Hominid

• Bipedalism
• Reduced incisors,
  reduced canines,
  thin enamel caps on molars
• Greatly increased brain size
• Tool manufacturing and use

Bipedalism

• Centrally located foramen magnum
• S-Curve in spine
• Bowl shaped pelvis
• Central angled femur
• Robust heel

Sahelanthropus tchadensis

• The First Hominids 
  
  Found in Sahel, Chad
• Dates 7-6 mya
• Skull

• small teeth w/ thick enamel
• short face, little prognathism
• strong brow ridges
• Combination not seen in fossil apes or later hominines

Ardipithecus ramidus
 (ground ape at the root)
Ardipithecus kadabba

• 5.8-4 mya

• Aramis Ethiopia
• Ancestral (ape-like) traits

• ape-size brain case

• Derived traits

• Reduced canines
• Foramen magnum centrally located

• Tim White

Genus Australopithecus

• 4.2-1.4 mya
• South & East Africa
• Bipedal locomotion
• Small brain size
• Large face
• Large teeth

A. Anamensis
 “Southern Ape of the Lake”

• Discovered by Meave Leakey, 1994
• 4.2-3.9 mya
• Both ancestral and derived traits
• Canines with long robust roots
• Enamel thickness and molar width
  intermediate between Ar. ramidus and afarensis
• Bipedal characteristics 

A. afarensis

• 3.7-3.0 mya

• East Africa
• Ape-like features

• Small brain
• Prognathism

• Bipedal-no striding gait

• knee joint
• fossil footprint
  (Laetoli)
• • First Family
  • 3.2 mya
  • 200 skeletal fragments
  • MNI 7: 5 adults, 2 children
  • Located in what would have been
    lake shore & river basin deposits
  • All found together,
    no apparent disturbances
  • Hypothesis: Overcome, buried
    and preserved in a sudden flood
    

• 2.9 mya
• Most complete skeleton: 40%
• Female
• 4 ft tall
• 20 yrs old
• Donald Johanson
• A.Afarensis

A. africanus

• 3.3-2.5 mya

• Less prognathism
• More gracile
• Smaller teeth
  (still large compared to ours)
• Bipedal- no striding gait
• Human-like pelvis
• Spinal curve more human-like
• TAUNG CHILD
  Discovered by Raymond Dart

A. garhi

• 2.5 mya
• Small brain
• More gracile
• Large teeth but not specialized
• Possible toolmaker
• Tim White &
  Berhane Asfaw

Genus Paranthropus

• Very robust

• Very prognathic
• Large cheek teeth

• 4x the size of modern humans’

• Small front teeth
• Sagittal crest
• All indicate heavy chewing

P. aethiopicus

• 2.5 mya
• Ethiopia
• ‘The Black Skull’
• Both primitive and derived traits

P. robustus

• 2-1.4 mya
• South Africa
• Slight sagittal crest

P. boisei

• 2.4-1.4 mya
• East Africa
• Most robust form
• Mary & Louis Leakey

PARANTHROPUS vs. AUSTRALOPITHECUS

PARANTHROPUS

• More robust
• Prognathism
• Large cheek teeth
• Sagittal crest
• Evolutionary deadend

Kenyanthropus platyops

• • • Kenya
    • 3.5-3.2 mya
    • Tooth and skull fragments
    • Resembles
      Homo rudolfensis
• • Ancestral features
  • Small brain
  • Derived features
  • Small molars
  • Tall cheek region
  • Uncertain ancestry

HADAR

• Where:ETHIOPIA
• Who: Maurice Taieb and J. Kalb (1972 – 1977) 
• Invited paleontologists Donald Johanson, & Tim White

• What:  Australopithecus afarensis

• One more A. afarensis found at Hadar
• Skull:  confirms bidpedal characteristics
• Sexual dimorphism
• Males-110 lbs.-5ft. Tall
• Females-75 lbs.-3.5 – 4ft. tall

LAETOLI

• WHERE:Tanzania
• WHEN:3.6 mya
• WHO:Mary Leakey 1976
• WHAT:FOOT PRINTS in volcanic ash

• Rain drops
• Animals
• HOMINIDS

• 3
  
  • Confirms fossil evidence that early hominids walked upright on two legs in a characteristically human fashion
  • Foot bones arranged like modern human’s with NO divergent big toe
   

OLDUVAI GORGE

• Very lush region at one time hosting a variety of fish and mammals.  

