Interesting.
I might be wrong but to me consciousness “was there” before humankind and will “be there” afterwards.
Also i make a difference between thinking/reasoning and to be conscious of.
I may be thinking/reasoning about a specific subject which means that i’m conscious about the subject in question but i’m not conscious or not enough conscious of all other stimulus , and/or i can be conscious/aware about one or more things without reasoning about it (here am I blaspheming again…).
And by the way; isn’t Consciousness what allows “to be aware”/sati ?