wa 1.1 human origins

pierre belon

16th century: observation of similarities in structural plans of organisms from different animal groups, (ex. human vs. bird skeleton)

carl linnaeus

18th century: humans put within animal kingdom, humans as part of nature system, introduced the term “mammals”, founder of modern taxonomy (binomial)

charles darwin

19th century: applied evolutionary theory to humans (“the descent of man”, 1871), introduced sexual selection, challenged traditional views of human uniqueness

sahelanthropus tchadensis

7 million years ago: one of the earliest known hominins

discovered in chad, africa

somewhat bipedal (?, at times?), probably looked similar to apes

environment: grass forests (close to element of apes)

brain size c. 350cc

ardipithecus (ramidus & kadabba)

c. 5 million years ago, early hominin from ethiopia

walked uproght, but climbed trees

brain size: c. 300-350cc

australopethicus afarensis

3.9-2.9 million years ago

bipedal, could still climb

environment: open woodland and savanna

brain size: 400-500cc

lucy: famous specimen, lived c. 3 million years ago, found in hadar, ethiopia

it is believed the afarensis migrated first from kenya ending up in south africa

laetoli footprints

3.6 million years ago, suggests the australopithcines were bipedal, northern tanzania, well preserved and dated due to volcanic ash layers

australopithecus africanus

3-2 million years ago, first discovered in south africa

fully bipedal, some climbing ability

environment: mixed, woodland and open savanna

brain size: 400-500cc

considered descendant of a. afarensis

gracile australopithecines

africanus and afarensis, first bipedal hominins

4-2mya, eastern and southern africa

brain size: 400-500cc

120-140cm

short legs and long arms

paranthropus boisei

aka australopithecus robustus, the nutcracker

2.3-1.2mya, first discovered in east africa

known for robust skull, massive jaws, large molars and premolars

environment: open grassland and savanna

brain size: 500-550cc

adapted to eating tough, fibrous foods

homo rudolfensis

c. 2.4-1.9 million years ago, first discovered at lake rudolf in kenya

flatter face and larger teeth compared to homo habilis

environment: open woodland and savanna

brain size: 700-750cc

considered early member of the genus homo (though debated)

homo habilis

2.4-1.4 million years ago, east africa

known as “handy man” for making and using simple stone tools

smaller teeth and more human-like skull than australopithecus 

environment: woodland and savanna

brain size: 510-600cc

considered one of the earliest members of the genus homo

lomekwian stone tools

discovered in kenya

dated to about 3.3mya, oldest known stone tools (predates the genus homo)

likely made by austalopithecus

used for pounding, chopping, scraping

shows that early hominins had more complex behaviours than previously thought

passive hammer

one of two methods for knapping cores and making flakes

pounding a core against an anvil - two objects

bipolar technique

one of two methods for knapping cores and making flakes

active hammer and passive anvil, core inbetween - three objects)

oldowan

period between 2.5 and 1.4mya when stone tools started being made

two categories of stone tools: knapped stone tools (cutting tools) and percussive tools (hammers/anvils)

lomekwi is one of several oldowan sites

direct percussion

oldowan production method, hammer stone in one hand and core in another → percussion