* The Hominins *

Lecture Outlines

At the end of this lecture you should be able to…

1. Define and identify terminology from the Running Glossary
2. Describe the hominins from Sahelanthropus ​tchadensis​ to Homo ​erectus,​
including:
a. When and where the species lived
b. Species’ morphology
c. Species’ behavior/culture
2. Compare and contrast gracile and robust australopiths.
3. Identify and explain the obligate behaviors (and the morphological adaptations
that manifest those behaviors) of the genus Homo.
4. Compare and contrast the australopith and genus ​Homo​ adaptive strategies.
5. Compare and contrast Homo ​habilis ​and Homo e ​ rectus​.

Pre-Australopiths.
- Do to a multi-millionaire Gap in the fossil record paleoanthropologists are unsure
of how and when the ape and how many lineages split.
- fairly recently a group of hominin fossils discovered in North Central and
Eastern Africa have helped close the gap between late Miocene apes and the
first hominins.
- we call them the pre-australopiths
- The pre australopiths or pre australopithecines are very primitive and in some
respects they were more ape-like than human-like. Some researchers question if
they are hominins at all.
- throughout this module it is useful to plot traits On A Primitive to Modern
Spectrum.

Skeletal Morphology: -However the two critical

Cranial capacity: attributes that Define
- Cranial capacity is an important quantitative characteristic that hominins are present in
paleoanthropologists used to determine brain size Sahelanthropus.
- throughout human evolution brain size increases from the oldest homenins It was likely biped
to the latest homo sapiens it hadn't on honing complex
Facial prognathism: chewing
- Slanted
Forehead orientation:
- Horizontally oriented The combination of primitive
- You cannot see the forehead and derived features is to be
Brow ridge size: expected in the oldest
- Brownridge size: This Hominin had a massive brawl Ridge, larger than that hominin.
of modern Gorillaz.
Braincase area: it's a gin primitive
characteristics indicate that
 - some researchers argue that this hominid may be nothing more than a Sahelanthropus existed very
deformed primate fossil close the closest of any fossil
- Smaller than the rest of the face known to the Divergence of
- primitive condition Apes and hominins.
Dental arcade/tooth shape:
- Sahelanthropus has a U-shaped Dental arcade and somewhat thin enamel.
The foramen Magnum is placed intermediately between a quadrupedal and a
fully bipedal hominid.
- Dental arcade / tooth shape: some researchers argue that this hominid may
be nothing more than a deformed primate fossil
Foramen magnum position:
- Back of the skull
Sahelanthropus ​tchadensis​:
Date:7-7 m.y.a and they have a brain size of about 300-380 cc.
Morphology: This hominin had a massive browride, larger than modern gorillas.
Location:Chad africa

Ardipithecus:
Date: Ardipithecus dates from the late Miocene to the early Pliocene
Morphology: For nearly 1.5 million years this area was occupied by at least
pre-australopiths an earlier or later species of Ardipithecus
Location:The middle Awash is an important place in the study of human evolution
- The Remains include Bones from multiple individuals a partial skeleton and
numerous teeth
- brain size is 300 to 350 cc
- the presence of some polishing on 3rd premolars suggest early Ardipithecus
practiced perl-honing
- later Ardipithcus did not practice peri-honing

Australopiths Part I

Australopiths:
- The Australopiths are represented by hundreds of fossils from two closely
related genera. Australopithecus and Paraothropus
- 4.2-1 mya
- Found throughout eastern, central and southern Africa
- As a group, the australopithecines had small brains, small Canines large
premolars and large molars all were clearly bipedal.

Australopithecus ​anamensis​: -Anamensis Has the number

- The oldest aistralppithecine species of primitive ape-like
Date: 4 million years ago characteristics including
 Morphology: Woodland environment larger canines in u-shaped
Location: Kenya Dental arcade and Shadow
palate.
- Provides early evidence of
bipedalism
the phone has Rick taken at
the proximal and distal ends
of the tibia.
the tibial Plateau where the
tibia meets the femur is
enlarged to dissipate
degraded weight bearing of
bipedal limb
Australopithecus​ afarensis​: Cranial capacity of about 420
- The species is the best-known australopith and is represented by hundreds and there was a great deal of
of fossils from dozens of individuals. sexual dimorphism between
Date: 3.6 - 3 Million years ago males and females
Morphology: the most famous fossil is a 40% complete adult female name to Lucy the canines are smaller then
Location: Kenya and Ethiopia early hominins. the shape of
the dental arcade is almost so
primitive
Lucy:
- Lucy's posteranial skeleton is particularly remarkable it's fairly which
includes both arms much of the pelvis a left femur and a right tibia and hand
and foot bones
- Lucy's form of bipedalism deferred from modern humans
- in re creations of her stride length Cadence and speed is likely she was a
slow-moving stroller with a short stride
- Lucy's fingers are the same length as modern humans but the phalanges are
curved which suggests arboreal Locomotion the shape of her shoulder girdle
also supports this

