human evolution

taxonomic group of humans

family hominidae

mammalia

class humans are in

order humans are in

primates

monkeys vs hominids

monkeys have tails and use arms more, hominids bipedal or knuckle walk

how far back do human ancestors go

6-7 mya

oldest human ancestor

sahelanthropus

oldest genus to homo sapiens

sahelanthropus, ardipithecus, australopithecus, homo ergaster, homo erectus, homo neanderthal

oldest hominid fossils have been found in

east africa near equator

toumai fossils

oldest hominid fossils - 6 to 7mya

oldest ancestor to homo lineage

ardipithecus sp

what genus is ardi from and where were the fossils found

ardipithecus found in Ethiopia

"ardi's" characteristics

oldest intact skeleton, bipedal, grasping feet, brain smaller than todays chimps

what genus is lucy from and where were the fossils found

australopithecus afarnesis found in Ethiopia

lucy's characteristics

female, 3.5mya, bipedal, long arms/short legs, grasping feet, brain size similar to chimps

what genus is turkan boy from and where were the fossils found

homo ergaster found bear lake turkan in kenya

homo ergaste are ancestral to

homo erectus and homo sapiens

turkan boy characteristics

1.6mya, modern face limbs and adult height, brain almost half volume of homo sapiens

homo neanderthal descended from

homo ergaster but probably not ancestral to homo sapiens

neanderthal fossils found in

neander valley germany

homo neanderthal characteristics

live 200k to 27k years ago, short, stocky, heavy brow ridge and receding chin, brain slightly larger than homo sapiens

dig site of homo neanderthals showed

evidence of tools technology and they buried their dead

homo sapiens started where

africa and eventually migrated to other parts of the globe, starting with indonesia

homo sapiens coexisted with

homo erectus and homo neanderthals

homo floresiensis

hobbit people - average height 3'

homo floresiensis characteristics

found in indonesia, brain size similar to lucy and ardi

evidence showed that hobbit people used

fire and sophisticated tools - weird bc they had small brains