Bio Antro Exam 3

Neandertal material culture

Continue with prepared core technology Mousterian Also blades Assemblages have few bone or antler tools. Anterior dentition as tool Association with Châtelperronian tradition (Upper Paleolithic)

Shift in Adaptive Strategy

Diet Ranging Tools Why? Climate instability? Glacial cycles

Neandertals

First discovered mid-1800s Caves - Buried the dead 100s of skeletons 150-35kya Europe, Asia, Near East, Middle East Fluctuating environment Cooling trend Eurasia Frigid grassland Many large mammals First discovered in 1830 at Engis cave, Belgium 1856: limestone quarry in the NeanderValley A distinct group within the genus Homo inhabiting Europe and Southwest Asia from approximately 30,000 to 125,000 years ago. fully modern in their organization and that the large size of the brain was a function of large body size and adaptation to the cold environments in which they evolved the Neandertal nose and pulled it away from the cheeks, forming a smooth transition from cheek to nose The semicircular canals of the inner ear assist in maintaining balance The anterior teeth are large compared with modern humans, and they show an unusual amount of wear that is much greater than that on the molars; moreover, the wear is greater than among modern human populations, even those who extensively use their anterior teeth Neandertals used these teeth as a third hand to hold objects. Neandertal upper incisors have ridges of enamel around the outer edges of the crown on the side nearest the tongue (lingual surface), giving the tooth a shovel-shaped appearance The postcranial skeleton of the Neandertals was massive compared with that of modern humans, chest was barrel-shaped, and the limbs, especially the forearm and shin, were short. (a body designed to conserve heat in a cold climate)

Neanderthals- hunting, subsistence, and cannibalism

Heavy meat reliance Kebara site Most animals found were healthy adults; Neandertals were capable hunters. Zoological evidence of seasonal and selective strategies to hunt large game Cannibalism As subsistence rather than ritualism

Neandertal Anatomy

Large brain (x=1520cc) Larger than Homo sapiens Relates to large body size Oblong skulls Long and low Occipital bun Maximum breadth - middle Juxtamastoid eminence No chin Large, projecting faces Large brows - double arched Big noses - why? Teeth/Jaw Heavily worn shovel-shaped incisors Retromolar space Taurodontism

Neanderthals coping with the cold

No sewing tools found Fire Hides Structures Tents Migration Seasonal or permanent Evidence Neandertals occupied sites near Israel during cold spells, while modern humans occupied them during warm spells ▪ Could represent same, highly variable species

Archaic H. sapiens tool kit

Prepared core technique Greater control Indicated forethought and abstract thinking Levallois technique Soft hammer techniques ▪ Bone and antler as hammerstones Retouched tools Greater variety of tool shapes Large game hunting Wooden spears (Germany) Butchered animal bones Importance of meat in diet Fire No proper hearths, but ash deposits and charred bones Similar evidence as H. erectus

Neanderthals Burials

Spy cave Anatomical position La Ferrassie Some ritualistic activity indicated by 9-year-old child remains surrounded by goat horns No grave goods Significant amount of time and energy devoted to burial of the dead

Middle Homo

"archaic Homo sapiens" or "advanced H. erectus," archaic H. sapiens, classic H. erectus survived in China and Indonesia until at least the middle Pleistocene and maybe later

Paranthropus boisei

(East Africa): 2.4 - 1.3 million years, dished face, sagittal crest, very strong sexual dimorphism, visor-like cheek bones, brain size 500 - 530 cc, very small incisors, canines, huge molar teeth, large strong jaws, hard and tough objects, skeleton like A. afarensis. Australopithecus (p.) boisei - East Africa - 2.3-1.2 mya - "Zinj"

Ardipithecus kadabba

(East Africa): 5.8 - 5.2 million years old. Fragmentary teeth and bones that are similar to Ardipithecus ramidus. Significant at the moment because of the dates. An early pre-australopithecine species from the late Miocene to the early Pliocene; shows evidence of a perihoning complex, a primitive trait intermediate between apes and modern humans.

