Evolutionary Exam Final

Early art suggests...

...capacity for symbolic thought and communication e.g. Female sculpture dating back 35 KYA in Germany e.g. Indonesian cave wall art (40KYA) Cognition has increased over time

Eukaryotic Algae

2 GYA SEE PIC

What is life?

Ability to store and transmit information and to express that information (genotype/phenotype). Growth, reproduction. Ability to evolve Metabolize

John A. Widtsoe

Also doctoral degree "They do not deny that an evolutionary process, a reflection of the gospel law of progression, may be one of the methods of the Lord's labor in the universe"

Great Apes

Chimps, Gorillas, Orangutans, Bonobos, Humans Hylobates (Gibbons) = sister group to the Great Apes

Chimps vs Humans (Spine)

Humans = S (sigmoid) shaped in humans, form of locomotion Chimps = like a suspension bridge (curved)

Biogenesis

Not really in the realm of evolutionary bio.. but cool and interesting

Tools

Object purposefully made for a specific function -all apes very interested in technology and electronic devices Where do we see tools in nature? e.g. Gorillas uses stick to probe depther of water while crossing the river e.g. Chimps crack nuts with specific stones e.g. Bonobos cracking old palm nuts e.g. Chimps create sticks to fish out termites or ants -Juveniles not as good as mothers at making tools

Australopithecine vs Chimps

Skull, spine, arms and legs, pelvis, femur -Aust: arms not as short as Homo -Aust: femur angle puts feet below body for bipedalism SEE PIC

Ardipithecus ramidus (2009)

"Ardi" Early hominin fossil with exquisite preservation

• Relative Dating

- More primitive forms should be found in older (lower) strata.

Denisova DNA

-Denisovan alleles present in some members of H. sapiens e.g. Indonesia, Australia, New Guinea, Fiji, etc. SEE PIC

Social evolution...

... may have driven increased brain size We see a trend where brain size has been flatlined for millions of years. About 2 million years ago they began to increase and then at 1 million years ago it really began to increase Good argument that social evolution has increased brain size -e.g. forming tools in context of social structure SEE PIC

"Lucy" Relative (2019)

First skull associated with A. anamensis -much older ancestor of Lucy -demonstrates more periods of species overlapping SEE PIC

Sahelanthropus tchadensis "Toumai" (2009)

Found right at the point where humans/chimps share an ancestor timewise -Found in a cave near Johannesberg; 2 MYA -4 ft 2 inches high -Has a mosaic of Homo and Australopithecus characteristics -A very recent Australopithecine -Ardi was also published in 2009

Current hypothesis for expansion out of Africa

Greatest allelic variation aka most DNA diversity = in Africa (where the lineage orginated, didn't go through bottlenecks like it did in other areas as they migrated) SEE PIC

Chimps vs Humans (Pictures)

SEE PICSS

Bruce R McConkie

Son-in-law to Elder SMith Writes Mormon Doctrine: lots of anti-evolutionary ideas

Nature Article

Specimen (bone fragment) found with Neanderthal mother and Denisovan father -mitachondrial DNA = all neanderthal -nuclear DNA = mix of neanderthal and Denisovan DNA Maybe interbreeding was a pretty common practice?? Siberia's Denisova cave is the only known site housing remains from Neanderthals, Denisovans, and early modern humans

Gigantopithecus

We have actual cast of mandible 10 feet tall, 1200 pounds

Homo habilis "Handyman"

• 1.5-2.1 MYA • East Africa • Up to 680 cc Brain • Post Cranial skeleton like Australopithecus • Longer legs, but still long arms (no running). • Lucy size • Precision grip • Oldowan tools -Relatively large incisors, narrow premolars and molars -Increased size of the braincase (cranium 675cc) reduction in the size of the face (a trend that continues to our day) -The prescence of a precision grip (based on a series of hand bones found) providing the anatomical basis for tool making -First hominins where we are certain there are tools associated with them (Debate about whether Paranthropus had tools or not) -Neck up, like Homo -Neck down, like Australopithecus -small, approximately Lucy sized

Nuchal ligament

(attaches to back of the skull, stabilizes head bobbing while running)

Short arms

(don't drag, don't have to lift = less energy required)

• Morphology

- Humans should have remnants of morphological features that reflect biological connection to other species. We DO see this

• Absolute Dating

- More primitive forms should show more ancient ages than more advanced forms.

• Phylogeny

- Multiple lines of evidence should support humans in specific positions on the tree of life.

• Genetic Systems

- The human genetic system must be derivable from other forms of life and most similar to the great apes.

• Chromosomal Structure

- The organization of human chromosomes should be derivable from a common ancestor of apes and humans.

• Genetic Similarity

- The overall genetic similarity between humans and their closest living relatives should reflect ancestry.

• Fossil Record

- There should be a wide variety of fossil remains indicating ancestry. i.e. expect to find fossils showing hominin evolution

Apsu and Tiamak (Mesopotamia/Babylonian)

-Apsu = freshwater male -Tiamak = ocean water female -Gods reside in Tiamat, they make a lot of noise. Apsu kills the gods. Tiamat disagrees. Has child Marduk, chops up Tiamat in a final battle, each piece = new species

Walking vs Running Figure

-In humans, walking is accomplished via an inverted pendulum mechanism. -Walking = legs moving back and forth, like pendulum, very stable; running = less stable form of locomotion, but humans are really good at this There is a point at which it becomes energetically more efficient to move from a walk, to a jog, to a sprint. -Speekwalking naturally transitions to jog because it's more effecient -Same thing happens as job speeds up, goes to run/sprint Trotting in quadrupeds = jogging in humans; galloping = running -In human running, a massspring mechanism stores energy in leg tendons and ligaments, which is then released through recoil. In humans, the COT curve is U - shaped for walking but not for endurance running. In quadrupeds, the cost of transport (COT) curve is u - shaped for walking, trotting, and galloping. -U shaped means that there is one point where speed is most efficient -For humans running speed doesn't matte so much because metabolic cost stays relatively the same, no optimal speed SEE PIC Humans Increase Speed in Endurance running primarily by increasing the length of their stride, not by increasing stride rate

Interbreeding

-Not all modern humans have Denisovan dNA so they are NOT a common ancestor to humans, but there WAS interbreeding! e.g. no trace of Denisovan or Neanderthal DNA/alleles in Africans Also have found "ghost species" in modern human DNA which shoes that they also interbred with other species that we don't know about yet. ** Homo sapien DNA is a combo from long ancestry and from interbreeding of species SEE PIC

Jebel Irhoud Human (2017)

-Oldest Homo sapiens discovered to date -300,000 YA H. sapiens (Morocco) -Found stone tools, evidence of fires -Previous record was held by two Ethiopian fossils (160,000 to 195,000 YA) -Note how they look the same form the front, the back of the cranium is very different. In modern humans the back of the skull is globe shaped; more elongate in these guys. Means that by 300,000 YA H. sapiens had spread across Africa and was leaving to go to other continents SEE PIC

Neanderthals and modern humans form...

... separate monophyletic groups DNA suggests some interbreeding between Neanderthals and non-African humans SEE PIC Map shows where Neanderthal DNA has been recovered 38-70 KYA

Single Cell Eukaryotic Fossils

590 MYA SEE PIC

Paranthropus

A side group in hominin evolution (didn't give rise to the lineage with homo sapiens) Para = to the side of Thropus = human A unique group SEE PIC

Private Convo goes Public...

As Elder Roberts is fulfilling his general authority responsibilities, starts sharing his ideas in his talks, brethern in SLC are a little alarmed. Joesph Fielding Smith also begins preaching from the pulpit AGAINST pre-Adamite theory without mentioning Roberts. -JFS publishes his paper against pre-Adamite in Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine: Faith Leads to Fulness of Truth and Righteousness -Like publishing in the Ensign; you have approval from church leaders -"I do not care what scientists say" Upsets Roberts because he agredd not to publish, and Fieldings' ideas did NOT go before review committee -Roberts writes the first Presidents and asks if JFS ideas were approved and represent official views of the church or if it was an unofficial declaration and the opinion of Elder Smith ("hasn't done any official research)

Seminary and Institute teachers given anti-science talk...

