Anthro names

Laetoli footprints

3.6 mya trail in Tanzania attributed to A. afarensis; clear evidence of bipedalism

Oldowan tools

Earliest stone tools (2.6-2.5 mya): simple flakes and cores made by direct percussion; sharp flakes defleshed meat

Sahelanthropus tchadensis

7-6 mya, Chad: earliest possible hominin; foramen magnum under the skull suggests upright posture

Orrorin tugenensis

About 6 mya, Tugen Hills, Kenya ('original man'): large femur head suggests bipedalism, thick enamel, but ape-like canine and climbing arm bones

Ardipithecus

5.8-4.4 mya, Ethiopia ('root ape'): small flat-wearing canines, thin enamel, climbing arm bones; toe bone hints at bipedalism, later ramidus has ape/human foot mix

Australopithecus anamensis

4.2-3.9 mya, Kenya: ape-like jaw but well-developed bipedalism; possibly ancestral to afarensis

Australopithecus afarensis

3.8-3.0 mya, Hadar (Lucy, 40% complete) and Laetoli: about 3 ft, 450 cc, fully bipedal, ape-like upper body; ancestor of later australopithecines

Australopithecus africanus

3.0-2.0 mya, South Africa (Taung Child, found 1925 by Dart): gracile, 4 ft, 450 cc, bipedal but still used trees

Australopithecus garhi

2.5 mya, Ethiopia ('surprise'): cut-marked bones suggest butchering with stone tools; long femur

Australopithecus sediba

2.0 mya, South Africa (found 2010): mix of Australopithecus and Homo traits, precision grip, 420 cc

Paranthropus aethiopicus

2.5 mya, East Africa: the 'Black Skull', earliest robust form

Paranthropus boisei

2.3-1.2 mya, East Africa: 'hyper-robust', enormous cheekbones and molars, tiny incisors and canines

Paranthropus robustus

South African robust form: flat face, thick mandible, extinct by 1.2 mya

Australopithecus

4.2-2.0 mya, small gracile bipeds: thick enamel, long arms, curved finger and toe bones (still climbing)

Paranthropus

2.6-1.2 mya 'chewing machines' with robust skulls, brains of about 525 cc; went extinct without descendants

Homo habilis

About 2.3-1.4 mya: 600-700 cc, small body and long arms; placed in Homo because of tool making, not anatomy

Homo rudolfensis

About 1.9 mya: large brain (775 cc) but large back teeth; Homo or odd australopithecine?

Homo erectus

From 1.9 mya: about 1,000 cc, long legs and short arms, fully ground-dwelling, Acheulian handaxes, fire; first hominin out of Africa

Turkana Boy

Homo erectus skeleton, 1.6 mya, age 9-11; would have been about 6 ft 2 in as an adult

Acheulian handaxe

First formal tool: symmetrical teardrop shape used for butchering, digging and stripping bark

Dmanisi

Republic of Georgia site, 1.8 mya: H. erectus with flakes and cores but no handaxes; high variation; toothless old individual

Ardipithecus ramidus kadabba

Haile-Selassie 2001, Ethiopia, 5.8-5.2 mya, 'root ape': flat canines, thin enamel, single toe bone hints at bipedalism