Homo naledi

(~250,000 years ago). South Africa. Has traits of both Homo and Australopithecus. Had tools and buried dead Lee Berger

Paranthropus teeth

-Large molars and premolars -small front teeth -thick molar enamel -very large jaws

Defining anatomically modern homo sapiens

-large and gracile skull -rounded cranium -large, pyramidal mastoid process -small face -canine fossa -chin -long lower limbs

Miocene era

10-5.5 mya and early Pliocene at least one lineage of apes made the adapative shift to a terrestrial niche and became increasinly bipedal The shift to bipedality came about partly in response to major climatic changes that were occurring in equatorial Africa and was accompanied by anatomical changes to the pelvis, vertebral column, and other body systems of hominins. Molecular evidence suggests that the first hominins emerged from lineages of late Miocene apes

Paranthropus aethiopicus

2.5 mya small brain (400cc), prognathic face, flat base, and large anterior teeth, is primitive enough to be the evolutionary link between the early trunk of the hominin family tree and the specialized branch that led to the robust group

Lucy

40 percent of the skeleton of a female of the hominin species Australopithecus afarensis. discovered in 1974 in Africa, near the village Hadar in the Awash Valley of the Afar Triangle in Ethiopia The Lucy specimen is an early australopithecine and is dated to about 3.2 million years ago The skeleton presents a small skull akin to that of non-hominin apes, plus evidence of a walking-gait that was bipedal and upright, akin to that of humans (

Zhoukoudian

A cave system in Beijing, China. It has yielded many archaeological discoveries, including one of the first specimens of Homo erectus, dubbed Peking Man.

occipital bun

A cranial feature of Neandertals in which the occipital bone projects substantially from the skull's posterior.

*Australopithecus africanus

A gracile australopithecine from South Africa that was contemporaneous with Au. aethiopicus, Au. garhi, and Au. boisei and was likely ancestral to Au. robustus. Taung Child "southern ape-man" Australopithecus garhi East Africa. 2.5 mya - Small brain - Prognathic face - Sagittal crest Not stone tools, but • Stone tool cut marks on animal bones small-bodied biped that possessed the broad and short iliac blade of the pelvis and structural adaptations in the spine, leg, and foot that characterize habitual bipeds slightly smaller than the robusts Cranially compared to Au. afarensis: - Slightly larger brain - No crests - More rounded cranium

Orrorin tugenesis

A pre-australopithecine species found in East Africa that displayed some of the earliest evidence of bipedalism(femur). kenya Chimp sized with upper arm bones that suggest tree-climbing abilities and thigh bones suggesting bipedalism. 6 mya

Diastema

A space between two teeth In a monkey or ape, the enormous canines of the upper jaw (the maxilla) must fit into a space, or diastema, in the tooth row of the lower jaw (the mandible) where they slide past the third premolar The very earliest Australopithecus show some reduction of the canine, the absence or reduction of a diastema, and at least partial loss of the CP3 honing complex, often including the presence of a two-cusped premolar.

Cenozoic era

Age of mammals (human and primate evolution) last 65 million years Miocene, Pliocene,Pliestocene

Ardipithecus ramidus

Ardi - Mix of human and ape features - Cranially: » Small brain (300- 350cc) » Small canines, no honing complex - Post-cranially » Long fingers » Feet » Divergent big toe!! - BUT, pelvis, wrist, palm human-like "ground-living root hominin" primitive traits, including relatively thin enamel and little postcanine enlargement or megadontia, as well as possible locomotor differences (such as an abducted big toe) 4.4 mya

Home base

Area that early hominins may have brought tools and carcasses activities centered here

Homo erectus

Asia Thicker cranial bones More pronounced browridges 1.8-0.05mya Evolved from early Homo 1.9 mya - <100,000ya? Tool use Leave Africa Modern body proportions single, widely dispersed species Skull shape: long and low; pentagon from back ▪ Low, sloping forehead ▪ Supraorbital torus ▪ Sagittal keel Average brain size 900cc Reduced postorbital constriction Powerful teeth and jaw, but smaller ▪ Shovel-shaped incisors KNM-WT 15000 (Nariokotome/Turkana boy) 9-12 yr old boy Overall - extremely humanlike Long legs, narrow hips, barrel chest Modern limb proportions

Australopithecines: Gracile:

Australopithecus anamensis Australopithecus afarensis Australopithecus africanus Australopithecus sebida

Taung

Austrolopithecus africanus - southern ape found in africa, dismissed as a gorilla, 3-4 yrs old, lived 2.6 mya, juvenile Hominid, Small brain, large jaw,