By Elder Smith Nine days later, President J. Reuben Clark Jr., second counselor in the 1st Presidency and a veteran of over twenty years' service in the Presidency, delivered his speech "When are the Writings or Sermons of Church Leaders Entitled to the Claim of Scripture?" His message was clear and hitting; it has no peer in Mormon literature -Emphasizes that only the President of the Church may declare doctrine, give interpretation of scripture, "or change i nany way the existing doctrines of the Church" Proceeds to examination of scriptural affirmation that whatever the holder of the priesthood speak "when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture..." Reference to D&C 68:4

Joseph Fielding Smith: Man, His Origin and Destiny

Calls evolution apostasy, denying God, atonement, and religion. Table of Contents From Joseph Fielding Smith's Doctrines of Salvation makes it clear how he feels about the topic SEE PIC Where did he get this attitude from? Previous authorities

FOXP2 implicated in capacity for language

Coding sequence the same in Neanderthals and Denisovans - Human have a unique allele involved in regulation of the FOXP2 SEE PIC Affected = indviduals without the allele In individuals WITH the allele present, when they listen to language, they have an areas of the brain that lights up under MRI. This area is the Broca's area In individuals WITHOUT the allele, Broca's area does not light up but other part of the brain do Humans have a unique regulatory elemnet (binding site for a transcription factor POU3F2) that may influence the function of FOXP2

Questions to consider regarding human evolution and its existence.

Do you find the evidence for the biological basis of human origins compelling? If not, what additional evidence would you require? Does this understanding fundamentally change who you are? Does this knowledge enhance or detract from your personal religious convictions? Dizzying pace of discovery Incredible diversity of forms; rich lineage with many species; not simply chimp to human Truckloads of fossils; tons of molecular date (over 100,000 fossils representing 6,000 individuals) Neanderthal from Italy. Spelunkers discovered this skull covered in part by stalactices.

Lemuriformes (Lemurs, Lorises, and Bushbabies)

Endemic to Madagascar; once roamed in Africa with fossils -Nearly 100 spp. 90% of species face extinction int he next 20 years -lemur sloth went extinct 2000 years ago SEE PICS OF SPECIES

General Human Evolution Portrayal

Fundamental problem with these portrayals because they suggest a straight line of evolution from chimps to humans -This is NOT true because we share a recent common ancestor. Hominin evolution is very branchlike and complex. Humans consist of a lot of genetic input from other species (other hominin lineages) -Mosaic like, very complex

Phylogentic Approach (hominin evolution)

Good figure because it shows key innovations

Gorillas

Gorilla gorilla (Western gorilla) Gorilla beringei (Eastern gorilla) -There are two subspecies Dian Fossey -Male dominated societies, juvenile males head off on own to form their own troop -Very endangered

Committee for Roberts' book

Heber J Grant creates a committee to go over the manuscript and give reccomendations. Chair = George Albert Smith Joseph Fielding Smith, David O McKay, Melvin J Ballard, Stephen L Richards

Homo ergaster VS Homo errectus

Homo ergaster -Increased cranial breadth along the parietal bones (lateral) -Increased occipital bone length. -Broader nasal bones, broader nasal opeing -Shorter cranial base -Greater development of the mandibular symphysis (similar to habilis) -Cranial capacity of 850 cc -1.75 MYA Homo erectus -Flat forehead and cheekbones. -Projecting face. -Braincase flattened at sides and broadest at base -Cranial capacity 900 cc -Also important because many behavioral changes occur in this time period, e.g. much more developed lithic industries, the controlled use of fire, regular meat eating, hunting, etc. -This is where the things most people consider "human" start to develop to the point where most people would recognize these patterns of anatomy and behavior as human. -800,000 years ago -Very little use of stone tools; bamboo? Hard to know where one species ends/begins because lots of transitional fossils found (often generally referred to H. erectus)

Adaptations for Human Running

Homo ergaster and H. erectus -adaptations show up at transformation from habilis to ergaster MAJOR transformations in morphology • Big glutes • Short toes • Foot arch • Loose shoulders/nuchal ligament • Achilles tendon • Short arms • Sweat glands/Lack of hair • Mouth breathing during ER

How Old...?

How old is the universe? 10 - 20 billion years (based on the burn rates of globular clusters of the oldest stars & rate of universe expansion) How old is the earth? 4.5 - 4.6 billion years (based on radiometric dating of meteorites) When did life first arise? 3.9 - 4.0 billion years ago ?? (based on graphite particles in sedimentary rock from Greenland) 1. This sedimentary rock, from Greenland is 3.7 billion years old. 2. Examination under a microsope reveals that they rock in (a) contains microscopic graphite particle (compessed carbon), which appear as black dots in this photo. The pgraphite particles contain ratios of carbon isotopes that suggest they are derived from living cells. 3. Carbon has two stable isotopes; c12 and c13. Biological systems use c12 at a higher rate than c13. Therefore, when they examined the graphite they found it had ratios charcteristic of life 4. This finding is controversial with some arguing that geological processes could result in this isotopic ratio

Cranial Morphology (chimps vs humans)

Human 1. Chewing side to side (mandible can move sideways) 2. 1250-1500 cc 3. Brain above brow ridges (cranium built over brow ridges) 4. Teeth form parabolic arch (both mandible and maxilla) 5. Diastema absent (diastema = gap between incisors and canines can interdigitate. Also Canines have deepest roots in BOTH species) 6. High palate (dome shaped) 7. Lower jaw parabolic 8. No simian shelf = chin (simian shelf = inside mouth, directly behind lower incisors, chin in humans keeps mandible from snapping; chin = build up of bone on outside of mouth) 9. Room for tongue / phonation (Humans have ability to make sounds using large mouth and tongue) 10. Foramen magnum positioned inferiorly (directly under skull because we are bipeds; chimps at back of skull b/c quadrepeds) 11. Not prognathous (forehead, nose, chin all equal) Chimp 1. Chews up and down 2. 390 - 450 cc 3. Brain behind brow ridges 4. Teeth widest at canines 5. Diastema present 6. Flat shallow palate 7. Lower jaw not parabolic 8. Simian shelf behind lower incisors 9. Limited phonation (Great Ape sounds are very limited; guinea baboons can make 5 vowel sounds) 10. Foramen magnum positioned posteriorly 11. Prognathous (snout sticks out)

Chimps vs Humans (Feet)

Human = all toes in line together, facing forward Gibbon = elongate toe on the side (for grasping in trees) Bonobo/Chimp/Gorilla = also big toe separated (Bonobos better at bipedalism and big toe more pulled in) SEE PIC Gibbon has long digits on the toes, opposable, grasping big toe Bonobo, chimp, and gorilla also have opposable toes. Note the difference between the chimp and the Gorilla, still partially arboreal and partially quadruped Humans: toe alignment with the other toes, short, not good at grasping. Major foot arch on humans allow it to function as a spring, important for running Big toe - Hallux

Chimps vs Humans (Hands)

Human = long thumb (longest in Gibbon) Chimp and Bonobo = shorter thumb SEE PIC Gibbon hand has long digits; used for grasping in an arboreal habitat. (Gibbon is lesser ape; sister to great apes) Gorilla, Chimp, Bonobos and Humans have shorter digits. Greater flexibility in human hand.

Chimps vs Humans (Knee Position)

Humans = medial (towards center of gravity) Chimps = off to the side (can't lock their knees) FEMUR Humans = angled in Chimps = angled out

Chimps vs Humans (Pelvis)

Humans = more bowl shaped to hold viscera and allow locomotion Chimps = more elongate

Evolution of Laughter

Infant apes are tickled, matrix created The way we laguth has to do with our common ancestry with chimps and bonobos -Has to do with egressive (sound made during exhalation) and ingressive (during inhalation) airflow evolutionary history SEE PICSS

Phylogeny of All Living Things

Is it possible to reconstruct the phylogeny of all living things? How would you do it? What kinds of characters? The original 5 kingdoms system was based upon the most early estimates You want a marker that is conserved and shared across the major groups of life; small subunit ribosomal RNA -Paraphyletic Prokaryota because Archae is sister to the Eukaryotes. Archae are not well known and only recently discovered -hyperthermophiles (live in hot springs) -halophiles (salt loves) -anaerobic methane producers -discovering a large array of archae Protista is paraphyletic: diplomonads include Giardia SEE PIC

Pan troglodytes (Chimpanzee)

Jane Goodall -Large and agressive. Cute as babies, but will rip your arms off or bite your face off. Literally. -Male dominated; beat up on the others -Hunt together in troops (cooperative) -War culture, violent (eat other chimps) -Complex fusion-fission society

Panspermia Hypothesis-- What are some of the challenges with this hypothesis?

