• Ardipithecus: oldest definite bipedal ancestor, over 4 M.Y. old
• Australopithecus: the gracile australopithecines
• Paranthropus: the robust australopithecines
Fossil Species
• Ardipithecus ramidus: 4.4 MY, teeth, jaws and bone fragments suggest it is a hominid, not a pongid.
• Australopithecus afarensis: 3.8-3.0 MY based on good fossils. Clearly a bipedal animal based on bones and fossil footprints.
Bipedal Footprints of Australopithecus
in Lithified Volcanic Ash 4 MY old from
Tanzania. Found by Mary Leakey.
Australopithecus
couple making
footprints in
volcanic ash
Jawbones of Australopithecus afarensis
Fossil remains
of “Lucy”, the
most complete
specimen of
Australopithecus
afarensis.
An adult skull, A. afarensis
Pelvis of Australopithecus afarensis
Reconstruction of
Australopithecus
afarensis
Face-to-face
with
A. afarensis
A troop of
A. afarensis
feeding on
tubers in the
forest.
A. afarensis
family unit
crossing the
savannah.
Fossil Species
• Australopithecus africanus: 2.8-2.5 MY
• Robust australopithecines:
Paranthropus aethiopicus: 2.6-2.2 MY
P. robustus: 2.0-1.2 MY
P. boisei: 2.6-1.0 MY
The Taung Child, A. africanus
Skull of Paranthropus boisei
Paranthropus aethiopicus
Paranthropus aethiopicus
Justus Erus
found the
fossil
Kenyanthropus
platyops, 3.5 MY old
from Kenya
Kenyanthropus rudolfensis or
Homo rudolfensis?
Fossil Species
• Homo habilis: 2.5-1.6 MY
• H. erectus: 1.8 MY- 25,000 yrs?
Java man
Peking man
• H. sapiens: archaic vs. modern
Skull of
Homo
habilis
H. rudolfensis, H.
habilis, and P.
boisei. Hominids
in East Africa
around 2 MY
ago.
Phylogeny
2000
*
*
*
** Poorly known
Phylogeny
2007
Prothero, 2007
* *
*
*
*
**
* Poorly known
*
2010
Skull of Homo erectus from China
Skeleton of
Homo erectus,
Nariokotome
boy from Kenya
H. erectus skull of Nariokotome boy
The face of
Homo
erectus
Homo erectus from
Indonesia, Java Man
Homo erectus using fire to
sharpen spears
Homo sapiens
• Archaic H. sapiens or unique species?
H. antecessor: 800,000 years old
H. heidelbergensis: 500,000 years old
H. neandertalensis: 200,000-32,000 years old
Homo antecessor from Spain,
800,000 years old
Homo heidelbergensis,
500,000 years BP
Neanderthal
skull, Spain
Fleshing out a Neanderthal skull
Neanderthal burial, 50,000 yrs. BP
Neanderthal skeleton, Germany
Homo neadertalensis leading a
nomadic existence
Neandertals were big-game hunters.
Neandertal night life around the fire.
A more modern view of Neandertals
with naked skin like ours?
Reconstruction of Neanderthal child from
Gibraltar, Spain, 30,000 years B.P.
Homo sapiens
• modern H. sapiens
East Africa: 195,000 years ago
Middle East: 90,000 years ago
Australia: 50,000 years ago
Europe: 32,000 years ago
Americas: 20,000 years ago
Homo
sapiens,
Israel, 90,000
yrs BP
FYI: Abraham lived
only 4,000 yrs BP
Cro-Magnon man from France,
30,000 years old
Homo floresiensis, a hobbit-size
human from Flores Island, Indonesia,
18,000 BP
Modern human
Homo sapiens
(Cro-Magnon
people) drew the
cave art in France
and Spain about
17,000 years ago.
Lascaux, France, cave art
Life in the late Stone Age, which ended at
different times on different continents.
The invention of farming, plus domestication of
animals, started civilization.
Evolution of Modern Humans
Two Theories:
• Out of Africa: all modern humans descended from a single population. Racial differences have very recent origins.
• Multiregional Theory: modern humans evolved from local populations of H. erectus at several places in the Old World. Accounts for the racial differences in modern humans.