Scavenging vs hunting evidence

Bands of early humans may have courageously attacked and slaughtered large and dangerous game (hunting). Or they could have fought off large predators, such as saber-toothed cats, to gain access to significant amounts of meat and marrow (confrontational scavenging) Or perhaps they crept nervously up to decomposing, nearly stripped carcasses to glean a few scraps of meat and fat (passive scavenging there was evidence at some fossil sites that H. habilis wasn't the first to eat from the animal carcasses ample scavenging opportunities existed for hominins 2 million years ago H. habilis acquired animal resources in any form they could, through both hunting for small animals and scavenging carcasses Regardless of whether meat and marrow was obtained by hunting or scavenging, the archaeological record shows that hominins increasingly used stone tools to assist in the consumption of large animals The two innovations of stone tool manufacture and animal resource exploitation undoubtedly shaped much of subsequent human evolutionary history.

Origins of Homo

Begin reversal of australopithecine pattern starts ~2.5 Mya in Africa ▪ Larger, more rounded cranium ▪ Smaller, less projecting face ▪ Smaller teeth A little later ▪ Larger body ▪ Shorter arms ▪ More efficient bipedalism

Early homo

Big brain - No • Language - No • Teeth - some ape-like • Bipedal - Yes First discovered at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania by Louis & Mary Leakey in 1960 aka habilines Homo habilis Handy man Oldowan tools East and South Africa Taxonomic diversity 2 species? Homo rudolfensis is the hominid group from which modern humans were probably descended The genus Homo appears to have originated sometime between 2.5 and 3 million years ago Until recently, the earliest fossil Homo were fragmentary remains dating to 2.3-2.4 million years old from Hadar and Omo in Ethiopia, Uraha in Malawi, and possibly the Chemeron Formation in Kenya.

Will you know a hominin when you see one

Bipedal Dentition - Size of anterior and posterior teeth - Parabolic arch vs. U-shaped - Diastema - CP3 honing complex Prognathism vs flat face

Sagittal crest

Bony projection on top of the cranium for attachment of chewing muscles. Australopithecus, Au. garhi Au. afarensis

Malapa

Cave in South Africa, just northwest of Sterkfontein and Swartkrans, where *Australopithecus sediba* was found.

Early Homo vs Austrlopithecines

Differ from Australopithecines: Larger brains* Smaller teeth* More rounded cranium Reduced facial projection Similar to Australopithecines: Small bodies Primitive body proportions

Australopithecus sebida

Discovered 2010 in South Africa (1.97- 1.78MYA) - Slight brain increase (420-435 cc) - Characteristics similar to Homo • dental anatomy • face • pelvis 1.977 and 1.78 brain size is small, around 420-435 cc, and the body size is small with long arms characteristics similar to genus Homo and sometimes even H. erectus (a more advanced form than the earliest members of the genus) characters include dental size and shape, particularly of the molars and canines, a broad frontal, a derived face, and features of the pelvis.

The old man of La Chapelle

Discovered in 1908 first relatively complete skeleton of a Neanderthal individual that scientists had ever found limestone bedrock of a small cave near La Chapelle-aux-Saints, France

Homo erectus dispersal out of Africa

Dmanisi, Georgia 1.7 million years old brain (600-775 cc) Oldowan stone tools First evidence of hominins out of Africa

Sahelanthropus tchadensis

East Africa The Toumai fossil consists of a fairly complete skull, mandibular fragments, and isolated teeth Other characters that argue for Toumai being a hominin are a large browridge, somewhat smaller canine teeth, a nonfunctional CP3 honing complex, no diastema, and possibly an anteriorly placed foramen magnum, which may indicate bipedality also exhibits a number of ape-like characters, including small brain size (cranial capacity is 320-380 cc), a U-shaped dental arcade, and somewhat thin enamel (but intermediate between chimps and Australopithecus)

Homo ergaster

East Africa (Republic of Georgia); thinner cranial bones, less pronounced brow ridges 1.8-1.0mya

Dmanisi

Homo Erectus fossils found in Georgia that show differences (size, less robust, thinner browridge, projecting lower face) that give evidence that Homo Erectus was the first Homo species to leave Africa. Oldest known archaeological site outside of Africa, Located in the Republic of Georgia and 1.7 and 1.8mya