Life in space: exposed to cold, vacuum, UV radiation, ionizing radiation. Reentry: need to survive the heat Comet dust Camera from Apollo 12, 30 months later, with viable Streptococcus and survived their stay in the vacuum and cold of space -Bare spores could not have survived without some sort of shield of ice/rock/carbon. -Suggested that small particles can reenter the atmosphere without incinerating their organic molecules, hence comet dust may have given rise

Australopithecus prometheus "Little Foot" (2015)

Made a big deal in the media (in Night at the Museum) -Opposable big toe, lived in trees

Exobiology

NASA has suddenly become a source for evolutionary funding Exobiology: how life can devleop and be maintained under extreme conditions (look to other planets to answer the questions)

3 Main Types of Tools

Oldowan Tools -Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania -2.4-1.5 MYA Acheulian Tools -Saint Acheul, France - 1.6 MYA - 100 KYA Mousterian Tools -Le Mousteir, France -200 KYA Note: Overlapping time frames Note: names of the tools are given for the sites where they were first discovered. In many cases, similar tools were found in other parts of the world and at earlier dates.

Fossil Cyanobacteria

SEE PIC

Australopithecine Phylogeny

SEE PIC Means "southern apes"

Tree of Life vs Web of Life

SEE PIC The real tree of life may look like image (web) with early gene transfer as relatively rampant until the major group diverged and natural selection took over. e.g. calculated that E. coli has picked up 18% of its genes through lateral gene transfer in the past 100 million years

"Directed Panspermia"

There are several ideas and theories behind Panspermia. In this case, it is the idea that ET is seeding the universe with life.

BEST Darwin quote

There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved. (Origin, Last 2 sentences) There is a responsiblity to speak up for evolution.

When do we start seeing tools?

Tool use may have emerged as early as 3.4 mya Mammal bones discovered in 2010 from 3.4 MYA with markings that may indicate tool use. Earliest evidence that hominins used tools Hominins build upon technology of previously made tools; overlap Toools are increasingly more complex over time

Australopithecus sediba (2010)

Transitional form between Australopithecus and Homo -found by a college student in Africa

What are some of the outstanding questions in hominin evolution?

Which species do "ghost DNA" belong to? More discoveries regarding H. naledi?

Creation Stories

i.e. Adam and Eve are only one e.g. Apsu and Tiamak (Mesopotamia/Babylonian) e.g. Native American "Raven Tales" (Pacific Northwest/Native Americans) *** None of them are testable!! -Creation stories are outside our realm of investigation *** Darwin (Descent of Man) IS testable!! -Predicts descent within Africa and extinct earlier species -Predication made BEFORE hominin fossils were found

President Grant's Response

"No good is accomplished by dealing with mysteries" Turns the matter over to the quorum of the 12. -Roberts reads his 50 pg manuscript in response to what JFS published. (Elder Smith involved in council of ther 12 decision) -Hold another meeting where JFS reads 58 pg manuscript to respon to points in Roberts' 50 pages Finally conlcude: Elder Roberts shouldn't have talked bad about Elder Smith, but provide no recomendation. Give this to the First Pres. .... 3 more weeks.... Roberts writes the 1st presidency about decision. Finally: *** Niether side is representing doctrine at all -science doesn't pertain to salvation -This can be found in Encyclopedia of Mormonism (1992 statement of evolution)

Acheulian Tools

(1.6 MYA - 100 KYA) Earliest sites from East Africa First associated with H. ergaster in Africa, then by H. erectus in Europe and India. Did not spread to Asia. 1.5 Million Year Technology!!! (longest lasting technology of all time( -First appearance of the bifacial (core struck on both sides) handaxe. Flakes, retouched flakes, and bifacial tools were created including scrapers, backed knife, handaxes. -specifcally designed for right or left hand -First tied to H. erectus (they found a mandible in the same site as the tools) -These tools arose in Africa and spread to Europe and then to India and with the dispersal of hominins, but never it to Asia (maybe bamboo works as well or the correct rocks were not available). Thus this was a widespread technology. Evidence = hand axe fits perfectly into antelope humerous MAJOR LEAP in cognitive abilities because they are HARD to make! Requires a lot of dexterity and the correct angles -The production of a hand ace requires both long term planning, forethought, adaptability, and understanding of the material to achieve the desired end result. Catalyst for brain to increase in size SEE PIC Found in association with butchered elephant and hippo skeletons, for example, suggesting elephant hunting at the site of Torralba and Amrona, although this is disputed.

"Newest Members of the Family"

(2009) Sahelanthropus tchadensis "Toumai" (2009) Ardipithecus ramidus (2010) Australopithecus sediba (2012) "Burtele man" (2015) Australopithecus prometheus "Little Foot" (Late 2015) Homo naledi (2017) Jebel Irhoud Human (2019) "Lucy" Relative

Earliest Hunting Scene in Prehistoric Art

(2019) -44,000 years old found in a cave Indonesia -Includes pictures of half human/half animal figures (= therianthropes). One of them is a human with a tail. -Pictoral representation of hunting wild pigs and dwarfed cows -Indicates advanced thought, abstract representations of the supernatural. Frist direct indications of religion. -The art is quickly exfoliating, and they are trying to figure out what to do about it.

Sweat glands/Lack of hair

(ability to cool self in an efficient way while running) * Shift in bipedalism to persistance running * Adaptations first make appearance in transition from habilis to ergaster

Mouth breathing during ER

(even though not fastest, we can outrun any quadruped in endurance running, they have to chose to stop and pant to cool down or run away- they can't do both; humans can run quadrupeds to exhaustion or organism will die from overheating- humans don't die because sweat glands, lack of hair, mouth breathing)

Big glutes

(large butt; don't do much contracting while walking, but muscles contract while running) -Homo ergaster and on = only hominins with large butts

Achilles tendon

(produce a tremendous amount of force and can also sotre energy)

Foot arch

(spring mechanism in humans gives speed; compressed when landing then releases energy to propel forward)

Loose shoulders

(swing arms, very natural, used for balance. No tendons/ligaments between neck and arms [chimps do have this])

Short toes

(useful for running. Big toe in line with other toes, very storng, gives good % of the record when shooting forward in running)

• Cultural Artifacts

- Cultural artifacts should be present and go from more simple to more complex.

Native American "Raven Tales" (Pacific Northwest/Native Americans)

-Humans = hybrids from raven (smart, clever, never migrates/leaves, faithful, 1st thing you hear in the morning and the last thing at night, problem solver, communicate where food is, biggest bird brain) and coyote (smartest) -Common ravens have been obsered calling to wolves to the site of dead animals. The wolves open the carcass, leaving the scraps more accessible to the birds. They watch where other common ravens bury their food and remember the locations of each other's food caches so they can steal from them. This type of theft occurs so regularly that common ravens will fly extra distances from a food source to find better hiding places for food

Comparison Between Humans and Chimps

-NOT true that humans evolved from chimps -TRUE that they shared a common recent ancestor Chimps retained more pleisiomorphic conditions which MEANS that RCA looks closer to chimp appearance PREDICTION: Ancestors of hominins are going to look more similar to chimp morphology, as we get coser to humans, they'll look more like modern Homo sapiens. IT TURNS OUT TO BE THIS WAY (dope)

Great Apes Synaopomorphies

-No tail -Erect posture -Flexibility in wrist/ankle -Molecular data -Mirror Self Recognition Test (anesthetize animals, draw red dot on forehead; if the animal see the dot, they recognize that they are looking at themselves and something is different) Taken by psychologists as an indication of self awareness- only Great Apes can do this

Catarrhini ("Narrow-nosed") (Old world monkeys and apes)

-Nostrils face downward -Apes divided into lesser and greater apes -Other than homo, the only primate with members in the temperate regions Gibbons and Siamangs -Long arms, great brachiators (swinging through trees with arms) -short tails, or none at all SEE PICS OF SPECIES

Bonobo (Pan paniscus)