Australopiths Part II

Two evolutionary lineages: Notes

1. Garni
2. Africanus
 Australopithecus ​garhi:​ The greater commit me of
Date: 2.5 million years ago terrestrial living their location
Morphology: in East Africa the chronological
- face Had A Primitive projection and the brain was small position a 2.5 million years to
Location: East Africa go their propensity for 2 years
Significance: and the possibility that they
- for the first time in hominin evolution the ratio of arm length to leg length ate meat suggest that their
was much more human-like ancestral to homo

Oldowan Complex:
The greater commit me of terrestrial living their location in East Africa the
chronological position a 2.5 million years to go their propensity for 2 years and the
possibility that they ate meat suggest that their ancestral to homo

Au. ​garhi a​ nd tool-use:

- Stone tools from a number of sites
- early stone tools were produced only by the larger brained homo found at
the site and not the smaller brained australopithecines
- Distinctive cut marks have been found on mammal bones that they're
produced by stone tools
- unlike other sites associated with early tool use
- this indicates that gardi he has made and used stone tools

Paranthropus

Genus ​Paranthropus:​ Notes

1. Paranthropus aethiopicus
2. Paranthropus robustus
3. Paranthropus boisei
Date: 2.7- 1 million years ago
Location: Easton South Africa

Cranial morphology:
- They had a cranial capacity of 410 to 530 CC and we're about 4 ft tall
- compared with earlier australopiths these robots creatures have smaller
front teeth with massive faces and premolars and molars
- their faces are flattered and they have deep lower Jaws for larger muscle
attachments and their faces are flattered and they have deep lower Jaws
for larger muscle attachments and to dissipate the force from chewing
stuff Foods perhaps most striking is the huge attachment for the
temporalis muscle resulting in a well-developed sagittal crest
Teeth:
- Molars that were 50% larger than chimpanzees
- they're enamel the hardest tissue in the body was twice as thick
- their molars were even more extreme
- their teeth were twice as large and had three times more enamel
Diet:
- they were increasingly focused on eating foods that required more
powerful chewing muscles
Desirable foods:
- Fruits meat vegetation
Fallback foods:
- bark nuts
Extinction:
- Went extinct by 1 million years ago in South Africa
- the reasons for the extinction or uncle

Homo ​Habilis

Genus ​Homo:​ Notes

1. Do they show brain size expansion
2. Do hominins with brain size expansion depend on material culture

Homo ​habilis:​
​Date: 1.8 million years ago
Morphology:
- is it one of those lived alongside other australopithecines
Location: Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania Kenya Ethiopia Malawi South Africa

Homo ​vs. Australopithecines:

Morphology:
- Despite living contemporaneously the australopithecines and the early
members of the genus homo deferred in their adaptive strategies
- evidence of this is reflected in their differing morphology
- Paranthropus had an enormous chewing complex and a small brain what
no it was just want to know next to you

Homo ​habilis​ & tool-use:

- The increase in brain and body size and the masticatory changes are
hypothesized to be linked to tools growing importance
- additionally anatomical evidence indicates that the Precision grip was
possible
- this would have greatly aided in making and using oldowan tools
- two stone tools are more common at homo habilis sites
 - expanding brain size indicates that it was smarter than Australopithecus
20% larger
-

Homo ​vs. Australopithecines:

Adaptive strategies:
- HOMO: Its lineage invested in in men's amount of energy in the
development and maintenance of large brains. is there a greater
intelligence likely help them consume a wider variety of foods and allowed
them to be more adaptable to new environment
- An immense amount of energy in the development and maintenance of a
robust masticatory complex. their diets became more and more
specialized and as the environment changed they were unable to adapt
and met their demise.
OH 62:
- For many years homo habilis was known from just schools and teeth
anthropologists had no idea what the rest of the skeleton look like
- Excavations at olduvai gorge in the 1980's lead to the discovery of a very
fragmentary but important skeleton of H. habilis known as “OH62”
- the individual was short 3.5 ft tall and had short legs in comparison to the
arms like the australopiths.