Homo erectus vs. Homo ergaster

Homo erectus in Asia, Homo ergaster in Africa Most successful hominin species; lived from 2 MYA to 100 KYA (span of 1.9 million years) Homo ergaster: 1.8-1.0 MYA, East Africa and Georgia, thinner cranial bones, less pronounced brow ridges, Acheulean tools Homo erectus: 1.8-.05 MYA, Asia, thicker crania and more pronounced brow ridges, Oldowan tools

differences between genus Australopithecus and Homo

Homo habilis possesses a greater cranial capacity, reduced prognathism, a flatter face and a shorter tooth row, smaller jaws and smaller molar and premolar crown sizes, more rounded cranial vaults

Archaic Homo Sapiens

Important transition Diverse anatomically Larger brain (1,000- 1,400cc) BUT.... Large face Large arched brow ridges Long, low skull Large, receding chin a loosely defined group within the genus homo that "lumpers" use for fossils with the combination of large brain size and ancestral features on the skull Hominins dating from 500,000 to 200,000 years ago that possessed morphological features found in both Homo erectus and Homo sapiens shows a mixture of Homo erectus and Homo sapiens traits. large cranial capacities; massive but more arching, non-bar-like supraorbital tori; and less angular vaults, with their greatest width higher on the cranium. Most scientists assign the Asian fossils to archaic H. sapiens Stone tools: Acheulean continues until 150 kya Simple flake tools & cores in China

What species are first associated with tool use

It is not known for sure which hominin species created and used Oldowan tools. Its emergence is often associated with the species Australopithecus garhi and its flourishing with early species of Homo such as H. habilis and H. ergaster.

Broken Hill

Kabwe cranium. Specimen was found in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and assigned to a new species Homo rhodenesis (type specimen: ~300-120,000 yrs)

Laetoli

Location in Tanzania where tracks of australopithecine footprints were found showing that australopithecines walked upright

*Australopithecus afarensis

Lucy Afar Triangle in Ethiopia anatomy is more primitive than that of any hominin known up at that time includes both human and ape features tiny, brain the size of adult chimpanzee skeleton is more complete than nay other fossil face was prognathic dental arcade is U-shaped with large anterior teeth (all ape like traits) Facial prognathism • Diastema, no CP3 honing complex • Cranial crests - Sagittal - Compound temporal nuchal • Teeth: - Bicuspid premolar - Smaller canines, larger molars Funnel shaped rib cage => more vegetation Locomotion Bipedal spine, pelvis, knee, ankle, foot ****Laetoli Footprints Some tree climbing scapula, fingers Dikika child: Selam - Dikika Ethiopia - 3.3 mya - 3-year-old female - Important questions: • Language? No based on hyoid bone • CT scans: Slower brain maturation (75% at 3 yrs)

Pleistocene

Middle Pleistocene (900- 125kya) Climate cooler and more variable Ice ages: Europe and North America glaciated Short interglacials The most recent epoch of the Late Cenozoic Ice Age, beginning about 1.8 million years ago and marked by as many as 20 glaciations and interglaciations of which the current warm phase, the Holocene epoch, has witnessed the rise of human civilization. H. erectus began to move out of Africa and into western Asia and ultimately the northerly latitudes of Europe, harsh climate appears to have kept hominins from moving too far north permanently until they had sufficient cultural means of buffering the conditions begin to find fossils that exhibit features often interpreted as being more "advanced," or derived in the direction of H. sapiens, than was H. erectus Homo erectus leaves Africa climate change following food supply (migrating herd animals) technology anatomical changes changes in foraging strategies

Homo erectus behavior

More meat eating => higher quality diet Smaller gut More leisure time Hunting and scavenging Fire? Benefits: ▪ Cooking food ▪ Protection

basics of the different tool industries.

Most Neandertal fossils have been found in association with Middle Paleolithic tools this tool industry builds on past tool cultures such as the Acheulean by using some similar tools, such as bifaces, and adding prepared-core techniques. There is a greater reliance on small flaked tools than in Acheulean industries. here is systematic variation in tool complexity in the Middle Paleolithic all early Neandertals and contemporaneous anatomically modern humans (such as those from Skhul and Qafzeh) are associated with Mousterian tools there is no reason to expect that stone tool traditions will correlate with anatomical differences between hominins.

Neandertal health and disease

Most skeletal remains show evidence of traumatic injury and pathological conditions. Neandertals lived hard lives. Why so many skeletal injuries? Too close to prey while hunting? Fractures may vary by geographic region according to the ruggedness of terrain.