-Sensitive species (bombing story at the berlin zoo: they died from fright of the bombings) -Bonobos: gentle matriarchy of mothers, "Gynecocracy" -Very sexualized; they make love not war (as compared to chimps) -Resolve tensions with an astounding array of sexual behavior... use sex for means other than sexual reproduction -Outstanding bipeds (when carrying things) -Longer legs than chimps -Play with their kids (similar to humans)

Two competing theories to explain the origin of life on earth:

1. Panspermia - life came from somewhere else (exobiology/astrobiology) 2. Chemosynthesis - life originated on earth through the assembly of increasingly complex organic molecules Note that exobiology just pushes the question away from our planet to someplace else, where it is even harder to study life's origins. Though it does allow us to consider an origin where the planetary conditions were different from that of our own

Neanderthal Cave Art

1. Three sites in Spain: cave artwork dated at 64 KYA (oldest in the world). Must have been made my Neanderthals -Used uranium and thorium dating methods. Age predates humans by 20 KYA so implies Neanderthal origins (orignally thought that Neanderthals couldn't produce paintings) Software enhances images (hand stencil and Red scalariform sign)

Some Challenges to Study Biogenesis

1.No physical record of the first biological events have survived (RNA and macromolecules don't fossilize well); origins of life must be reconstructed from indirect evidence alone. 2.Estimate what the prebiotic conditions on earth were like; some recent advances have been made, but there is some disagreement on this. 3.Unclear what was going on in the atmosphere. 4.Dealing with extreme lengths of time. Lots of evidence has likely been destroyed during that time 5. Problems of meteorites bombarding the earth during early development (3.8 BYA) and the burial of the earth's crust, leading to the loss of evidence. NOTE: Specks of carbon can be preserved for biollions of years in minerals known as Zircons, giving insights into isotopic ratios. That's all that's left from the otiginal crust of the earth

History of the Church and Evolution

1909 - The Statement is Published in the Improvement Era over the signature of the First Presidency (President Joseph F. Smith) -Darwin's 100th bday, and 50 years after Origin of Species 1925 - The Mormon View of Evolution (President Heber J. Grant) -Response to the Scopes trial (1928 - 1931) - Dispute between B.H. Roberts and Joseph Fielding Smith. First Presidency sanctioned a response by James Talmage.

Pongo (Orangutans)

3 Species: 1) Pongo pygmaeus (Bornean orangutan) 2) Pongo abelii (Sumatran orangutan) 3) Pongo tapanuliensis (Tapanuli orangutan) -Newest Member of the Family (2017)! -Adapted for an arboreal life style (move effectively through trees with their long arms, legs, and fingers. Reach out from limb to limb. -Not particularly social, relative to other great apes. Females form bonds with offrspring, adult males tend to live alone. -Mothers build nests and the babies watch them and learn from them. -Adults are good at building them. Only takes about five minutes. At about age 6 months the babies start practicing building nests until about age 3 -Intelligent, they can use an iPad They are endangered... Transmission of culture from parent to offspring is impossible in artificial environments

The BIG Picture

3 main questions: What was the first living thing? How do you define "living thing"? What are some of the challenges to studying the Origins of Life?

Fossilized Cells

3.2 Billion Years ago (3.2 GYA) Believed to be cells because... Carbon content, size distribution, location in the sedimentary rocks, and resemblance to dividing bacteria. SEE PIC

Homo vs. Australopithecus

Comparison of Maxillae Lucy vs. Homo In Homo, the maxillae is more parabolic; Australopithecus is more rectangular In Homo, the palate is deeper and in Australopithecus it is more shallow In Homo, the head is less prognathous

Step 2: Formation of Macromolecules: RNA World Concept

Concept= Primordial life was RNA based living system that evolved into what we see today. Why do we think the early world was RNA based? Because it can simultaneously possess a genotype and a phenotype. They function to break phosphodiester bonds in DNA and RNA -There was a series of experiments that demonstrate the heritability and natural selection of ribozymes. -Can also function and do things (2 prime and 3 prime structure) -Catalysts: evolution can't work without this ** The first living thing might have been RNA Current ribozymes rely upon polymerases (protein) for replication. In RNA world, there would have been no proteins, hence the ability to replicate oneself as a ribozyme is critical. Ghosts: Most conserved and universal portion of the cell is the ribosome. Presence of ribonucleotide triphosphates such as ATP and GTP -BASICALLY: RNA based machinery and energy -Protein synthesis machinery - rRNA, tRNA -Currency of biological energy - ATP, GTP (ribonucleotide triphosphates) NOBEL PRIZE to Cech Altman Polypeptides, RNAs Ribozymes RNA Enzymes; dozens discovered RNA has the capacity for information storage (like DNA) and to perform biological work (like proteins) Catalytic RNA molecules exhibit variation in nucleotide sequence, the variation is heritable when replicated (via a RNA polymerase), and the sequence variation results in differential survival. What is missing: finding a way for RNA molecules to replicate themselves. "RNA dependent RNA autoreplicase remains the Holy Grail for origins of life research" RNA World

How do you identify stone tools>

Conchodial Fractures (latin = mussel; think of the same shape) 1) Only certain types of rocks where this works. They are composed largely of silica and are amorphous, so there is not a crystalline structure in the rock 2) A conchoidal fracture is one in which the fracture surfaces are curved. When the rock is struck, the energy of the blow is distributed evenly, in a radial fashion, away from the point of contact. This property of fracturing conchoidally is what makes the production of lithic tools possible, and it leaves characteristc signs. 3) Core: The rock you are hitting 4) Platform: where the force is applied to the rock (at 90 degree angle) 5) Flake: the piece that falls off the core. Depending on the tool, either the core or the flake is worked into the tool. 6) Point of percussion: Where the stone strikes and leaves a characteristic crushed area 7) Bulb of percussion: swelling of the rock due to the force of the blow 8) Earilleur scar: a small chip is knowcked off because of the blow 9) Characteristic ripples 10) Soft hammer percussion (with an antler) can remove large thin flakes, leaves characteristic ripples 11) Pressure flaking: used to thin the tool, make precise sharp edges ** Take away: when researchers identify things as tools, they really are very certain that it is in fact a tool SEE PIC

New World Monkeys (Platyrrhini: "Flat-nosed")

Consists of 5 families found in the tropical regions of central and South America and Mexico -Means "flat faced", nostrils face sideways -Only primates with prehensile tails (can use tail like 5th appendage) All 109 species are arboreal, most are diurnal (active during the day) and feed on veggie stuff and insects SEE PICS OF SPECIES

What role has Genetic Drift Played in Human Evolution? What role has Natural Selection played in Human evolution?

Drift: humans leaving Africa (erectus) Natrual Selection: almost always at play (favoring Homo over Paranthropus)

Ecology during Hominin Evolution

Emergence of new habitats set stage for hominin evolution Ecologically, at the time (7 MYA) Miocene -Tropical forests were fragmenting, getting more savana type habitats (remember that hominins come from arboreal specialists; with changing habitats, arboreal lifestyle is not such a successful strategy -Two ways to approach it; become specialists on relatively low quality food [Paranthropus] OR become specialists on higher quality food [lineage of Homo sapiens] -both required modifications of the underlying hominin plan, but led in different directions

Homo naledi

Excavators recruited off Facebook; found 1500 fossils! -Rising star cave system in South Africa Found in 2013, announced in 2015 • 335 - 236 KYA • Anatomical mosaic: mix of Homo and Aust. • Australopithecus features: - Shape of pelvis - Curved fingers - Shoulders - Small brain: 460 cc • Homo features: - Legs, feet, ankles - Vertebrae - Wrist and palm SEE PIC comparison • Ritual burial? -Dating based on a new technique with flowstone -Weird combination of plesiomorphic and apomorphic conditions -Most comprehensive find of any hominin in Africa -Appear to be ritually buried, at least by one hypothesis INCREDIBLE DISCOVERY -5-6 years ago discovered -teens spelunking in Africa (superman crawl, etc), one teen is son of paleanthrologist -Fossils scattered on floor of cave, normally tons of work goes into finding and uncoveribg fossils -Funds from National Geographic to reach out

Human children display relatively advanced social skills

Experiment Babies compared between humans, chimps, and orangutans -When given physical tasks (select cup with food underneath), all performed equally -when given social tasks (learning by observing), humans do much better SEE PIC

