Australopithecus Homo erectus Homo sapien

Research Project: Human Evolution

T
Key understandings:
• There is no clear consensus on the evolutionary history of
the hominidae family lineage.
– Contributors: Incomplete fossil record of hominids, no new
discoveries and some species are known only from partial
specimens or fragments of bone
• Due to lack of fossil records, there is disagreement on the
actual total number of hominid species (currently, there
are 18 species recognized as hominid)
• This presentation will begin with a brief history of the
beginning of life during the tertiary and quaternary and
then jump to the start of the era where hominids were first
documented as a species. Again, there is much
disagreement around the when, who and what, so many
resources are used to recant the evolution to current day
homo sapiens in this report.

Monroe, Wicander (2009, 2006)

What does it mean?
• Hominid – the group consisting of all modern and extinct Great
Apes (that is, modern humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orang-
utans plus all their immediate ancestors).
• Hominin – the group consisting of modern humans, extinct
human species and all our immediate ancestors (including
members of the genera homo,
Australopithecus,Paranthropus and Ardipithecus

‘Hominid’ and ‘hominin’ are derived from names used in the

scientific classification of apes (including humans). By international
convention, certain word endings are used for specific taxons or
levels within this classification. For example, ‘family’ names always
end in ‘-idae’ (Hominidae), ‘subfamily’ names end in ‘inae’
(Homininae) and ‘tribe’ (1) names end in ‘ini’ (Hominini). These
formal names are then abbreviated to give the common names
hominid, hominine and hominin respectively.

Dorey, Fran, and Beth Blaxland (2009)

When did the first hominids appear?
Tertiary Period: 65 mya – 1.8 mya
Paleocene Epoch: 65 -55.5 mya
Diversification of mammals
Eocene Epoch: 55.5 – 33.7 mya
First marine and large terrestrial animals, horses, monkeys, whales
Oligocene Epoch: 33.7 – 23.8 mya
First grasses, apes and anthropoids

Miocene Epoch:
23.8 – 5.3 mya
First Hominids

Pliocene Epoch:
5.3 – 1.8 mya
First
Australopithecines

Illustrator Unknown, Nova

Early hominids, Australopithecus afarensis Krock, L. (2002), PBS

When did the first modern humans appear -
Quaternary Period: 1.8 mya – Present
Pleistocene Epoch: 1.8 mya – 8,000 ya
First mammoths, mastrodons, Neanderthals
Holocene Epoch: 8,000 ya – Present
First modern human beings
The Quaternary is
often considered the
"Age of Humans."
Homo erectus
appeared in Africa at
the start of the period,
and as time marched
on the hominid line
evolved bigger brains
and higher
intelligence. The first
modern humans
evolved in Africa
about 190,000 years
ago and dispersed to
Europe and Asia and
then on to Australia
and the Americas.
: Quaternary Period,
National Geo Graphic

Source: Taylor, J. E. Geological Stories (London: Gibbings & Company, Limited, 1904) 254
Did we evolve from monkeys?
• It is commonly believed amongst many that humans did
not evolve from monkeys for various reasons. Some
religious and some base their belief on scientific data.
Scientific data shows that humans are more closely
related to modern apes than to monkeys; however we
didn't evolve from apes, either.
• Humans share a common ancestor with modern African
apes, like gorillas and chimpanzees. Scientists believe
this common ancestor existed 5 to 8 million years ago. At
some point after, the species diverged into two separate
lineages.
• One of these lineages ultimately evolved into gorillas and
chimps, and the other evolved into early human ancestors
called hominids, in the scientific classification family,
hominidae.

Frequently Asked Questions About Evolution. (2001), PBS

 Primate Evolution Tree

Illustrator unknown

Since the earliest hominid species diverged from the ancestor we share with modern
African apes, there have been 18 identified different species of these humanlike creatures.
Many of these hominid species are close relatives, but not human ancestors. Most went
extinct without another species emerging. Some of the extinct hominids known today, they
are almost certainly direct ancestors of Homo sapiens. While the total number of species
that existed and the relationships among them is still unknown, the picture becomes
clearer as new fossils are found.
Frequently Asked Questions About Evolution. (2001), PBS
We’re all family –
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata

Hominidae Class:
Order:
Mammalia
Primates
Family: Hominidae
Tribe: Hominini
Genus: Homo
Species: H. sapiens

Binomial name
Homo sapiens
Linnaeus, 1758
Subspecies
†Homo sapiens idaltu
Homo sapiens sapiens

The human species shares a

common genetic code with all
other life on our planet and
many of our basic traits are a
heritage from the long
The Evolution of the Ape to Human - Peabody
evolutionary history that took
Museum, Yale University
place before the human lineage
branched off from the apes
around 6 million years ago. Yet
we also have our own set of
uniquely human adaptations.
Foley, J. (2011)
 Skull and Brain Comparison

Reprinted by permission from Dr. Douglas Theobald. (Images copyright 2000 Smithsonian Institution.)