Ardi

Nickname for a 4.4-million-year-old fossilised specimen of Ardipithecus ramidus. thought to be an early human-like female anthropoid 4.4 million years old. most complete early hominid specimen,with most of the skull, teeth, pelvis, hands and feet discovered at Aramis in the arid badlands near the Awash River in Ethiopia in 1994 by a college student,

Neandertal Behavior (language)

Not unreasonable to assume Neandertals possessed a fairly sophisticated form of communication Inference based on direct observation of living humans

The Oldowan toolmakers

Oldest tools -Gona (2.5mya) Oldowan tool industry Flake - stone fragment struck from a core Core - raw material source that flakes are removed from Hammer stones - used to strike cores to produce flakes or expose bone marrow

Homo erectus tool use

Oldowan with earliest erectus (Africa, Georgia) Acheulean industry (~1.76mya) Biface: hand axe and cleavers Specifically designed Unchanged for ~1 million years Oldowan + Acheulean = Early Stone Age (ESA) or Lower Paleolithic (LP) Movius Line Why? Differences in selective pressures and raw materials Hominins left before Acheulean developed No 1:1 correlation between tool technology and species

Australopithecines: Robust

Paranthropus aethiopicus Paranthropus boisei Paranthropus robustus Cranial adaptations associated with hard object feeding: • Large chewing muscles (temporalis, masseter) - Crests (sagittal, temporal nuchal) - Huge cheek bones (zygomatic arches) - Large temporal fossa Small brain + Large temporal fossa => Post-orbital constriction evolutionary dead end because of their extreme anatomical specializations united by a suite of cranial features related to their feeding adaptation that made them extremely efficient at producing a great deal of force at their molars hard-object feeding, chewing tough food items such as hard-shelled nuts or fibrous vegetation-survive during times when not much food existed, because they were specialized for eating a kind of food that other hominins could not eat. The Black Skull

Australopithecus differ from Paranthropus

Paranthropus is thought to have lived in wooded areas rather than the grasslands of Australopithecus. Paranthropus is thought to be bipedal based on its anatomical structure in its hips, legs, and feet that resemble both its ancestor, Australopithecus afarensis, and modern humans.

Neandertal Anatomy

Postcrania Short and stocky More robust limbs with better developed muscle attachments Wide torso Short arms and legs "hyper-polar" bodies

Pliocene era

Rise of the monkeys and hominids ~ Ardipithecus ramidus: first undisputed biped (most recent era) During the early Pliocene, ice sheets became permanent features at both the North and the South Poles Cyclic glaciation began about 3 million years ago and became increasingly intense throughout the Pleistocene. when we see the most changes in the occurrence of different species of mammals

Nutcracker Man

Robust Australopithecus boisei. Sagittal crest; adaptation for heavy chewing; HUGE molars, large face, NOT ancestors or Homo. Large face with sexual dimorphism an advanced species of ape that walked erect

Earliest possible (STEM) hominins

Sahelanthropus tchadensis Orrorin tugenesis Ardipithecus kadabba Ardipithecus ramidus

Rising Star Cave

South Africa - Discoverd by Lee Berger and team in 2013 - More specimens here than in other paleoanthropological finds total (>17,000) "Rising Star Hominin" Homo naledi 236-335 kya Adult Male 4 ft 10 in 100-110 lbs

Paranthropus robustus

South Africa 2.0-1.5 mya early hominid that was sturdier and more muscular than its close relatives Its cranial capacity is between 500 and 550 cc, and the postcranial skeleton indicates a body size of about 70-90 pounds shape of the nasals and browridge and the presence of bony pillars next to the nose

Raymond Dart

South Africa, Found the skull of an infant male, Taung child (looked like human) Taung Child - Foramen magnum - Small canines - No browridges - Less facial prognathism Taung: - Small brain - From Africa

Evidence for meat eating

Taphonomy: a study of what happens to boneafter death. Tooth vs. stone tool marks Olduvai Not water accumulated Some hyena dens Hominins: cut & percussion marks

Sahelanthropus tchadensis

The earliest pre-australopithecine species found in central Africa with possible evidence of bipedalism. 6-7 mya Chad oldest hominin one of only two found in West Africa - Mixed features: • Anterior foramen magnum • Small canines, no honing complex • Large browridges • Small brain (360 cc) • U-shaped arcade

post-orbital constriction

The narrowness of the skull behind the eye orbits, a characteristic of early hominins and Homo erectus.

