Anthropology

La Chapelle-aux-Saints

Discovered in 1908, the skeleton of "the old man of La Chapelle" was the first relatively complete skeleton of a Neanderthal individual that scientists had ever found. Buried in the limestone bedrock of a small cave near La Chapelle-aux-Saints, France, this skeleton includes the skull, jaw, most of the vertebrae, several ribs, most of the long bones of his arms and legs, plus some of the smaller bones of his hands and feet. The well-preserved skull shows the low, receding forehead, protruding midface, and heavy browridges typical of Homo neanderthalensis.

Key sites and significance where each of the fossil types have been found

Dmanisi

Homo ergaster vs. Homo erectus

Homo ergaster and Homo erectus are so similar that many people consider H. ergaster to just constitute early African populations of H. erectus. They share a lot of traits in common, compared to other early members of Homo (rudolfensis and habilis), including: Larger, taller, more linear physique Close to modern human proportions Obligate bipedalism Smaller teeth and jaws Longer period of growth Larger cranium Acheulean tools

Bifacially flaked tools

In some strategies, however, a flintknapper reduces the core to a rough unifacial or bifacial preform, which is further reduced using soft hammer flaking techniques or by pressure flaking the edges. Hand axes are a type of the somewhat wider biface group of two-faced tools or weapons.

sexual dimorphism

distinct difference in size or appearance between the sexes of an animal in addition to difference between the sexual organs themselves.

Paleoanthropology

the branch of anthropology concerned with fossil hominids

The Leakeys

Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey (7 August 1903 - 1 October 1972), also known as L. S. B. Leakey, was a Kenyan paleoanthropologist and archaeologist whose work was important in demonstrating that humans evolved in Africa, particularly through discoveries made at Olduvai Gorge with his wife, fellow paleontologist Mary Leakey.

Skeletons known as "Lucy" and "Salam"

Lucy-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 (and other hominins); this combination supports the view of human evolution that bipedalism preceded increase in brain size. Salam-The 3.3-million-year-old fossilized toddler was uncovered in north Ethiopia's badlands along the Great Rift Valley (map of Ethiopia). The skeleton, belonging to the primitive human species Australopithecus afarensis, is remarkable for its age and completeness, even for a region spectacularly rich in fossils of our ancient ancestors, experts say.

Differences between Homo erectus and earlier Homo and Homo sapiens

• Sapiens is a presently surviving or thriving species while erectus was a prehistoric and extinct species. • The cranial capacity is higher in the modern man compared to erectus. • The face profile of the sapiens is not as protruded as in erectus. • The skin of the erectus would have had more hair cover than in the humans. • Sapiens is the human, whereas erectus was a human-like or hominid species. • The average height was slightly higher in erectus compared to humans. • The sexual dimorphism was more pronounced in erectus man than in the modern man.

Acheulian tools

Acheulean is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand-axes" associated with early humans. Acheulean tools were produced during the Lower Palaeolithic era across Africa and much of West Asia, South Asia, and Europe, and are typically found with Homo erectus remains.

Features of bipedalism/bipedal locomotion

An increase in leg length since the evolution of bipedalism changed how leg muscles functioned in upright gait. In humans the "push" for walking comes from the leg muscles acting at the ankle. A longer leg allows the use of the natural swing of the limb so that, when walking, humans do not need to use muscle to swing the other leg forward for the next step.

Australapiths (Australapithicus aferensis and africanus)

Australopithecus afarensis is one of the longest-lived and best-known early human species—paleoanthropologists have uncovered remains from more than 300 individuals! Found between 3.85 and 2.95 million years ago in Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania), this species survived for more than 900,000 years, which is over four times as long as our own species has been around. It is best known from the sites of Hadar, Ethiopia ('Lucy', AL 288-1 and the 'First Family', AL 333); Dikika, Ethiopia (Dikika 'child' skeleton); and Laetoli (fossils of this species plus the oldest documented bipedal footprint trails).

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin is best known for his work as a naturalist, developing a theory of evolution to explain biological change. "A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life." —Charles Darwin Naturalist Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England, on February 12, 1809. In 1831, he embarked on a five-year survey voyage around the world on the HMS Beagle. His studies of specimens around the globe led him to formulate his theory of evolution and his views on the process of natural selection. In 1859, he published On the Origin of Species. He died on April 19, 1882, in London.