• WHEN:1.8 mya – 200,000 bp 
• WHERE:Tanzania – Serengeti Plains
• WHO:Louis and Mary Leakey: 1931 - 
• WHAT:1959 – “Zinji” is found  Paranthropus boisei

• 1.8 mya fossil
  
  
  • Living areas
  • Work areas
  • Kill areas
  • Stone Tools
  • Appearance of tools coincides with the appearance of hominids
  • Evidence of Use
   

• MAJOR EVOLUTIONARY TRENDS OF PLIO-PLEISTOCENE HOMINIDS

• A. Post-cranial Morphology
  • B. Cranial Morphology
• • • C. Behavioral

• Post-cranial Morphology

• 1. Bipedalism: increasing eventually to a striding gait.
• * broad blades of the ilium
• * broader sacrum
• * shortened birth canal
• 2. Reduction of Sexual Dimorphism
• 3. Postcranial robusticity maintained until Homo sapiens sapiens

• Cranial Morphology

• 1. overall change from ape configuration to human
• 2. Dental reduction: anterior and posterior dentition
• 3. Reduced muscle attachment areas
• 4. Reduced prognathism
• 5. Expansion of brain, especially frontal lobe ---> rounding of cranium
• 6. No chin and no forehead until Homo sapiens sapiens

• Behavioral

• 1. Increased dependence on lithic technology and cultural innovation
• 2. Increased population size worldwide
• 3. Migration into a variety of environments based on cultural innovation

• Opportunistic Tools

• existent in nature w/ little or no modification similar to that of contemporary pongidae . These are not identifiable in the fossil record (i.e., wood, pebbles, animal bones at sites) 

• Manuports

• unaltered objects carried from one location to another before using

• Toolmaking

• are modified  objects for specific purposes

Oldowan Tool Industry

• Cobbles
• Sharp working edges
• Transported from a distant source (6 miles)

• **Requires forethought!!!!!

• Small Cutting tools: fine grained stone
• Heavy Chopping Tools: basalt and quartz
• Olduwan pebble tools- both cobbles and flakes used

KOOBI FOR A

• WHERE:Northern Kenya, Lake Turkana
• WHEN:1.5 MYA
• WHO:Glynn Isaac, 1977 – 1979
• WHAT:LIVING FLOOR, tools, fossils
• Lithic analysis indicate cutting was used on animals for butchering and wood working possibly creating other tools.

Fossilization

• Fossilization- Preserving an organism so it becomes a fossil
• 2 types of fossils: Body and Trace
• Hard tissue never soft tissue
• Rock, Tar, Ice, Amber
• Rapid burial crucial; minerals and pressure

• Oldowan Tradition

• A Flake  and Chopper tool stone tool industry

• Utilizing quartz, quartzite, lava and chert

• Cores

• lumps of stone which flakes have been removed it can be a by product of flake tools, but is also shaped by flaking into  a Chopper tool

• proto-handaxes

• simple pointed choppers and crude bifacial forms  (pointed and rounded ends)

The hypothesis proposed by Owen Lovejoy states that the advantages of males carrying food and bringing it to females and young could have contributed to the rise of bipedalism.