Step 3: Add a membrane

Formation of prototypic-cells (i.e., membrane bound spheres) Coacervates are formed when colloidal particles separate spontaneously out of solution into droplets, forming spheres with membrane- like properties. Recipe for a Microsphere: One dash of dried amino acids Heat gently until polymerized Dissolve in hot water Cool Result: Microsphere, with a double membrane that can undergo osmosis and diffusion of materials A coacervate is a tiny spherical droplet of assorted organic molecules (specifically, lipid molecules) which is held together by hydrophobic forces from a surrounding liquid e.g. oil droplets in water Colloidal particles are particles that are suspended and evenly distributed in a solution. Milk is colloid liquid compreised of butterfat and molecules dispersed withint a water based fluid (floaties) They will bind together due to specific changes in temperature, pH, or other hydrophobic forces. *** Membranes are neccessary to maintain a concentration gradient, such that the buildig blocks can interact more readily. Microsphere: take dry amino acids, mix, add a bit of heat

The Problem with Roberts' Book

He spends 3 chapters talking about pre-Adamic man. Calls Neanderthal, Meanderthal. Right after the Scopes Trial, Roberts doesn't neccessarily support evolution, makes argument that Adam and Eve come from hominins who lived previously on the Earth = developmental theory: postulates that prior to Adam there was a pre-Adamic dispensation on the Earth, time where dinos, pre-Adamites, etc. Then Adam transported from other planet/world as translated being to repopulate the Earth. God then wipes out pre-Adamites * NOT as radical ast he diea of common ancestors and human evolution BH Roberts is excited and feels it reconciles science and religion. Doesn't anticipate how much it will upset Salt Lake and especially Joseph Fielding Smith

Chimps vs Humans (Head Position)

Humans = balanced over top of body Chimps = hold head up constantly, large muscles from head to neck

Chimps vs Humans (Chest)

Humans = reduced ribcage, ribs near pelvis are smaller (allows bipedalism and distance running, also allows torso rotation) ) Chimps = extra ribs to support viscera (like this for all quadrupeds)

Evolution of the Church's Position on Evolution

Ideas of the church regarding evolution have been changing for a century Elder Ballard: There was a time @ BYU when professors were supposed to stay away from the controversies becuase we wanted to build faith. Now with the internet, we can "hide" controversies from students. In 2016 a movement to be more open and honest -Many church members still struggle with this concept -teaching lies/philosophy of man -creation based science is NOT real

Island Flores

In Indonesia Series of islands Researchers found remnants of a hominin in a cave here--> Homo floresiensis

The Darwinian Proposal

In each great region of the world the living mammals are closely related to the extinct species of the same region. It is, therefore, probable that Africa was formally inhabited by extinct apes closely related to the gorilla and chimpanzee; and as these two species are now man's nearest allies, it is somewhat more probable that our early progenitors lived on the African continent than elsewhere. --The Descent of Man, C. Darwin. (1871) SIMPLIFIED: Humans share biological ancestry with other forms of life. Great Apes are our closest living relatives. Descended out of Africa. Humans share biological ancestry with other forms of life. Our closest living relatives are the great apes. Humans and apes share a common ancestor, and human origins can be explained by evolutionary descent with modification.

Piecing together relationships is challenging (Hominin Evolution)

It's difficult becasue there are different way to view things -Figure: phylogeny-like, also describes potential ancestors. With hominin evolution, because so many great fossils are available, we can start to get better view of what species homo sapiens evolved FROM (e.g. H. heidelbergensis) SEE PIC

Panspermia Hypothesis-- What are some of the candidates for the extra-terrestrial birthplace of life?

Jupiter's moon Europa (abundant liquid water and active volcanoes). Also the moon Titan Mars: McKay et al (1996) find a Martian rock with organic molecules (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and (perhaps) bacteria. Mars Rover Curiosity begins exploration for indicators of life (January, 2014)

Why don't we see life emerging de novo now on the earth?

Lamarck believed that abiotic/inorganic material was constantly giving rise to biotic/organic material that then starts evolving to increased complexity i.e. continuous spontaneous generation We DO NOT see this today because of evolution; anything that would emerge from the abiotic wouldn't be able to compete with organisms that have been on the earth for 4 billion years evolving and adapting

Ardipithicus ramidus "Ardi"

Lots of primitive traits, good at climbing, may be a biped • 4.4 MYA • 300-350cc Brain • Grasping Big Toe • Facultative Biped • No tools/Culture • Sexually Dimorphic • Wooded areas (hard for fossils to preserve in tropical wooded areas, suggests lived in area with lots of begetation and trees therefore could be faculatative biped (choose when to walk/climb) Discovered in Ethiopia in 1994, based on 43 specimens, inlcuding some relatively complete looking fossils. -Big toe used for grasping branches, but the mid foot and heel allowed for bipedal walking -Long arms indicating it was a good climber -Teeth intermediate between chimps and humans -Relatively large upper and lower canines, though still hominin like -Upper and lower incisors are larger than in Australopithecines, but smaller than that of chimps -Thin dental enamel -More primitive than Lucy... seemed to be intermediate between biped and active tree climber.

Miocene apes

Miocene apes gave rise to present day ape lineages Pierolapithecus 13 MYA Several fossils found to demonstrate this

Sahelanthropus tchadensis "Toumai"

Morphology is what we would expect for hominin ancestor to chimps and humans (almost 1/2 and 1/2 for chimp and human features) -Found right at the edge of the molecular data for estimates of divergence for hominids and chimps (e.g. time when lineage for humans separated from lineage for chimps). So these guys were walking around at the same time as the human/chimp ancestor • 6-7 MYA in Chad (Central Africa) • Chimp-like posterior skull (elongate) • Hominin-like face (somewhat flat; somewhat prognathous) • Maybe bipedal (based on the shape of the back of the skull) Toumai = "hope of life" in local Daza language of Chad in Central Africa -Known from 9 specimens, including one skull -Small braincase from the back makes it look like a chimp -Perhaps a biped based on the shape of the back of the skull; not accepted by everyone. -Relatively flat face makes it look like an early hominid -Found on 23rd trip

Man, His Origin, His Destiny

Most ardent stance against all science -Becomes the central theory for many of his talks

Homo naledi (Late 2015)

Most exciting/compelling/fascinating story in paleantology Africa is an unknown fossil treasure trove or bones from hominins Found in Rising Star Cave System -hundreds of bones of individuals lying on surface in the caves (unbelievable!) Found 1500 fossils, people recruited off Facebook

Karyotypic Data

Most obvious example! All Great Apes have 48 (24 pairs) chromosomes EXCEPT humans have 46 chromosomes (23 pairs). Chromosome 2 is fused in humans (not fused in other Great Apes). The banding patterns on stained chromosomes reveal that the human chromo 2 is derived from the fusion of two chromosomes that remain separate in other great apes. Extra telomeres. Two centrosomes (one inactivated).

Panspermia Hypothesis-- What evidence do we currently have that an extraterrestrial origin of life may have taken place?

Murchison (town in Australia where it fell) meteors: organic compounds present in the interior of the rock, including amino acids (glycine, alanine, valine, proline) that were racemic (same proportion of the D- and L-stereoisomeres) -We know that it wasn't just contamination from the earth because the majority would have been L-form, so they must have come from somewhere else in the galaxy Carbonaceous chondrite meteorites (fragments of asteroids): organic molecules Comets: organic molecules * Organic molecules can survive the crash to earth (at least some)

Neanderthal Artifacts

Neanderthal artifacts reveal sophisticated behavior e.g. shells from neanderthal site, painted and drilled, jewelry e.g. Neanderthal body positioned weirdly (laid down and positioned in certain way) -Yellow area = pollen deposit; maybe buried with flowers

Brigham H. Roberts

One of the greatest writers and thinkers of all general authorities, very prolific, wrote a TON -built an intellectual foundation for the church -great philosopher, a man before his time His take on faith: Simple faith = ignorant, and not really faith Intelligent faith = earnest endeavor, research, prayerful thought -Lots of changes in the scientific field at the time, higher biblical criticism, religious leaders wanting to go back to simple faith (NOT Roberts) Wrote instruction manual for priesthood quorums.... like a textbook to learn, lots of advertisements (very different from today; the way the church handled issues in the past is different from today) "Mental effort to required to master things of God" WROTE: The Truth, The Way, The Life Great leader within the church! Member of the quorum of the 70 for 5 years, mission pres for Eastern United States mssion 1927: mission ending, doesn't want to go back to SLC, NYC = great place for philosophy/science. Petitions to stay in the east to work on his magnum opus (The Turth, The Way, The Life) in which he tries to reconcile all science with LDS theology -Given 6 more months if the office paid for stenographer to help writing -Felt his book combined scripture, study, prayer, and introspection ADV of being in NYC -Access to remarkable resources -American Museum of Natrual History exhibits -fossils, hominin evolution Wants to publish manuscript (853 pages) for 1929 preisthood manual; doesn't forsee any problems

Lehi's Logic

Recently added human evolution exhibit to the Bean Museum, lots of people are upset Lehi: You can tell that there is a CREATOR because there is a CREATION... Some conclude thus if someone could demonstrate that creation could come about by some means that does not directly invoke God, then God must be dead. ^^ This is the concern. We lost all empirical evidence of God and we lose our station as a unique entity in the creation.