Ancestor of Homo ​habilis​:

- Still unconfirmed is homo habilis immediate ancestor
- Anthropologist Tim White suggest that the ancestor was Australopithecus
harhi and that the evolutionary transition took place 3- 2.5 mya
- Others suggest that homo habilis descended from the south african
australopithecus sediba

Homo ​erectus​ Part I

Homo erectus: Notes
Date: 1.7 million years ago
Location: Throughout Africa Asia and Europe
Locomotion:
- In contrast to earlier Hominins. homo erectus has a very modern body
plan
- What are the most striking characteristics is the relative short arms and
long legs
- this change in Lynn proportionate is a major alteration in the pattern of
bipedal locomotion
- became Completely committed to terrestrial Life by adopting a fully
modern stride
Nariokotome Boy:
- Among the earliest and most complete 80% fossils is that a juvenile
skeleton from Nariokotome on the west side of Lake turkana
- Three Skeleton dates to about 1.6 million years ago
- She was quite tall about 66 in.
Body size:
- Noticeably larger than earlier hominins
- average height is around five foot six but many African males may have
been much taller
Brain size:
- brain size range from 700- 1250cc
- About 33% increase in brain size
- even taking into consideration the body size increase their brains are still
larger than earlier hominins

Cranial morphology:
- Large brow ridges long and low skull projecting nuchal torus sagittal keels,
broad base
- The sagittal keel, nuchal torus add large brow ridges may serve
masticatory functions or they may reflect bone buttressing in a robust
skull.
Why the increase in size?
- It is estimated that from habilis to erectus males heights increased by 33%
and females heights by 37%
- increased access to meet acquired through hunting
- technology to cut and processed meat but evidence suggests they were
mainly scavengers
- fully modern by pitch dried would have allowed them to run great
distances allowing them to consistently and effectively hunt down prey
Acheulian Complex:
- To routinely acquire meet they also needed and added measure of
intelligence of dexterity. they had to manufacture the right tools. Tools
that could be thrown accurately like Spears
- the culture associated with this. Of evolution beginning around 1.5 million
years ago is called the Acheulian complex.
- Acheulian stone tools are more sophisticated than Oldowan tools and
clearly required a great deal of both learning and skill to produce. The
dominant tool is the handaxe.
Fire:
- Had no or very minimal control of Fire
- they did not keep themselves warm with it nor did they cook their food
- with with fire she adapted animals including humans could not survive in
cold climate
- they controlled use of fire was a Monumental development because it
allowed a major expansion in where people could live
Cooking:
- They used fire to cook food
- Evidence includes: burned animal bones, burned stone tools, burned
plants charcoal and ash. The fire pits are located in caves which rules out
lighting.

Homo ​erectus​ Part II

Origin: Notes
- The birthplace of Homo erectus is a little sticky but they likely originated in
Africa
- The earlies African erectus fossils are dated at 1.7 mya
- Notably erectus fossils from Europe have been dated at 1.8 mya and in
indonesia at 1.6 mya
- H. erectus quickly migrated out of Africa, but we lack clear evidence to
support this
African Homo ​erectus:
- African H. erectus fossils are taller than their European and Asian
relatives
- Large brains
- Massive brow ridges
- Later East African H. erectus have thin cranial bones
Eurasian Homo ​erectus:​
- The earliest evidence of Homo erectus in Eurasia is found in Dmanisi
Republic of Georgia
- The date for this important site is 1.8 mya
- Compared to other members of H. erectus these hominins are much
smaller in terms of stature and cranial capacity
- 4 foot 9-5 foot 5
Asian Homo ​erectus:​
- The Dmanisi skulls also have smaller brow ridges and teeth a projecting
face and thick cranial bones
- They used the more primitive Oldowan tools
- Its possible the hominins at Dmansis reflect two migrations out of Africa
- The first an early smaller bodied Homom erectus
- The second the customary, large Homo erectus we know today
European Homo ​erectus:​
- H. erectus fossils have been found in a number of sites in Indonesia
especially in Java
- Arrived as early as 1.6 mya and may have live as late as 100,000
- Some suggest that they may even have lived until 25,000 ya
- Some of the best information about Homo erectus comes from China,
particularly at Gonwangling
- Dates vary from 1.6 mya to about 580000 ya
 - They had large well developed brow ridges at nuchal torus, sagittal keel
and thick cranial bones and a cranial bones and a cranial capacity around
800cc.
- The earliest fossil evidence of H. erectus in western Europe dates to
about 1.2 mya
- Fossils are primarily found in Spain and Italy
- Overall all remains are highly fragmentary and their relation to H. erectus
has been hotly debated.

Variation in Homo ​erectus​:

-There is a great deal of intraspecific variation in Homo erectus
-These morphological variations are likely de to differences in time and in
geography
- Separated by almost two million years in some cases
-Separated by continents
-Sexual dimorphism
-The degree of variability is far smaller than that found in other mammals

Please provide a question that you may have had about the material
learned in this module. Question topics can include:
i. Aspects of the lecture or reading that you’d like further clarification on.
ii. Aspects of the lecture or reading that were particularly interesting to you
and you’d like to learn more about.
iii. Aspects of the lecture or reading that you feel are subjective, ethically
questionable or lacking ample scientific evidence.

Your question:
1. What was the skin color of these ancient hominins.