Out of Africa 2 Flashcards
Where does Homo heidelbergensis fit into the phylogeny?
Appears to evolve from Homo ergaster/erectus either in Africa or Europe - not sure yet
Either evolved in Africa and colonised Europe OR evolved in Europe and migrated back to Africa to colonise that
What did Homo heidelbergensis give rise to?
Homo neanderthalensis in Europe and western asia by 400,000 years ago
Homo sapiens in Africa be 200,000 years ago
Give some features of the Neanderthals
Adapted to cold
Hunter gatherers in small nomadic groups
Robust build
Protruding face with long nasal passages
Large brain case (larger than sapiens) but lower EQ than sapiens
Limited speech - have hyoid bones and large hypoglossal canal
Good fossils as they lived in caves and buried their dead
Produced stone tools and worked with wood
Started to make jewellery - implies more complex cognitive level
Why do we know Neanderthals buried their dead?
Fossils are found in the foetal position - not a natural position to die in
Often find jewels and shells alongside the body
What is the multi-regional model?
Sapiens evolved from ergaster/erectus when they left africa
implies that differences between modern populations are because they evolved independently up to 2 million years ago
What is the out of Africa 2 model?
Homo ergaster/erectus leave Africa and evolve into Homo heidelbergensis in Africa or Europe
Homo sapiens evolve in Africa from heidelbergensis
Sapiens then leave Africa in a 2nd wave
2nd migration could have been 1-200,000 years ago
Why is the Homo sapien phylogeny so unique?
We eventually outcompeted other members of our genus to leave us as the last hominin on earth
We are a monotypic taxon - only species from one genus
What happened to the neanderthals?
Died off in an east-west progression bewteen 40-27,000 years ago
The occurence of Homo sapiens follows this progression
Not sure if we competitivly replaced them or genocided them
Not just neanderthals, erectus and ALL its descendents were wiped out when sapiens moved in
What was the Denisovan man?
Also evolved from heidelbergensis
Found teeth, finger bone and jaw bone
Shared some DNA with extant Homo sapiens that migrated east during 2nd wave of migration so must have interbred - similar to how the sapiens that went left interbred with neanderthals
Who were the hobbit people?
Homo floresiensis
Discovered remains in a cave in Indonesia
Dwarfed species of hominin from 95,000 - 17,000 years ago
Only 1m tall
Used primitive tools and fire
Hunted dwarfed elephants and giant lizards
Show no sign of art
What are the theories for Homo floresiensis size? What does evidence support?
1) A dwarfed Hominin evolving from Homo erectus by insualr dwarfing
2) A Homo sapien population with a pathological condition known as microcephaly
Evidence supports theory 1:
- Has a primitive foot similar to Homo erectus or even Homo habilis
- Brain size measurements on dwarfed hippos suggest similar reductions in brain size are feasible
- Dwarfing is natural on islands
What is the evidence for Out of Africa 2?
Oldest sapiens found in Africa
Mitochondrial Eve hypothesis - more genetic diversity in Africa than the rest of the planet put together
Evidence from nuclear genes and Y chromosomes
Genetic data used to predict populations dynamics among early populations
Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA - evidence for interbreeding and demonstrated interesting pattern of migration
How does archaeology start to change in sapiens?
Gets more complicated
Same amount of right: left-handed people back then and today
Start getting more wood influence
Neanderthals used antlers
