Early Homo Lecture 11

Question 1

What are the two names of KNM WT 17000 and which one is most used?

Answer 1

The correct name is Paranthropus aethiopicus

But everyone calls it Australopithecus bosei

Question 2

Why is size an important factor?

Answer 2

If you’re very small then gravity doesn’t effect you much but if you’re big then it does.

Question 3

Which tooth gives a good estimate of body size?

Answer 3

The area of the M1 (occlusal length x occlusal width), but you must remember some species are megadont and others are microdont.

Question 4

Which part of the body is best for estimating body size?

Answer 4

The width of the head of the femur is closely related to body size. Failing this, the mid shaft of the femur would also be useful.

Question 5

The early hominins were relatively _________ and moderately _________ ________.

Answer 5

The early hominins are relatively small-bodied and moderately sexually dimorphic.

Question 6

The bigger the males are compared to the females then…

Answer 6

Larger harem

Question 7

Large animals have a relatively ______ brain than smaller animals. This is called _______ ________.

Answer 7

So larger animals have relatively smaller brains than smaller animals. This is called negatively allometry.

Question 8

What is the encephalisation quotient?

Answer 8

size of brain/size of body

Question 9

What is the EQ of Pan?

Answer 9

2.0 (double the brain size expected for the body size).

Question 10

What is the EQ of Homo sapiens?

Answer 10

5.8

Question 11

What is the EQ of Praeanthropus afarensis and Australopithecus africanus?

Answer 11

P. afarensis = 2.5

A. africanus = 2.7

Question 12

What is the EQ of Paranthropus boisei and Paranthropus robustus?

Answer 12

P. boisei = 3.2

P. robustus = 3.2

Question 13

Give an example of non-primates using tools.

Answer 13

Egyptian vultures use rocks to open eggs.

They aren’t manufacturing tools but they’re using them.

Question 14

A tool is the extension of your __________.

Answer 14

A tool is the extension of your phenotype.

Question 15

When was Homo habilis around and where were the first fossils found?

Answer 15

1.9-1.6mya

The first fossils were found in Tanzania

Question 16

Who made oldowan tools?

Answer 16

Not sure because they were found in places where Homo and Paranthropus were both living.

Question 17

Explain how oldowan tools are made.

Answer 17

Use two cobbles to knock off some flakes and then you have some left over core and some flakes. The flakes were what were used.

Question 18

Initially, people thought the core of the Oldowan tools were what was important but later discovered it was the flakes. How did they discover this?

Answer 18

The microwear showed that the cores weren’t actually used much but the flakes were.

The flakes are more useful for cutting.

Question 19

Hominins had most likely been using tools before the Oldowan tools but why can’t we see this in the fossil record?

Answer 19

They would have been made of wood or would have been using unaltered rocks.

Altered tools show more advanced tool use.

Question 20

Describe the teeth of Homo habilis

Answer 20

Smaller teeth than Paranthropus (but Paranthropus was megadont)

Incisors and canines small. Small incisors occur convergently in Homo and Paranthropus.

Short palate and dental arcade

More evenly curved parabolic tooth row

Mandible small and lightly built in males, thicker in females

Question 21

Why was Homo habilis called such?

Answer 21

Habilis means dexterous or good with your hands. So they called it habilis because they thought they were making tools and their hands looked just like ours, very few differences.

Question 22

Describe the cranium of Homo habilis.

Answer 22

1) 550cc
2) Thin cranial bones
3) No sagittal crest like in Paranthropus

Reduced prognathism (happens convergently in both Paranthropus and Homo)

Question 23

Describe the postcrania of Homo habilis.

Answer 23

1) Long and robust arms (arboreality)
2) human-like thumb joint
3) Long, curved fingers (arboreality)
4) Tibia and fibula human-like but short
5) Foot arch not well-developed (so walking not the same as in humans)
6) Sexual dimorphism: males 40kg and females 25 kg but depends which individuals you class as habilis.

Question 24

Describe Homo naledi.

Answer 24

1) Rising Star Cave, South Africa, not sure of date
2) About 1500 bones
3) Cranium, mandible dentition like Homo but brain size in Australopithecus range

Question 25

Why do we not know the date of Homo naledi?

Answer 25

It was found in a cave that doesn’t have any dateable volcanics and the bones were only found on top of the ground.

So, could be as young as 100,000 years old or as old as 4 million!

Question 26

Why might Homo naledi have been found in a cave?

Answer 26

Hominins could be dragging their dead into caves.

Question 27

Describe the skull fossil of Homo rudolfensis.

Answer 27

1) Fossil code = KNM ER 1470

2) Found in east Lake Tukana, Kenya
in the 1970s

3) Thought to be 3mya; later revised to 1.8mya
4) Some people think it is another habilis specimen
5) Brain size about 775cc

Question 28

Why do some people think H. rudolfensis is actually another specimen of H. habilis?

Answer 28

In the site in which H. rudolfensis was found all the other specimens were H. habilis, and only one cranium and femur that has been separated out as rudolfensis.

Question 29

How can we tell if two specimens are the same species and just sexually dimorphic or if they are two different species?

Answer 29

If they are morphologically similar then compare the size difference to other species and if the difference is larger than extant sexual dimorphism then they are two different species.

Question 30

Describe differences in H. habilis and H. rudolfensis.

Answer 30

1) H. habilis cranium is straight sided from rear, H . rudolfensis is bell-shaped
2) H. rudolfensis is bigger bodied and more strongly constructed
3) H. rudolfensis is bigger brained (and usually if it is sex. dimorph. brain size is the same)
4) H. rudolfensis face broader, deeper and flatter.
5) Teeth in H. rudolfensis a bit bigger than what is seen in H. habilis

Question 31

How might Homo rudolfensis be comparable to Paranthropus?

Answer 31

1) Strong temporal lines related to strong muscles
2) Big teeth

Like Paranthropus, but could be convergence for similar diet.