Anthro exam 2

Miocene apes

Great Rift Valley
East Africa
20 million years ago
Large primates
Tailless
Arboreal Fruit eaters
Orthograde/Upright
Shoulder Mobility
Large Brains
ape like molars
Extended life history

Ardipithecus

4.4 million years ago
Canine teeth reduced
Reduced Agression
Apical Wear
Larger + More Molars: Eating harder foods in forested environment
More bipedal
Partial skeleton
Found in Ethiopia at Awash study site at river
Found in-between two ash layers
C3 Grassy woodland environment
Chimp sized brain
Small non-dimorphic canines
Comfortable in trees
weird feet

Homo habilis

1.8 million years ago
Big brain
Smaller teeth
Robust hand
Lots of stone tools (Olowan tools)
Why bigger brains and smaller teeth?
Scavenged meat from animals killed by other predators
Expensive tissue theory

Lomekwian Stone tools

Afarensis 3.3 million years ago

Olowan tools

Homo habilis 1.1 million years ago

Paranthropus

2.9 million years ago
Tanzinia and Kenya - Great rift valley
Bipedal
Small canines exaggerated
Huge back molars exaggerated
Enormous areas for muscle
Chewing machines
For hard foods
C4 foods found in Grasslands
Brain the same size as Australopithecus
Lived alongside us and Australopithecus

Archulean tools

Homo Erectus 1.7 million years ago

Volcanic deposits

May favor preservation - East African ash falls contain minerals that causes rapid fossilization of bone
Important for dating of fossils

Lacustrine (Lake) Deposits

dead animals sink into shoreline which is good for fossilization

How do we tell past global temperatures?

Use stable isotopes, such as oxygen

How tell tell if there was a ice age?

If there's a lot of O18, means there's a lot of trapped water

Sahelanthropus

7 million years ago
When human and chimp lineage split
Wooded habitat unlike today
Found skull (bipedalism)
Had massive gorilla like brow ridge
small canines
Enlarged molars (compared with chimps)
Apical wear
Hole at bottom of the scull is on bottom of the skull
Spinal cord comes out bottom of head suggest held itself upright

Orrorin

6 million years ago
Kenya, open woodland
Eastern Africa
Small canines
Femur suggest bipedality
Curved fingers and strong muscle attachment (Good at climbing)
Abductor mechanism
Abductor muscles
Femurs extended and moved muscle to increase leverage and contract more efficiently
Femur more efficient for upright walking compared to chimps

Australopithecus anamnesis

Kenya; Ethiopia
4.2- 3.7 mya
Canines get smaller molars get bigger
Less competition harder foods
Whole mouth becomes molarised
Harder foods
Excellent upright walker
Large puffy knee
Evidence for bipedal walking (Shock absorber
Ankle joint
Foot directly over tibia (Chimps more angled)
skull found 3.8 mya
Found by Yohannes Haile Selassie
Small brain size

Australopithecus afarensis

East and Central Africa
Reduced Canines
Molars increased
Efficient bipedalism
Still efective tree climbers
Long and curved toes and fingers
Increased brain size
Ankle sits under knee
Stone tools (Lomekwian Stone tools 3.3 million years ago)
Feedback loop

Australopithecus sediba

South Africa "Cradle of Human Kind"
1.9 Million years ago
Last australopithecus
Teeth similar to humans
Ape like shoulders with long arms (Climbing)
Tool maker hand anatomy
Bipdedal from waist down
Foot under knees, bicondylar angle
Adapted to weird walking
Still climbed trees for food

Australopithecus africanus

South Africa
2-3 million years ago
"Tuang" was first one discovered
Small canines
Frame under skull (bipedalism
Discovered by Raymond Dart
Curved spine
Bicondylar angel
Lived at same time as afarensis

Homo erectus

2 million years ago to 110,00 years ago
Direct human ancestors
Increased body size
Longer legs
Human Proportions
Bigger brains 940 cc
Dietary and skull changes
Less musculature — not chewing as much
Extended nose for water retention
Ventured beyond Africa
Technological advancements
Archulean tools, including Archulean Hand axe
Running, throwing,cooking, and talking
Began using and making fire
1.7-1.6 million years ago in Africa

Homo floresiensis

Discoverd by Jatmiko
60 thousand to 100 thousand years ago
Small brains
Asia
Similar to erectus

Homo naledi

South America, Naledi cave
40,000 fossils found in cave
Likely a burial Chamber
First ritualistic behavior around death
Small brains for sophisticated bahavior

Homo Neandartal

Not much of a forehead
Browridge
Used teeth as tools
Broad nose
Huge brains
Follow Allens Rule

Homo sapiens

260 thousand - 350 thousand years ago
evolved across africa
Lived in the Pleistocen with Homo erectus, florensien, naledi, neandarthals, and denisovans
Humans are not genetically diverse
Most of our genetic diversity in Africa
Middle Stone age tools

Middle Stone age tools

Homo sapiens 350 thousand years

Cave deposits

Form in limestone through dissolution of the limestone (CaCO3) by acidic ground water

Fluvial(river) deposits

deposit sediments and dead animal remains often around 'bends' Flood plains

Forrest environment

C3 and only use Carbon 12

Grassland environment

C4 and lots of Carbon 13