• 2.5mya-100kya

• Increased brain size
• Less post-orbital constriction
• Habitual bipedalism
• Reduced size of face and teeth
• Increased reliance on cultural adaptations

Homo habilis

• The Path to Humanness: Bigger Brains, Tool Use, and Adaptive Flexibility

• First discovered by Louis Leakey at Olduvai Gorge
• Found in Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, South Africa 
• Change took place 3.0–2.5 mya

• Homo rudolfensis

• Homo rudolfensis
• Lake Turkana, Kenya
• 1.9mya
• Slightly larger crania
• Larger teeth
• Broad midfacial region

• Homo habilis and Australopithecus similarities

• Immediate ancestor unconfirmed 

• (Tim White suggests A. garhi)

• Bigger brain, smaller chewing complex
• Body plan similar to that of australopithecines

• Oldowan tools

• Simple chopping tool
• Rounded stone with cutting edge
• Flakes cut meat, scrape wood
• Not for hunting; more scavenging
  
  used by homo habilis 

• Homo habilis’s Adaptation

• Intelligence and Tool Use Become Important

• Anatomical evidence from the hand bones suggests precision grip.
• Tools becoming fundamental to survival, unlike for australopithecines

• Spread of warm season grasses and increasing habitat diversity.
• Skull and tooth morphology suggest dietary variability in Homo habilis.

• Stone tools important for obtaining food resources as well as for processing foods.

Homo erectus

• First discovered by Eugène Dubois in Java
• Fossils date from 1.8–0.3 mya

• Homo erectus in Africa 

• African fossils dated to 1.8–0.3 mya

H. erectus fossils

• Java Man

• One of the 1st
• Island of Java

• Peking Man

• China
• Large brain size

• Dmanisi

• Country of Georgia
• Oldest Hominid outside of Africa

Homo ergaster

• 1.9-1.4mya

• Modern body build
• Large brain
• Smaller teeth & jaw

• Posture & locomotion
  like later Homo

• Best candidate for human ancestor
• Distinct from H. erectus?

• Nariokotome skeleton

• An 80% complete skeleton
• Short arms, long legs,Likely a young male
• Would have stood 6 feet tall in adulthood
• Cranial capacity over 900 cc
• Homo erectus

Turkana Boy

• Nariokotome Boy
• Lake Turkana, Kenya
• 13 year old
• 880cc brain size
• Nearly complete skeleton
• Richard Leakey
• Homo erectus

• Footprints discovered at Ileret and dated to 1.5 mya provide evidence of fully modern walking

• Fossils dated to 1.8 mya–0.3 mya
• Earliest evidence found in Dmanisi, dated to 1.7 mya

• Resemblance to East African Homo erectus

• Also found in Indonesia, Sangiran, and China, indicating a rapid spread through Asia

Homo erectus and fire

• Fire: Expanding the Human World

• Zhoukoudian cave site in China

• Dated to 600,000–400,000 yBP
• Evidence for controlled fire usage
• Burned stone tools, plants, charcoal, etc.
• Fire acted as an agent to ease chewing and initial digestion. 

• Some argue that this increased the energy available to early humans.

Homo erectus in europe

• Homo erectus in Europe

• Fossils dated to 1,200,000–400,000 yBP
• Earliest evidence is from Sierra de Atapuerca site of Sima del Elefant

• Partial human mandible and teeth
• Animal bones showing cut marks

• Evolution of Homo erectus

• Increase in body size is one main difference between H. erectus and H. habilis.

• The increase took place rapidly, perhaps in as little time as 2.0–1.7 mya.
• Climate change and its impact on the food supply may be one reason for the change.
• Most significant impact was likely increased access to animal food sources (protein) from hunting.

Acheulian Tools

• Tools of H. erectus

• Soft hammer technique
• Use of fire
• Primary scavenger
• Opportunistic hunter?

Homo erectus and Patterns of Evolution

• African fossils are the most robust and are similar to Dmanisi forms.
• Earlier forms have smaller brains than forms dated later.

• Cranial capacity ranges from 650 cc to 1200 cc.
• Skull robusticity declined.

Which was the first species to use tools?

• Evolution of modern humans began about and homo sapiens first appeared

• Evolution of modern humans began about 350,000 yBP with emergence of archaic forms.
• First modern Homo sapiens appeared in Africa, 200,000 yBP.

