Toros-Menalla, Djurab Desert, Chad
6 specimens

6-7mya

dated using fauna specimens

huge browridge

sagittal crest

small brain/reduced prognathism

weird critter, has aspects of hominin and hominoid

Lukeino Formation, Tugen Hills, Kenya

13 specimens

6mya

earliest bipedal hominin

taxonomy should remain in question

no crania to compare with tchadensis and tchadensis lacks postcrania

Aramis, Ethiopia

over 50 individuals

mostly dental, some postcranial remains

4.4mya

large posterior teeth, reduced anterior teeth

Kanapoi, Kenya

4.1mya

Numerous specimens, dental, crania, postcrania

bipedal; tibial muslces support weight, 

tibial angle supports bipedal balance

arms not strong enough for locomotion

large anterior teeth

Ethiopia/Kenya

3.9-3mya

1st specimen from ethiopia

numerous individuals from both sexes

best represented taxon for this period

cladogenic (branched) with anamensis

More derived than 

anamensis or afarensis.

No C /P3  honing 

mechanism.

U-shaped dental arcade.

No simian shelf or inferior 

transverse torus.

mixed up critter - primitive and derived

Bouri Formation, Ethiopia.

Species dated at 2-3mya.
Very little remains found in East Africa during this
specific time period, therefore important regardless 
of phylogenetic position.

Represented by one cranial specimen.
Prognathic, small brain, sagittal crest
basic tools 

broad thumb/fingers

reduced prognathism

opportunist

large jaw, greater pressure

increased brain size

long low skull

relatively flat frontal bone

projecting brow ridges

presence of supraorbital sulcus

700-1300cc brain size

marked prognathism

robust mandibles lacking defined chin and broad ascending ramus

found in africa

400-200kya

dont look like neanderthals

1100-1400cc brain size

in europe

sima de los heusos

>300kya

24 individuals

over 1300 total specimens

cranial, dental, and post-cranial remains

mosaic of features suggestive of neanderthals, erectus, and sapiens

120-20kya

geo distribution: europe/middle east

heavy browridges

thick cranial cortex

greater femoral strength

shorter stature

decreased stress loads compared to some homo sapiens sapiens

160kya-present

enlarged cranial vault

reduction of supraorbital tori (no browridge)

reduction of mandibular robusticity

brain size 1300-2000cc

brain and vocal tract adapted for speech

• common ancestor departs africa 2mya

• regional colonies formed where genetic isolation and environmental adaptations maintain local variation

• local parties of interconnected network where genes constantly spread

• global migrations allowed for rapid exchange of genetic material and provided basis for modern human morphology

• all modern humans are the descendants of a single woman whose kin migrated out of africa and replaced all know populations

• clonal unit of inheritance (mtDNA)

• 5-10x faster mutation rate than regular DNA; recent evolutionary events visible

• only 6% of all mtDNA distinguished populations from one another

• mtDNA sequences more variable within populations; thus human populations recently diverged

• variation among africans greater than any between africans and other groups, thus africans oldest population

• mtDNA mutation rate inconsistent

• studies of y-chromosome DNA suggest possible introgression