The skulls arranged from B to M by physical form: the skulls at the beginning of the list look more
like chimpanzees, skull A, and the skulls at the end of the list look more human-like, skull N. There
is a progression of appearance from B to M. Here are the skulls listed by species and date:

(A) Pan troglodytes, chimpanzee, modern (H) Homo ergaster (early H. erectus), KNM-ER 3733, 1.75 My
(B) Australopithecus africanus, STS 5, 2.6 My (I) Homo heidelbergensis, "Rhodesia man," 300,000 - 125,000 y
(C) Australopithecus africanus, STS 71, 2.5 My (J) Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, La Ferrassie 1, 70,000 y
(D) Homo habilis, KNM-ER 1813, 1.9 My (K) Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, La Chappelle-aux-Saints, 60,000 y
(E) Homo habilis, OH24, 1.8 My (L) Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, Le Moustier, 45,000 y
(F) Homo rudolfensis, KNM-ER 1470, 1.8 My (M) Homo sapiens sapiens, Cro-Magnon I, 30,000 y
(G) Homo erectus, Dmanisi cranium D2700, (N) Homo sapiens sapiens, modern
1.75 My
In madnessinmysoul,(2011, May 8)
www.topsecret.com/forum
Bone structure comparisons

Chimpanzee Australopithecus africanus Homo sapiens

Another evolutionary trend in humans is the hip bone. Chimpanzees have

their hip bone elongated and directed forward, this is why they cannot walk
like us, while our hip bone is directed upward. This is how scientists recognize
if some homo fossil was bipedal or a quadruped. When we look at the hip
bone for an older human, we can see also a transformation in this trend. The
illustration in the middle is the same bone structure as “Lucy“. Lucy is an
Australopithecus estimated to have lived 3.2 million years ago.(more info on Lucy slide 14).
 Pelvis Comparison
Credit: Credit: Zina Deretsky, National
Science Foundation

Three sets of pelvic bones (both a side view and top view) are shown, along with the approximate
size of full-term fetus they could handle. On the left is the pelvis and baby of "Lucy“ (more info about
Lucy in slide 14). In the middle is the newly discovered pelvis of 1.2 million year old Homo erectus, and
on the right is the pelvis and baby of a modern day female human being, or Homo sapiens.
Homo erectus was previously thought to produce babies with relatively small brain capacity. However
the discovery of the pictured pelvis has shown that they were actually capable of birthing babies with
a cranial circumference very close to the lower end of the range of our own species. The Homo
erectus shown could have produced a baby with a cranial circumference of 318 mm, while modern
day babies vary from 320 to 370 mm.
Detsky, Z. (2011)
Comparisons
Homo Homo
Erectus Sapien

A. Afarensis
Australopithecus anamensis (aka ramidus)
During my research, I found that A. anamensis was also known as A.
ramidus and were so close in design to A. afarensis, that it was hard to
distinguish between them. However, it is believed that Ardi cannot be a
common ancestor of Chimpanzees and humans.

The canine teeth of A. ramidus are smaller, and

equal in size between males and females. This
suggests reduced male-to-male conflict, pair-
bonding, and increased parental investment.
Researchers infer from the form of Ardi's pelvis
and limbs and the presence of her opposable big
toe that she was a facultative biped: bipedal
when moving on the ground, but quadrupedal
when moving about in tree branches. Ardi had a
more primitive walking ability than later hominids,
and could not walk or run for long distances. The
teeth suggest she was an omnivore, and are
more generalized than those of modern apes.

Ardi (ARA-VP-6/500) is the designation

of the fossilized skeletal remains of a
female Ardipithecus ramidus, an early
human-like species 4.4 million years old.
It is the most complete early hominid
specimen, with most of the skull, teeth,
Ardi, Wiki
pelvis, hands and feet
Australopithecus afarensis

Australopithecus afarensis is an extinct hominid

that lived between 3.9 and 2.9 million years ago.
A. afarensis was slender in build, like the
younger Australopithecus africanus. It is thought
that A. afarensis was ancestral to both the genus
Australopithecus and the genus Homo, which
includes the modern human species, Homo
sapiens. The most famous fossil is the partial
skeleton named Lucy (3.2 million years old)
found by Donald Johanson and colleagues, who,
in celebration of their find, played the Beatles
song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds over and
over.

AL 288-1 (Lucy)
(Australopithecus)
The first A. afarensis skeleton was discovered on November 24, 1974 near Hadar in Ethiopia by Tom Gray in the
company of Donald Johanson, as part of a team involving Maurice Taieb, Yves Coppens and Tim White in
the Middle Awash of Ethiopia's Afar Depression.