• Archaic Homo sapiens in Africa 

• (350,000–200,000 yBP)

• Kabwe (Broken Hill, )

• Early Archaic Homo sapiens in Asia

• (350,000–130,000 yBP)

• Ngandong (Java)

• Early Archaic Homo sapiens in Europe 

• Sima de los Huesos (Atapuerca, Spain)
• (350,000–130,000 yBP)

H. heidelbergensis

• 850,000-200,000 years ago

• Africa, Europe
  possibly Asia
• Increased brain size
• Rounded brain case
• More vertical nose
• Deliberate bone processing of hominids by hominids
• BODO

heidelbergensis culture

• Developed Levallois technique
• Multiple tools from one core
• Evidence of hunting; wooden spears
• Possible use of language

Homo neanderthalensis

• 130-28 kya
• Europe and Middle East
• Generalized diet,
  Heavy reliance on meat
• Regional variation
• La Chapelle-aux-Saints

Comparing Humans
and Neanderthals

• Larger brain

• Cold adaptations

• Larger nose
• Large sinuses

• More robust

• Short & stocky
• 5-6in smaller than H. sapiens

Neanderthal culture

• Levallois Technique

• Mousterian tools

• Points, scrapers, hand axes
• Dressing hides,
  shaping wood tools,
  hunting large game

• Care of elders & sick

• Sharing resources
• Burial practices

Homo sapiens

• ~200kya-present day

• Oldest fossils in Ethiopia
• Presence of a chin (1st time)
• Capable of speech
• Minimal post-orbital constriction
• High, wide parietals
• Cro-magnon man

• Early Modern Homo sapiens in Africa

• (200,000–6,000 yBP)

• Herto, Aduma, Awash Valley, Omo

• Klasies River Mouth Cave, Hofmeyr

• Early Modern Homo sapiens in Asia

• (90,000–18,000 yBP)

• Skhul, Tianyuan Cave, Zhoukoudian

• Early Modern Homo sapiens in Europe

• (35,000–15,000 yBP)

• Oase, Predmostí, Dolni Vestnice

• Modern behavioral and cultural transitions

• happened first in Africa

• Painting, hunting, fishing, tool production, jewelry
• Once thought these originated in Europe
• At Katanda (Africa) catfish remains found from as early as 75,000 yBP

H. sapiens culture

• Manufactured shelters:
  huts of wood, bone and hide
• Cave Art: Depicted hunting

BLADE TECHNOLOGY

• Slender razor sharp, twice as long as wide
• Economical: 5 x edge use per pound of stone
• Refined precision in tool making quality
• Special purpose tools
• BURINS: used to engrave bone, antler, ivory, and wood 
• foun in homo sapiens

• Ancient DNA: Interbreeding between Neandertals and Early Modern People?

• Overlap in dates between Homo sapiens and Neandertals suggests coexistence, interbreeding.
• Supports “out of Africa” model

• Living People's Genetic Record

• Genetic records

• Rebecca Cann and colleagues found sub-Saharan populations more genetically diverse than other populations.
• Two possible explanations

• Populations have been in existence longer, so have more genetic mutations.
• Large population sizes influence genetic diversity, where larger populations have more diversity than smaller populations.

Assimilation Model

• Modern human anatomy arose first in Africa
• Originally a change in a species
• Spread through gene flow to populations outside of Africa
• Gene pool of non-African populations assimilated into expanding populations of modern humans out of Africa

Modern Human Dispersal

• Africa: 200 kya

• Middle East: 92 kya
• Australia: 60-46 kya
• East Asia: 60 kya
• Europe: 46-30 kya
• N. America: 20 kya
• S. America: 13 kya

African Replacement Model

• Modern humans emerged as a new species
• Spread throughout Old World
• Replace pre-existing Homo populations outside of Africa
• Any other Homo species become extinct and are not part of ancestry of living humans

Multiregional Evolutionary Model

• Modern human anatomy appeared in multiple locations
• Piecemeal across the Old World, different places and different times
• Modern humans arise through gene flow
• Interbreeding possible between two populations