Australopithecus anamensis

The oldest species of australopithecine from East Africa and a likely ancestor to A. afarensis. 4.2-3.8 mya early incontrovertible evidence of bipedality-tibia has thickened bone dental arcade U-shaped canine smaller than ardipithecus Ardi - Mix of human and ape features - Cranially: » Small brain (300- 350cc) » Small canines, no honing complex - Post-cranially » Long fingers » Feet » Divergent big toe!! - BUT, pelvis, wrist, palm human-like

What are some of the hypotheses for the origin of bipedalism in hominins?

The shift to bipedality came about partly in response to major climatic changes that were occurring in equatorial Africa and was accompanied by anatomical changes to the pelvis, vertebral column, and other body systems of hominins Frees up arms tools use Feeding adaptation - Arboreal bipedalism - Ground feeding Energetics - Environmental shift - open habitats - Bipedalism saves energy compared to knucklewalker** - Costs/benefits (time spent arboreal vs terrestrial) • 60-70% time on ground Thermoregulation - Less solar radiation in each generation the emerging biped must have been very good at surviving and reproducing, or else natural selection would not have pushed the process further.

H habilis vs H rudolfensis

The two species of early Homo seem to be very different in terms of facial anatomy, but not size unclear which of the two species of early Homo—H. habilis or H. rudolfensis—gave rise to later species of Homo H. rudolfensis is the more derived species, but its facial anatomy doesn't seem to anticipate that of H. erectus On the other hand, H. habilis is more primitive and probably makes a better, more generalized ancestor for H. erectus. Their anatomy suggests they may have partitioned the environment based on resources (much as we saw with the australopithecines). H. habilis clear evidence that they made and used stone tools

Homo habilis/Homo rudolfensis

The two species of early Homo seem to be very different in terms of facial anatomy, but not size, and it is unclear which of the two species of early Homo—H. habilis or H. rudolfensis—gave rise to later species of Homo. H. rudolfensis is the more derived species, but its facial anatomy doesn't seem to anticipate that of H. erectus On the other hand, H. habilis is more primitive and probably makes a better, more generalized ancestor for H. erectus. Whoever gave rise to later Homo, the anatomical differences between the two early species suggest there were at least two species of genus Homo living sympatrically in East Africa between 1.5 and 2.0 million years ago, along with sympatric Australopithecus

Origins of tool use

Tool use probably quite ancient Apes use tools Sticks to extract insects Stone to crack open nuts Sticks to test water depth

Neanderthals ritual and symbolic behavior

Very little in the Neandertal archaeological record to indicate symbolic behavior Some incised bones recovered from Mousterian sites Pierced animal teeth may have been items of personal adornment (Arcy-sur-Cure, France) An incised plate of a mammoth tooth, from the site of Tata

retromolar space

a gap between the third molar and the ascending ramus of the mandible

hominin

a member of the primate family Hominidae, distinguished by bipedal posture and, in more recently evolved species, a large brain

Piltdown

a paleoanthropological hoax in which bone fragments were presented as the fossilised remains of a previously unknown early human. Charles Dawsom fossil find considered an important link in human evolution until it was shown to be a fake in 1953 Piltdown (fraud!): - Large brain - From Europe

sagittal keel

an inverted V-shaped ridge running along the top of the skull in Homo erectus

shovel shaped incisors

anterior teeth that, on their lingual (tongue) surface, are concave with two raised edges that make them look like tiny shovels

temporal fossa

area superior and deep to the zygomatic arch can feel behind your earlobe

Homo rudolfensis

bigger brained bigger teeth (1.9-1.6 mya) Large cranium and very robust mandible. Some consider to not be Homo. Early species belonging to our genus, Homo. Similar enough to Homo habilis that some paleoanthropologists make no distinction between the two.