Australopithecus afarensis,Wiki
Australopithecus Afracinus
Australopithecus africanus was an early
hominid, an australopithecine, who lived
between 2–3 million years ago in the Pliocene.
In common with the older Australopithecus
afarensis, A. africanus was slenderly built, or
gracile, and was thought to have been a direct
ancestor of modern humans. Fossil remains
indicate that A. africanus was significantly more
like modern humans than A. afarensis, with a
more human-like cranium permitting a larger
brain and more humanoid facial features. A.
africanus has been found at only four sites in
southern Africa — Taung (1924), Sterkfontein
(1935), Makapansgat (1948) and Gladysvale
(1992).

Related to Genus: Homo

Homo rudolfensis
Homo habilis
Homo ergaster
Homo erectus

Illustrator unknown

Berger, L.R., and R.J. Clarke.

(1995)
Homo habilis - 1.5 to 2 mya
Illustrator Unknown
Homo habilis, "handy man," is so called because
of the wealth of tools that have been found with its
fossils. The average H. habilis brain was
considerably larger than the
average Australopithecus brain. The brain shape
is also more humanlike. The bulge of Broca's
area, essential for speech, is visible in one H.
habilis brain cast, indicating that the species may
have been capable of rudimentary speech. The
average H. habilis individual is thought to have
been about five feet tall and 100 pounds,
although females may have been smaller.
Homo erectus - 1.6 mya
Homo Erectus
Illustrator Unknown
The evolution of an arch in the foot indicates a spring
ligament in the foot, which increases the efficiency of
walking by storing some of the energy from the falling
weight of the walker in each step, and then returning
it up the leg on the rebound. The big toe is also
aligned with the other toes, something not found in
earlier ancestors and other primates. Its large size is
necessary to absorb the walker's weight as the foot
rolls forward and then lifts off the ground before the
next step. Breuil, H., (1979)
 Neanderthals
35,000 to 100,000 ya
Neanderthal (left) and sapiens (right) skeletons
Posted on May 18, 2010 by Bento
Homo Neanderthalis was the last surviving hominid besides
modern humans, homo sapiens sapiens. Noting that
Neanderthals’ brain cavities were larger than our own, many
paleontologists and anthropologists argue their intelligence was
comparable to our own. Given the overlap between both
genetic compatibility and shared habitat, there has always been
intense debate as to whether or not the two human subspecies
ever mated; now, the evidence it tilting towards “yes.” Svante
Pääbo, a palaeogeneticist at the Max Planck Institute in
Leipzig, Germany, heads a team which is sequencing the
Neanderthal genome. Bento(2010)
Cro-Magnon
35,000 to 40,000 ya
Being the oldest known modern humans
(Homo sapiens) in Europe, the Cro-
Magnon, meaning ‘Great Cave’, were from
the outset linked to the well-known
Lascaux cave paintings and the
Aurignacian culture whose remains were
well known from southern France and
Germany. As additional remains of early
modern humans were discovered in
archaeological sites from Western Europe
and elsewhere, and dating techniques
improved in the early 20th century, new
finds were added to the taxonomic
classification. Loring (1996)
 Modern Homo sapien
(fully modern fossils 100,000 ya)
Homo sapiens sapiens. In the artwork above of an
early modern human Homo sapiens sapiens
teaching his two sons how to make stone tools. In
the background, at far left, men are using spears to
catch fish. Homo sapiens sapiens first appeared
around 90, 000 years ago towards the end of the
Paleolithic era (750, 000-15, 000 years ago). Early
Homo sapiens sapiens made many specialized
tools, spears and needles. By about 10, 000 years
ago agricultural villages started to develop. This
marked the start of the Neolithic period or new
stone age. 2011 Science Photo Library Ltd. 327-329
Photograph by Chris Johns
Women farm workers near Ghanzi,
Botswana, still go into the bush to
gossip and snack on wild plants.
Gathering once provided 70 percent of
the Bushman diet, but ancient
scrubland has been converted to
cattle ranches. Now government relief
provides the bulk of the people's food.
National Geographic magazine, (2001)
 References
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• Transitional Humanoids
http://darwiniana.org/hominid.htm
• Kids version
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earlyhumans.mrdonn.org/evolution.html
Precambrian – Early Life Pic
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Geologic Timescale Spiral Pic bul/1327/sec10.htm Last Updated: 28-Dec-2006
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• By Lexi Krock, Posted 02.01.02, NOVA
Slide 2: Bullet 1 & 2 Monroe, Wicander (2009, 2006)
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Pic: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/link/hist_11.html (credit: Image Credit)
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Slide 13: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardi
This page was last modified on 22 July 2011 at 01:29.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may
apply. Wikipedia®
Slide 14: Afarensis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australopithecus_afarensis
• This page was last modified on 1 July 2011 at 22:46.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms
may apply. See Terms of use for details.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization
• Pic: http://apunteseusebio.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html
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Bushman: —From "Bushmen: Last Stand for Southern Africa’s First People," February 2001, National
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From "Bushmen: Last Stand for Southern Africa’s First People," February 2001, National
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