Importance of recent genetic evidence in reference to human evolution

DNA is thus especially important in the study of evolution. The amount of difference in DNA is a test of the difference between one species and another - and thus how closely or distantly related they are.

Dmanisi

Dmanisi is a town and archaeological site in the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia approximately 93 km southwest of the nation's capital Tbilisi in the river valley of Mashavera. The hominin site is the earliest of its kind outside of Africa, dating back to 1.81 Ma. A series of skulls from Dmanisi, discovered in the early 2010s, led to the hypothesis that many separate species in the Homo genus were in fact a single lineage.[clarification needed][4] Also known as Skull 5, D4500 is the fifth skull to be discovered in Dmanisi.

climate changes in Africa and Europe during periods of glaciation

During the coldest periods, global temperatures dropped by about 9º F. (5º C.) and long-lasting ice sheets spread out from the poles and high mountains. Between the four or more major glaciations of the Pleistocene, there were interglacial warming periods with temperatures similar to now. Both the glacials and the interglacials lasted tens of thousands of years. Very likely, we are now in an interglacial that began 10,000-12,000 years ago.

mtDNA

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

Mosaic evolution

Mosaic evolution (or modular evolution) is the concept that evolutionary change takes place in some body parts or systems without simultaneous changes in other parts.

Characteristics of Neandertals (including biological, cultural, and technological)

Neanderthals made stone tools,[111] used fire,[112] and were hunters. The consensus on their behaviour ends here.It had actually long been debated whether Neanderthals were hunters or scavengers.[66][further explanation needed] Most available evidence suggests they were apex predators,[113][114] and fed on red deer, reindeer, ibex, wild boar, aurochs and on occasion mammoth, straight-tusked elephant and rhinoceros.

Olduvai Gorge

Olduvai Gorge, or Oldupai Gorge, in Tanzania is one of the most important paleoanthropological sites in the world; it has proven invaluable in furthering understanding of early human evolution.Homo habilis, probably the first early human species, occupied Olduvai Gorge approximately 1.9 million years ago (mya); then came a contemporary australopithecine, Paranthropus boisei, 1.8 mya, then Homo erectus, 1.2 mya. Homo sapiens is dated to have occupied the site 17,000 years ago.

Post-Cranial

Postcrania (postcranium, adjective: postcranial) in zoology and vertebrate paleontology refers to all or part of the skeleton apart from the skull. Frequently, fossil remains, e.g. of dinosaurs or other extinct tetrapods, consist of partial or isolated skeletal elements; these are referred to as "postcrania".

Pre-Australapiths

Preaustralopithecines are the oldest hominids. Most often the remains of the preaustralopithecine species are fragmentary and possess both apelike and humanlike traits.

Oldowan tools

The Oldowan is the oldest-known stone tool industry. Dating as far back as 2.5 million years ago, these tools are a major milestone in human evolutionary history: the earliest evidence of cultural behavior. Homo habilis, an ancestor of Homo sapiens, manufactured Oldowan tools.

Pleistocene Epoch

The Pleistocene often colloquially referred to as the Ice Age) is the geological epoch which lasted from about 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the world's most recent period of repeated glaciations.

Taung child

The Taung Child (or Taung Baby) is the fossilised skull of a young Australopithecus africanus. It was discovered in 1924 by quarrymen working for the Northern Lime Company in Taung, South Africa. Raymond Dart described it as a new species in the journal Nature in 1925.

Hominin characteristics

The early hominin Australopithecus displayed various characteristics which show more similarity to the great apes than to modern humans: great sexual dimorphism, small brain size in comparison to body mass, larger canines and molars, and a prognathic jaw.

Turkana Boy

Turkana Boy, also called Nariokotome Boy,[1] is the common name of Homo erectus[2] fossil KNM-WT 15000,[nb 1] a nearly complete skeleton of a hominin youth who lived during the early Pleistocene. This specimen is the most complete early human skeleton ever found. It is believed to be between 1.5 and 1.6 million years old.

Homo habilis

When Lived: 2.4 million to 1.4 million years ago Homo habilis lived 2.4 million to 1.65 million years ago. This species, one of the earliest members of the genus Homo, has a slightly larger braincase and smaller face and teeth than in Australopithecus or older hominin species. But it still retains some ape-like features, including long arms and a moderately-prognathic face. Its name, which means 'handy man', was given in 1964 because this species was thought to represent the first maker of stone tools. Currently, the oldest stone tools are dated slightly older than the oldest evidence of the genus Homo.