Step 1: Formation of Chemical Building Blocks

Recipe for Alanine and Glycine Boil water Circulate through an atmosphere of methane, ammonia, and hydrogen and past an electric spark Cool and condense back into the boiling flask. Simmer for 2 weeks Recipe for Adenine Ammonia + hydrogen cyanide Heat in water =>0.5% adenine Ribose Sugars Formaldehyde Condense, condense, condense. Miller (1953) Experiment This assumed that these gases were most common in the primitve atmosphere; resulted in a red liquid filled with amino acids -His paper was published in Science only a few weeks after Watson and Crick's paper in Nature BAD TIMING -Most chemists believe that the earth's atmosphere was dominated by CO2 and nitrogen which can lead to teh formation of aldehydes (used in sugars) -Other nucleotides can be formed, just a bit more difficult ** Overall, not too difficult to go fro inorganic to organic molecules.. results in our needed chemical building blocks!

Early Homo sapiens were culturally diverse

Regarding their tool making. Early H sapiens made tools in a wide range of styles reflecting cultural diversity. There is still controversey as to whether this reflects culture or it reflects the availability of certain source materials. SEE PIC

Does evolutionary theory hinge on our ability to find a compelling answer for how life began?

Regardless of whether we know how life began or not, evolutionary biology is super important because it describes all the patterns we see today AND provides processes to explain the patterns e.g. tools of evo bio helped with COVID-19 (not creationism...)

Hominin Fossils and Trends to be Familiar With

SEE PIC

Hominin Phylogeny/Timeline

SEE PIC

Homo sapiens timeline/phylogeny

SEE PIC

Chemosynthesis: the Oparin-Haldane model

SEE PIC Basically, three steps to get to from simple molecules to a living organism 1. The simple molecules include amino acids and nucleotides 2. The assembled polymers are something like proteins and nucleic acids 3. Membranes and energy source, self replication, feed off of existing organic molecules

Arm Muscles (chimps, bonobos, humans)

SEE PIC Differences between forelimb muscles of common chimpanzees, bonobos, and modern humans. The only consistent difference between bonobos (center) and common chimps (left) concerning the presence/absence of muscles (shown in colors in the common chimp and bonobo schemes) is that in the former the intermetacarpales 1-4 are usually fused with the flexores breves profundi 3, 5, 6, and 8 to from the dorsal interossei muscles 1-4 (* in bonobo) figure, as is the case in modern humans. In contrast, there are many differences between bonobos and modern humans (right) concerning the presence/absence of muscles (shown in colors and/or with labels in the human scheme; muscles present in chimps and not in humans are shown in black, in chimps) SUMMARY: looking at musculature of bonobos = different from chimps and more similar to humans. Bonobos = best model for common ancestor between chimps and humans

Steps in forensic reconstructions

SEE PIC Remember that the skulls we find underly the rest of the organisms. Forensic artists try to reconstruct what the organism MAY have looked like.

Homo in Phylogeny/Timeline

SEE PIC Some overlapping between where Homo begins and Paranthropus robustus & Australopithecus... multiple hominin at the same time and overlapping localities

Basal Hominin Lineages

SEE PIC Strech back to almost 7 million years ago

Second Phylogeny (Bacterial Focus)

SEE PIC The more we sequence complete genomes, particularly among these basal bacterial groups, the more likely it appears that lateral gene transfer has played a role in evolution; at least early evolution -The spirochaetes are bacteria, yet their genes for the beta subunit of the enzyme branch from within the archaea... The likely explanation is that the spirochaetes have lost their native bacterial version of the beta subunit gene and replaced it with a version of the gene picked up from an archean.

Endurance running => Endurance hunting

SEE PIC Long list of modifications associated with ER in humans Important because the hypothesis is that endurance running is an adaptation for persistance hunting (many morph features) -List of modifications, allow to go from bipedal to endurance running gait (note right column for when features appear) GREAT because it provides explanation for human morphological form Humans are at their max health/athletic peak at their mid 20's, EXCEPT running--> older people (up to 100 years old) still running competetively --> Phenomenal; only makes sense with explantion of evolutionary past Changing evnironment led to specializations -Paranthropus (vegans) -lineage to Homo (persistance running = ability to start eating meat (caloric content, energy, etc. supports a larger brain)

Church Timeline

SEE PIC 1970's: Allow BYU faculty to teach evolution (BYU takes this very seriously) 1992: BYU Packet approved 2015: begin seeing statements being made (e.g. Elder Holland- was president when BYU packet was compiled; "Don't know the details of the earth before Adam and Eve") 2016: church has no official position on the theory of evolution * Took almost 100 years for the church to officially have no position; published in the New Era

Statements by Early Apostles

SEE PIC It is quite natural that with the number of English converts coming to the church, that the idea of evolution would soon follow behind -Erastus snow: first to generate popular opinion that organisms can change within their kind (i.e. species), they cannot change between kinds

Chemosynthesis

SEE PIC Oparin, Haldane, Lipman, Harvey propose a heterotrophic origin of life Referred to as the "RNA World Concept"

Overlapping Timelines

SEE PIC Right now is a unique time because only one extant species of hominins is alive Take home points: 1) Overlapping timelines; multiple species coexisted; at some point in Africa up to 5 species coexisted. 2) The distinction among some species is controversial. This is to be expected with transitional fossils because it is hard to know whether looking at distinct species or a gradation of a single species over time 3) It is not a simple line from chimp to human; it is a radiation of species, most of whom do not exist today 4) Dates are continually being revised and pushed back as new fossils are found e.g. figure doesn't include recently discovered H. naledi

Why we know so little about bonobos

SEE PIC They live in the Congo with humans who carry AK-47's... -Congo river divides their distribution from chimps in the north. More abundance of food may have led to a more peaceful lifestyle. -One bonobo Kanzi tuaght sign language, can communicate 3,000 words

Bottlenecks in human history

SEE PIC - Phylogeny of different human populations based on a large number of genes. All non-Africans descend from a small population (or small set of founders) who lived in Ethiopia The further you get from the capital of Ethiopia, the less alleleic diverstiy there is *** This is predicted to occur if humans originated in Africa.

Phylogeny of Primates

SEE PICSS The number of species depends largely on classification and species concept. More than half of these are threatened by one primate species

Bonobo Sexual Activity

Sexual activity generally plays a major role in bonobo society, being used as what some scientists perceive as a greeting, a means of forming social bonds, a means of conflict resolution, and post conflict reconciliation Bonobos are the only non-human animal to have been observed engaging in tongue kissing Bonobos and humans are the only primates to typically engage in face-to-face genital sex, although western gorillas have been photographed in this position Bonobos do not form permanent monogamous sexual relationships with individual partners. They also do not seem to discriminate in their sexual behavior by sex or age, with the possible exception of abstaining from sexual activity between mothers and adult sons. When bonobos come upon a new food source or feeding ground, the increased excitement will usually lead to communal sex activity, presumably decreasing tension and encouraging peaceful feeding.

