus, there was necessary to have a social division of labor: there were those who planted (peasants) and those who took over the land (army), that the community chose its leader (king) (KRIWACZEK, 2018).

When there was the harvest, the peasants would give a share to the priests and the king to take care of the land. And the contribution (being born: tax, writing and accounting) was noted, with this it was interesting to build a place, to stock the grains. In case of emergency such as: a drought or war the grain was redistributed to citizens. In order to prevent foreign invasions, several fortifications were created around the city (being born: to mathematics and engineering) (KRIWACZEK, 2018).

In an attempt to increase grain production it was necessary to understand and study the stars (position of the moon, sun, planets and stars) to calculate the right time to plant and to harvest. The ideal amount of grains to plant was studied. And how long the planting and harvesting would last, so the calendar and the state religion aligned with astronomy were born, born to religion, or mythologies (VERDET, 1987).

Many buildings (Aztec and Mayan temples, tombs in Egypt that are pyramids and the Ziggurat of your) would be aligned, with the cardinal points and or with the stars, which would be interpreted as: signs of the gods or abode of the gods (NOGUEIRA, 2005). This created a relationship between the architectural works and the myths of the ancient peoples. The world we live in depends on agriculture. Now, without agriculture there would be no economics, trade and mathematics. For humans, creating the Millenium Falcon would be necessary to have control of fire, to have knowledge of mathematics, physics and engineering, which we acquired and perfected, thanks to the introduction of agriculture, that without it, the Death Star would be impossible to be planned, created and built. Now, I ask what is the probability of having: a planet with geophysical conditions equal to that of Earth, with planetary oxygenation at the levels of the Earth, there being no large predators (such as dinosaurs), that all this added together, would enable the development of grasses, so that there is the appearance of agriculture causing the emergence of an extraterreste civilization similar to humans?

CONCLUSION AND PROPOSALS

According to Lovejoy, bipedia helped free hands to carry things (tools, food or babies). The human evolutionary process, according to theorists, would have been caused by: sex, adaptation and search for food. Moreover, the earthly geography favored this process, in Africa that between: 7-4 million years were covered by dense forests allowing the appearance of hominids of our lineage, which led us to the development of bipedia (but not equal to ours).

So that there are spaceships (Millenium Falcon) that can travel in Time-Space; so that there are huge cities; deadly weapons like the lightsaber and of course the Death Star should first happen to the evolution of bipedalism. After this stage, it would be necessary to cook using fire (this practice allowed an increase in the brain cavity and the creation of tools). In short, cooking as a consequence allowed: the reduction of the face, the increase in brain capacity, which further enabled the development of vocalization with syntax.

We also saw in the text that the environments of the listed franchise did not have adequate locations for the development of intelligent life such as: tenuous geophysical characteristics, favorable geography, hydrography, atmospheric pressure that could favor human anatomical development. Even if there was a planet among everyone, similar to earth’ s, there would be no way for humans to evolve. That’s because, according to Peter Ward and Stephen J. Gould, evolution happens only once and if animal life is extinguished, it will be extinct forever (there is no return). The same goes for the human being, so that there is evolution and the development of a civilization would depend on countless variables that sometimes occurs with random doses to happen and unfortunately, all this is not repeated.

We see that the planets in the franchise that we approach in research are not compatible with planetary logic, which we see in our solar system (the basis of research). Gas giants, such as Jupiter or Saturn, are able to exert a very strong gravitational force on their moons. The same goes for the lack of a Big Moon like ours, which allows the earth’s axis to stabilize. We noticed that the geography found in: Forest Moon of Endor, Aldebaran, Naboo and Tatooine (the most important planets in the series), can not harbor complex life, nor even humanoide because they have characteristics that prevent this. We also comment that the Star Wars Universe is too vast to study all the planets in the series, and this makes it difficult to find out whether all humanoide species evolved together or separately (similar to what happens with convergent evolution).

We can propose, for future research, that a computerized modeling be carried out at LNCC (National Scientific Computing Laboratory, in Petrópolis, RJ). In this case, the geophysical characteristics of the planets and moons of our solar system would be put into the computer, in contrast to the geophysical characteristics of the planets and moons of the Star Wars Universe, using the “Rare Earth” thesis and the Punctuated Equilibrium as a variable. if what we defend in this text is possible: human evolution is not repeated on other planets, even in a hypothetical case.

To conclude the reasoning, when studying human bipedia we realized that over time, there were several formats that we have already mentioned. However, in the Star Wars Universe, it is not known how this bipedal evolution would have happened, or where it began to move and what its lineages were.

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APPENDIX – FOOTNOTE REFERENCES

2. The term: Hominin used in this text refer to hominid fossils, which is directed to human lineage (NEVES, 2015, p 97).

3. The grass is the basis of our diet, which we adapt to it, later on, we will explain this.

4. In addition to the opportunity created by the death of Cahuachi, another factor that played an important role in the development of society at the time of Nasca 05. One of them was the weather. Archaeologists know that weather conditions have deteriorated in the Central Andes for much of the 6th century AD. C: Droughts occurred in 540-560 d. C and 570-610 d. C with the latter reaching extreme conditions.

5. http://super.abril.com.br/tecnologia/se-lua-nao-existisse-441531.shtml 20/04/2014 – 12:00: 00min

6. Anthropogenic stake in human origins, evolution, cognition, culture and locomotion.

7. Peripatric Speciation – which states that the evolution of a living being can occur on the periphery of its original population, being isolated by a natural barrier or by river or lake.

[1] It has three lato-sensu graduate programs. Graduated in History from UNI-BH. Specialist in Sociology Education from the Northwest College of Minas Gerais. Specialist in History by the Luso-Brazilian College. Specialist in History and Geography by the Barão de Mauá University Center.

Submitted: September, 2020.

Approved: February, 2021.

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