Origin of the Hominoidea Flashcards
What were some of the features of Taung boy?
Brain was small but more human like than ape
Small human-like canine teeth
Bipedal as found foramen magnum to be central
Give the order of the fossil finds of early humans
1925 - Taung boy discovered (Australopithecus africanus)
1925-1935 - gracile Australopithecus africanus and robust Australopithecus robustus are discovered
1959 - Leakey describes robust *Australopithecus boisei *
1960-1963 - Leakey excavate *Homo habilis *
1969 - More Australopithecus boisei discovered
1970 - Lucy is discovered (Australopithecus afarensis)
1972 - Leaky discovers *Homo rudolfensis *
1978 -* Australopithecus afarensis* footprints are discovered
1980s - Australopithecus aethiopicus is discovered
1985 - Turkana/Nariokotome boy discovered (Homo ergaster/erectus)
1986 - Lucy’s child is discovered (Homo habilis)
What were the issues faced when Australopithecus and Homo habilis were discovered?
Found that Australopithecus co-existed with Homo
It was assumed that Australopithecus was the ancestor that evolved into Homo which was the descendent - this is Darwin’s theory of gradual evolution
Had to realise that evolution isnt linear but can class evolution as a tree - went against Darwin
Why was Lucy such an important discovery?
Pelvis and the leg bone of Lucy was preserved
This allowed people to calculate the size of *Australopithecus afarensis *
More evidence towards the theory they had bipedal movement
Why was the discovery of Australopithecus afarensis footprints so important?
Lucy’s feet were not preserved
This was the final information to confirm that this species (and probably the other species of Australopithecus had bipedal movement)
How many recognised species are there of Australopithecus?
14
What are some of the issues of the conclusions of human evolution?
Is our thinking influenced by the huge bias in the fossil record?
Is what we are seeing a consequence of the fossil record?
It is hard to preserve fossils outside of the Rift Valley so are we just assuming most human evolution happened here because the fossils can preserve in this area?
Some fossils have been found in Chad to human evolution also happened outside of the Rift Valley
How many hominin species existed 3-2 MYA?
6 - either Australopithecus or Homo
They had many envrionments to occupy so could have been separate or sharing the same habitat
How could you describe Australopithecus?
Bipedal apes were modified dentition (ape-like from the neck up and human-like from the neck down)
Did Australopithecus walk bipedal?
They could
Not as well adapted to walking as we are - probably walked in a bent knee hip style
Probably spent more time in trees
What is the evidence that Australopithecus spent more time in trees than walking?
Had long curved phalanges on hands and feet
Had a large pisiform
Had a funnel shaped thorax
Cranially orientated shoulder joint - arms were deisgned to go over head
Relatively short hindlimbs
What is the difference between gracile and robust forms of Australopithecus?
Mainly in the dental and facial adaptations to chewing
Robust forms have larger jaws, bulkier chewing muscles and more prominent muscle attachments
What can be used to find out the diet of Australopithecus?
Jaw musculature
Tooth wear
Isotopic evidence
Didn’t appear to hunt but woulf scavenge and eat meat if they came across it