Oldowan Tools

Simplest tools, commonly found near remains of early hominins -Area where they found Paranthropus -Controversey about what exactly they were used for. -They were super sharp e.g. obsidian = sharper than surgical steel 1) Named by Louis Leakey after the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, Africa. Oldowan artifacts from the Oldovai Gorge: 2.4-1.5 MYA 2) Hammerstones: Fat, round stone one holds when percussing the stone of interest 3) Flakes: the part hammered off the core. Can be chopper or scrapper, depending on use and morphology. 4) Core: the remainder of the stone which has been percussed. 5) Note that none of these have been retouched (that is further sharpened) as in Acheulean technology. SEE PIC

Tarsiiformes (Tarsiers)

Sister group to lemurs at the base of the tree -Found throughout Africa and Asia -Nocturnal and oboreal -7 species -Voracious insectivores. Also eat snakes, birds, lizards, bats. Only primate that is entirely carnivorous -Look super cute, will rip your fingers off -Once a widespread group, but now found only on the islands of southeast asia SEE PICS OF SPECIES

Primate Diversity

Size is one way that primate diversity can be looked at SMALLEST: Madame Berthe's Mouse Lemur (Microcebus berthae) (30 g; 1.1 ounces; 3.6 in long) BIGGEST: astern Gorilla Gorilla beringei (200 kg; 440 pounds) EXTINCT: Gigantopithecus (10 feet tall, 1200 pounds)

Two Irreconcilable Views

Smith = presents scriptures, no pre-adamites, young earth Roberts = incorporates science with religion, pre-Adamites, and old earth Committe meets, loves the manuscripte EXCEPT the three chapters. Agree to publish with removal of 3 chapters. Prophet Heber J. Grant liked it, but "some things are problematic" Roberts' response: refuses to remove the 3 chapters (says he can't do it in good conscience) ** Ended up never being published in his lifetime

James E. Talmage

States that "no death prior to the Fall" is no doctrine of the Church The problem is that Elder Smith's views had been made public, but Robert's views were never made public. Could be construed that Elder Smith's views = position of the Church AUG 1831 = Talmage gives speech "The Earth and Man" -asserts death occurred on planet millions of years before the Fall and Adam -indeed there were pre-Adamites (didn't think to be ancestors of humans) -given as counterpart to Elder Smith's perspective ("faulty interpretation") 1896: Gets first doctoral degree in LDS faith Elder Smith insists that the speech shouldn't be published, but the church does it anyway.

Note about Classification

Therefore, a human should be properly referred to as an homininan. However, no one can say that word, so we call them an hominin. Old term = "hominid" New Term = "hominin" OLD All great apes except humans placed in the family Pongidae (Humans = family Hominidae) -This is a paraphyletic classification because Pongidae doesn't inlcude humans who are sister group to Chimps NEW Family = Hominidae includes ALL great apes -Subfamily: Pongidae = Orangutans -Subfamily: Homininae = Gorillas, Chimps, Humans -Tribe: Gorillini (Gorillas) -Tribe: Hominini = Chimps and Humans -Subtribe: Panina = Chimps -Subtribe: Huminina = Humans SEE PIC

Denisovans

They are close relatives of Neanderthals who also interbred with humans Young girl from the Denisova cave in the Altai mountains of Siberia Discovery based on portion of finger bone and several teeth (known to be hominin) -Sequenced DNA: revealed to be lineage different from Homo sapiens and Neanderthals

Human Cognition

Tools, Art, Language, Brains Morphological evolutionary changes are associated wtih language, brains, art, and tools Brains do not fossilize well, so what we know about early hominin cognition comes primarily from the behacioral elements left behind

How do you Make Stone Tools?

Tutorials on the internet, hobby for some people, called flintknappers = very difficult -requires skill, dexterity, and experience

"Burtele man" (2012)

Undescribed species Same time, same place as Lucy (A. Afarensis), but has a distinct foot morphology indicating that it lived in trees, as opposed to Lucy which lived on the ground. Demonstrates a possible habitat specialization. -It has an opposable big toe, like a Gorilla but lacked an arch. Similar to food found with Ardi -Includes 8 bones from the front half of the right foot. Hopeful that they will find more bones

Complicated tools

Upper Paleolithic (40-10 KYA) -Suddenly lots of diverse, complicated tools -Tools with very specific functions, relatively complex -40-10,000 years ago Associated with H sapiens SEE PIC

Joseph Fielding Smith

Very against manuscript. Felt that they church was becomming too modern, too many revolutionary ideas. HATES the pre-Adamite idea. Writes paper = Adam is the first man, last of God's creations, no death before the Fall, no pre-Adamites

Orrorin tugenensis (not on list of need to know fossils)

Very little is known... Femur remnants, portions of thumb and mandible -Timing: 6 MYA -Maybe femur of a biped becasuse head is spherical (rotated anteriorly), neck elongated and oval, less trochanter protrudes medially - The rest of the postcranium indicates it climbed trees. * IMPORTANT DISCOVERY B/C seems to be anatomically closer to Homo than the Australopithecines were (may indicate that Lucy and her kin were a side branch, not a direct ancestor (not universally accepted).

Most Compelling Theological Reasons Against Evolution

We have been taught these things! • If Evolution is true, then the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is False • According to the traditional LDS view, there was no death before Adam fell. Evolution assumes that creatures died before then. Therefore, both cannot be true. • According to this theory, death had always been in the world. If, therefore, there was no fall, there was no need of an atonement, hence the coming into the world of the Son of God as the Savior of the world is a contradiction, a thing impossible.

Controversy around Oldowan Tools

Were these made by P. boisei or H. habilis? Mary Leakey argued that they were from H. habilis, but others have argued that P. boisei would have needed to make tools to process the vegetative matter it ate. -Note that these lived in the same time and in the same area Generally accepted that habilis has the preceision grip to make the tools, unclear whether boisei did. Were these used for hunting, scavenging, or both? Could these have just been made by chimps? Chimps have been observed using stones to crush nuts and some researchers think that these may be similar to Oldowan tools. Others think that the stones they use do not exhibit the careful, thought out knapping of Oldowan tools

Could life on earth have multiple origins or just a single origin?

What was the last common ancestor of all living things? First living thing = IDA (Initial Darwinian Ancestor); the primoridal form Most RCA of all extant organisms = LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor); the cenancestor ** IDA evolved and produced lineages, not all survived, most went extinct, one surviving lineage had LUCA Why do we think all living things shared a most recent common ancestor? Because all life forms (except viruses) use DNA and proteins all built form the same 20 amino acids SEE PIC

The problem of Hydrolysis (for RNA World)

While polymers can be synthesized in water, they also breakdown by hydrolysis. Add a bit of clay (Montmorillonite) Organic molecules readily adhere. Clay acts as a catalyst for joining nucleotides, resulting in longer chains, up to 50 nucleotides long. * could solve the problem with hydrolysis

Early Homo sapiens displayed increasing levels of creativity

e.g. Ostrich Egg water containers (60 KYA) South Africa, humans made water containers and decorated them with patterns and pigments

Paranthropus boisei "Nutcracker man"

• 1.7 MYA • Massive skull • Broad, concave face, Enormous arching cheek bones (both due to zygomatic arch and muscles passing through) • Prominent longitudinal crest • Brain : 500-550 cc • Megadontia -Most striking feature is the degree of megadontia; this species has the absolute largest teeth found in any hominid group, with teeth similar in size to gorillas, who weigh as much as 10 times as much -Ofter referred to as hyper-robust due to the massive postcanine megadontia -Enormous molars, 4 times the size of our own, low susps, fairly flar; deep, thick mandible -Most efficient chewing machine ever, thus the name "Nutcracker Man" -Failure of a vegan diet (dead evolutionary end; lineage dies out, there is nothing left of them) -These are now put in Australopithecus by some people

Homo ergaster and Homo erectus

• 1.8 MYA to 100KYA • 900 cc Brain (getting closer to modern human brain size) • H. sapiens sized (first tallish hominins and shorter arms) • Turkana boy: most complete early hominin. (known from a large number of skulls and skeletons) • Acheulean tools • Earlier, more delicate African group: H. ergaster. • The group that left Africa to Asia @ 1.6 MYA: H. erectus (ie. outside of Africa) -Group where the range of Homo begins to expand ** MAJOR ROLE in hominin evolution -Quite likely the stem species for everything later -Very long lived species, from 1.6 MYA down towards 100,000 YA -Sometimes regarded as one species, sometime two. This species name is typically used for the earlier more delicate, African group (ergaster); Erectus used for the heavier, later, Asian species -Turkana boy (also called Nariokotome boy). Most complete early human fossil found to date. About 8 years old. -Archulean: Artifacts from an archeological site in France; more complex, flaked tools, bifacial -Also the development of fire