Which features appear first in the hominin fossil record?

bipedal walking and smaller blunt canines

What are the anatomical and muscular features that indicate bipedalism?

body weight passes down the spine to the sacrum, where it transfers to the hips, and onto the two legs The biped's skull balances on top of its S-shaped vertebral column such that the junction of the spinal cord and brain, which occurs through a hole in the occipital bone called the foramen magnum, is positioned underneath the skull in bipeds, as are the neck muscle attachments Foramen magnum Spine/Verebral Column Cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacrum, coccyx - S-shaped vs. C-shaped - Larger lumbar verts Pelvis - Illium: short and broad with curvature vs. tall and flat Pelvis - Abductor mechanism (Gluteal muscles) - Shape increase leverage and efficiency Femur - Long femoral neck - Uneven cortical bone distribution - Bicondylar angle Foot - Short toes ("toe off") - Nongrasping big toe - Arches Arms - Shorter arms and fingers - Less curvature - No longer used for walking

zygomatic arch

cheek bone

CP3 honing complex

combination of canine and first premolar teeth that form a self-sharpening apparatus The very earliest Australopithecus show some reduction of the canine, the absence or reduction of a diastema, and at least partial loss of the CP3 honing complex, often including the presence of a two-cusped premolar

Nariokotome boy

discovered by Richard Leakey; most complete Homo erectus ever found; age ~12; would have been 6 ft. tall; found in Lake Turkana, Kenya; we know its age because of its immature dentition Overall - extremely humanlike Long legs, narrow hips, barrel chest Modern limb proportions

dental arcade shape

human tooth row forms a rounded, parabolic arch reflecting the smaller anterior teeth (canines and incisors) and posterior teeth (premolars and molars) The dental arcade of a primate with large canines, such as a chimpanzee or baboon, is broader in front and U-shaped, with the teeth behind the canines forming two parallel rows Early hominins tend to have smaller anterior teeth, including canines, than living apes, but their arcade remains relatively U-shaped.

What are the key distinguishing features separating humans from the other primates?

large brain different shape of skull bipedal gait more advanced/nimble use of hands communication production of (better) tools

earliest possible hominins

majority of the fossil evidence of the earliest hominins has come from the Great Rift Valley of East Africa (Great Lakes of Africa) Molecular evidence suggests that the first hominins emerged from lineages of late Miocene apes. Sahelanthropus tchadensis(7-5mya)

What evidence is there for tool use

ome evidence that stone tools were used around 3.3-3.4 million years ago, but such evidence is rare. A set of cutmarks from Dikika, Ethiopia, estimated to be 3.4 million years old, are argued to be evidence of use of stone tools We don't know for certain which early hominin made which tools because we don't find hominin fossils actually holding the tools

Home erectus

or homo ergaster upright man Africa 1.8-1.9 mya first hominin to leave the continent characterized by a somewhat larger body and brain and a uniquely shaped skull hows the beginnings of a modern human body plan browridge forehead has a low sloping or receding appearance H. erectus brain size ranges from something less than 600 to 1,200 cc, averaging about 900 cc

Dikika - Selam

ossilized skull and other skeletal remains of a three-year-old Australopithecus afarensis female hominin, whose bones were first found in Dikika, Ethiopia in 2000 and recovered over the following years. "Lucy's baby"

Butchering site

place where hominins butcher carcasses

Quarrying site

place where hominins get raw materials for tools

fossil

preserved remnants of once living things

sub-nasal and mid-face prognathism/projection

projection of the face well in front of the braincase midfacial-the foward projection of the middle facial region, including the nose

Fossil hominins can be recognized by anatomical characters

related to bipedalism, by reduction of the canine teeth and CP3 complex, and by changes in palate shape.

Homo habilis

smaller brained smaller teeth extinct species of upright east African hominid having some advanced humanlike characteristics first to make stone tools 1.9-1.4 mya reduced facial size, a parabolic palate, and some brain enlargement

Homo floresiensis

the "hobbits" Flores, Indonesia <100 kya Small bodied 3 feet tall Small brained ~400 cc Stone tools Island dwarfism of Homo erectus? Diseased Homo sapiens? A distinct species closely related to Homo erectus and only found on the Indonesian island of Flores. They are tiny, with cranial capacities of about 380cc Nicknamed "Hobbit" for its diminutive size, a possible new species of Homo found in Liang Bua Cave, on the Indonesian island of Flores..

Understanding the Austalopithecine Radiation

• Cohabitation - Share same habitat => morphological differences related to diet - NS avoids feeding competition • Tool Use and Intelligence - Living apes and monkeys are examples - Osteodontokeratic culture (Dart) - Au. garhi, Au. afarensis, & robusts possible tool users