Hominin Evolution

Question 1

Sahelanthropus tchadensis

Answer 1

6-7mya
West-Central Africa (Chad)
Cranial material, ape/human features, small brain, large brow ridges, elongated skull, small canine teeth, foramen magnum in ventral position

Question 2

Orrion tugenensis

Answer 2

6.2-5.8 mya
Eastern Africa (Tugen Hills, central Kenya)
Chimp sized, small teeth w/thick enamel (HT), Upper femur, bipedal+quad

Question 3

Ardipithecus kadabba

Answer 3

5.8-5.2mya
Eastern Africa (Middle Awash Valley, Ethopia)
Bipedal, chimp sized brain, canines (HT), robust

Question 4

Australopithecus

Answer 4

Starting ~4mya

Question 5

Australopithecus anamensis

Answer 5

4.2- 3.8mya
Eastern Africa (Lake Turkana, Kenya, and Middle Awash, Ethiopia)
Human-like ankle joint (bipedality), tree climbers (long forearms and wrist anatomy), prognathic face, narrow braincase

Question 6

Australopithecus afarensis

Answer 6

3.85-2.95mya
Eastern Africa (Kenya, Tanzania)
300+individuals (most common early known human species)
900,000 lived
Lucy AL 288-1 and First Family, AL 333
Dikika, Ethiopia (Dikika ‘child’ skeleton
Laetoli footprints
Ape and human characteristics, shorter development, small braincase (500cc), fingers for climbing, small canine teeth, bipedality

Question 7

Australopithecus africanus

Answer 7

3.3-2.1mya
Southern Africa (South Africa)
Anatomically similar to Au. afarensis (HT+AT), rounder cranium w/larger brain and smaller teeth, long arms, prognathic face, pelvis+femur+foot indicate bipedality and climbing

Question 8

Paranthropus aethiopicus

Answer 8

2.7-2.3mya
Eastern Africa (Turkana basin of northern Kenya, southern Ethiopia)
Minimal remains available
“Black Skull” 1985 earliest known robust australopithecine
Prognathic face, large megadont teeth, powerful jaw, large sagittal crest, large muscles for mastication

Question 9

Homo habilis

Answer 9

2.4-1.4mya
Eastern and Southern Africa
Larger braincase and smaller face and teeth than Australopithecus
Still had long arms and slight facial prognathism
“Handy man” suggested to have used stone tools (oldest stone tools are dated slightly older than Homo)

Question 10

Homo erectus

Answer 10

1.89 mya - 110,000 years ago
Norther, Eastern, and Southern Africa; WEstern Asia (Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia); East Asia (China and Indonesia)
(Also known as Homo ergaster)
Modern human-like body proportions, elongated legs, shorter arms, bipedality, no climbing adaptations, expanded braincase,
“Turkana Boy” nearly complete skeleton (minus foot and hand bones) 1.6mya
similar growth rate, cared for the old, handaxes
Java 1890s and China “Peking Man” 1920s classic examples of this species
First species to have expanded beyond Africa, variable species, longest lived species

Question 11

Homo heidelbergensus

Answer 11

700,000 to 200,000 years ago
Europe; possibly Asia; Africa (eastern and southern)
Large brow ridge, larger braincase, flatter face, lived in colder climates, short/wide body (heat conservation), oldest definite control of fire and use of wooden spears, routinely hunt large animals, build shelters

Question 12

Homo neandertaleinsis

Answer 12

400,000 - 40,000 years ago
Europe and southwestern to central Asia
Closest extinct relative
Large middle part of the face, angled cheek bones, huge nose, short and stockier bodies, brains large
Tool use, controlled fire, lived in shelters, wore clothing, killed large animals, buried dead, DNA extraction performed

Question 13

Homo sapiens

Answer 13

300,000 - present
Evolved in Africa- worldwide
Dramatic climate change 300,000 ya, H.sapiens evolved in Africa, gathered and hunted food
AMHS have lighter build, large brains, 1300 cc, thin-walled, high vaulted skull, flat/vertical forehead, no browridges/prognathism, jaws less heavily developed, small teeth

Question 14

Ardipithecus ramidus

Answer 14

4.4mya
Eastern Africa (Middle Awash and Gona, Ethiopia)
Foot bones (divergent large toe with rigid foot), pelvis (HT+CT), lived in wooded environment (contrary to savanna theory)

Question 15

Keyanthropus platyops

Answer 15

3.5mya
Eastern Africa (West Turkana, Kenya)
Orthognathic face, small-brained, bipedal, earliest known for flat-face in early human
Little known

Question 16

Australopithecus garhi

Answer 16

2.5mya
Eastern Africa (Bouri site, Middle Awash, Ethiopia)
Not well documented- One fossil cranium + four skull fragments, partial skeleton found nearby
Longer femur, long powerful arms (longer strides during bipedal walking?)

Question 17

Paranthropus boisei

Answer 17

2.3-1.2 mya
Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi)
Specialized skull with adaptations for heavy chewing
Sagittal crest, anchored temporalis muscles (chewing muscles), large cheek teeth (molars and premolars), flaring cheek bones, larger cheek teeth than P. robustus. Flatter, bigger-brained skull than P. aethiopicus, thickest dental enamel of any known early human. Larger brain size

Question 18

Australopithecus sediba

Answer 18

1.977 to 1.98mya
Southern Africa (South Africa)
Malapa cave-entire skeletons, narrow upper chest resemble earlier Australopithecus, tooth and broad lower chest resemble humans. Pelvis suggests bipedality, the human-like pattern of locomotion based on the strength of humerus and femurs
Small premolars and molars. Long upper limbs and small cranial capacity
Fossils show pelvis and dentition occurred prior ot limb proportions and cranial capacity

Question 19

Homo rudolfensis

Answer 19

1.9mya to 1.8mya
Eastern Africa (northern Kenya, poss. northern Tanzania and Malawi)
Single fossil “KNM-ER 1470 from Koobi Fora in the Lake Turkana basin, Kenya
Braincase of 775cc (more than H. habilis)
Consider H. habilis inititially, but has larger braincase, longer face, and larger molar and premolar teeth
Should be Australopithecus? But such a large brain!

Question 20

Paranthropus robustus

Answer 20

1.8 to 1.2 mya
Southern Africa (South Africa)
Robust australopithecine, large megadont cheek teeth, thick enamel, large zygomatic arches (check bones) , dish shaped face, sagittal crest, grinding tough/fibrous foods

Question 21

Homo floresiensis

Answer 21

100,000-50,000 years ago
Asia (Indonesia)
Hobbit
Island of Flores, Indonesia
Stone tools date between 190,000-50,000 years old
3ft 6in tall, small brains, large teeth, shrugged-forward shoulders, no chins, receding foreheads, large feet
Hunted small elephants and large rodents, may have used fires
Island dwarfism?

Question 22

Homo naledi

Answer 22

335,000 - 236,000 years ago
South Africa

Question 23

Earliest Bipedalism

Answer 23

6mya oldest evidence for bipedal walking in Sahelanthropus

Question 24

Mostly Bipedal

Answer 24

4 mya
Ardipithecus and early Australopithecus

Question 25

Dawn of technology

Answer 25

2.6mya simple stone flakes and cores in Australopithecus

Question 26

Control of Fire

Answer 26

800,000 ya - H. heidelbergensis, H. erectus

Question 27

Rapid increase in brain size

Answer 27

800,000 - 200,000
Human brain size evolved most rapidly during significant climatological change

Question 28

Agriculture

Answer 28

12,000 ya