Australopithecus sediba

• 2 MYA • 420 cc Brain (high end for A. africanus, low end for H. habilis) • Tooth morphology and mandible are more gracile and similar to Homo habilis, but tooth spacing is still more like Australopithecus • Link between Australopithecus and Homo? -May be a transitional species between A. africanus and H. habilis -Found by 12 year old son of Lee Berger (who also found Homo naledi) -Most recent Australopithecine -MAY have given rise to Homo species SEE PIC comparing to Homo and Australopithecines

Australopithecus africanus "Taung Child" and "Mrs. Ples"

• 2-3 MYA • 380-550 cc Brain • Larger, more robust cranial areas • "Taung Child": 3 years old • First African find (first hominin ever described in Africa (1924) • No tools/Culture -Larger, more robust cranial areas than afarensis -First molar only partially erupted (that's partly how we know he was a child) -The preserved vertebrae and pelvis are quite rare and demonstrate that the species is more human than apelike below the neck -Mrs. Ples is the adult form ( many pleisiomorphic characters) -Brain case preserved in the form of an endocast -Tuang child probably killed by an eagle; similar damage to skulls that are seen in modern primates that are attacked by eagles, including talong marks on the eyes and depressions in the skull

Paranthropus aethiopicus ("Black Skull")

• 2.5 MYA • Massive jaws, huge, crushing teeth, prominent sagittal crests (for muscle attachment, making the jaw stronger; muscle passes through the zygomatic arch and attaches to the lower mandible... GREAT chompers, they can process loads of food) • Flat and concave face, partially prognathous, expanded molars. • Brain at 410 cc Black skull because of the magnesium deposits -1st real specialists! Feeding on vegetative matter and tubers (we know this by looking at the wear patterns on the teeth and molars)

Australopithecus afarensis "Lucy"

• 3-3.9 MYA • > 400 specimens of all ages and sexes • Dimorphic: Males 5 feet; females 3.5 feet • 380-550 cc Brain • Big toe 28o from foot (moved in from Ardi... about 1/2 way between Ardi and humans) • Obligate biped • Fell from a tree and died (not the best climber) • Tools: Users not makers? * Most famous fossil in all of hominin evolution -Lucy: Found in Hadar, Ethiopia. First finding of this species and the best known early hominin -From the waist down, she was like humans (bowl shaped pelvis, femur and knee), from the waist up she was like an ape. -Australopithecines have a wider face than the chimp. Reduction in the canine teeth; more emphasis on the molars -Low sloping forehead; Face squarer when viewed from the front (more like a Gorilla than a chimp) -Still long arms! (compared to humans) -The femur and tibiae preserve a complete knee joint, indicating bipedalism. -At the same site, since 1970, found over 400 other specimens of all sexes and ages -VERY dimorphic, diff sized skulls and brains *** Found footprints of hominin walking at same time and in same area as Lucy (a pair of larger and smaller hominin feet walking side by side) -Found in Tanzania, on volcanic ash (3.6 MYA) -Also included horses, cats, and giraffes

Kenyanthropus platyops

• 3.5-3.2 MYA • Lake Turkana, Kenya • 350cc Brain • Relatively flat face • Unsure phylogenetic placement "Flat-faced man" = unusual for a fossil at this date Affinity with other groups is unknown, but it suggests that there was greater diversity 3 MYA than previously thought -maybe Australopithecine? -maybe our lineage?

Homo sapiens

• 300 KYA (Morocco [North West Africa]) • 1000-1300 cc Brain • Flat(ter) face • Reduced brow ridges • Tall skull with forehead • Chin ***** give away charcter for a human • Composite tools • Art, Music, Nuclear bombs, ipads Continually pushing back the oldest fossil date Cro-Magnon: cite in France, one of the very skulls of Homo sapiens Kow Swamp: modern humans reach Australia Jebel Irhoud Human Modern humans emerged ~300,000 years ago in Africa, and start leaving Africa ~ 60,000 years ago

Homo neanderthalensis

• 300-28 KYA • 1400-1740 cc Brain (biggest brain ever!) • Robust • Mid-face snout • Mousterian tools : Named for a site in France -200,000 years ago -Associated wtih Neanderthal and early H. sapiens -Special and complex flaking • Every bone known • Entire genome known -Compared to modern humans, they are stockier, heavier, more muscled, appear cold adapted -Long low cranium, with an occipital bun -Developing brow ridge; McDonalds's arch; lower jaw lacking a chin -A lot of discussion of whether there was gene flow between them and modern humans 2.5% of Non-African H. Sapiens (ie. European descent) DNA from Neanderthal Neanderthals evolved in Europe and Asia ~300,000 years ago Start seeing sophistication in artifacts and tools and behavior First neanderthal skull = 50 year old man, decayed teeth, injuries... interpretted as primitive human. Inicates social structure --> the individul was being taken care of 200,000 years, mammoth ivory pendants, and flint blades. -Carry some genes for speech (FOXP2), but it appears to have been expressed differently in Neanderthal "We know next to nothing about Neanderthal cognition from genetics because we know next to nothing about [modern] human cognition from genetics" Traces of pigment, perhaps some geometric design on snail shellls that were worn as pendants

Homo heidelbergensis

• 800 KYA - 300 KYA • Brain capacity: 1250 cc (large!) • Fossils found in Southern Africa, East Africa, and Europe • Thought to be the ancestor to the "modern" hominins (Neanderthal, Denisovans, and H. sapiens). • Spread to Europe and Asia ~800 KYA • Males about 5 ft 9 in tall; females 5 ft. 2 in. (not much sexual dimorphism) -There are 5 subspecies recognized (lots of transitional forms, not sure what to do with all of them) -Maybe an early Neanderthal; a lot of disagreement -One of the subspecies (H. rhodesiensis may be the direct ancestor of H. sapiens)

Mousterian Tools

• Coincides with the rise of Neanderthal and modern humans (~200KYA) • Developed from Acheulian technology • Levallois technique: working the core with hard and soft percussion and flaking to form a very refined and specialized tool. • Tortoise shell appearance • Tool kits: saws/knifes (denticulate), scrapers, borers, and hand axes -Named for the type site in Le Moustier in France -Ranged from Europe to Middle East and even into Northern Africa. -Defined based on the The Levallois technique -this technique allows greater control over the size and shape of the flake products, but it also indicates a great leap from the cognitive requirements of previous Acheulean techn -Spear tips -Tools tended to be smaller and more specialized that Acheulean

Primate Characteristics

• Forward facing eyes: binocular vision • Eye sockets: bone- primates are the only mammals with bone in the eye socket (orbit) • Grasping hands • Nails • Fingerprints: unique like humans, also have fingernails • Large brains

How could you test Darwin's proposal?

• Fossil Record • Relative Dating • Absolute Dating • Morphology • Chromosomal Structure • Genetic Similarity • Phylogeny • Cultural Artifacts • Genetic Systems

Hominins and Tools

• How do you make stone tools? • How can you identify stone tools? • What do you need to think about when you make a stone tool? • What unique insights in hominin evolution do we get from stone tools? Often found near hominin skeletons How do we KNOW that A) it's a tool and B) it was made by a hominin and C) how to identify -Specific things happen when making a tool, that don't occur if it were made accidentally We see a disappearance of stone tools somewhat in Asia becuase they likely used bamboo to make tooks and weapons (doesn't fossilize) Think about: 1) Source of the rock (many stone tools are found far away from the quarries where the stone originated) 2) How to hold the rock 3) How to strike the rock Tools are the first instances of technological innovation in human history. We emphasize stone tools because they are the tools which preserve over time

Homo floresiensis "Hobbit"

• Island of Flores, Indonesia • 380-420 cc Brain • Stone tools • "Lucy sized H. erectus" -Very small, small brain (similar to Lucy) but skull is very Homo -3 to 3 1/2 feet tall and lots of controversey about if a different species (maybe diseased, down syndrome, mini people, etc.) -Good species!! Lived in caves. We see miniaturization fairly commonly when organisms move from mainland to small islands e.g. Flores had tiny elephants (lineage of hominins that went through dwarfism)

Paranthropus robustus

• Slight, sagittal crest, flat face. • Small canine, enlarged rear teeth. • Brain capacity: 530 cc • 2.0 MYA