STAGES OF HUMAN EVOLUTION

hOMINID/HOMO CHARACTERISTICS

ANTHROPOLOGY 101 PROF. DAVID ATIENZA BY:ANN-MARIE s. sAN jOSE

Objectives:

• To define Hominid/Homo
• TO BRIEFLY IDENTIFY EACH STAGES
• TO BRIEFLY DIFFERENTIATE THEIR CHARACTERISTICS

HOMINIDS AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS

HOMO SAPIENSneanderthalensis

Australopithecines afarensis

HOMO HABILIS

Homo sapiens sapiens

HOMO ERECTUS

1.8 - 0.1 MYA

2.4 - 1.6 MYA

4.0 - 2.5 MYA

200,000 - 30,000 YRS AGO

140,000 - PRESENT

Hominids

• Hominids are the group of primates that includes humans, gorillas, and chimpanzees, among others.
• Some Hominids adapted bipedalism - walking on their hind legs
• Bipedal hominids lived in East Africa about 4 million years ago
• It is classified in the genus Australopithecus
• Some African Hominids (2.5 million years ago) is classified as genus Homo

characteristics of hominid evolution:

• Bipedal locomotion
• Expansion of brain
• Modification of female pelvis
• Reduction of face, teeth and jaw

01

Australopithicus Afarensis

• lived from approximately 3.8 to 2.7 million years ago along the northern Rift valley of east Africa

• walked upright like a modern human, they had long arms
• The teeth of A. afarensis are small
• Apelike head with a low and heavy forehead, widely curving cheekbones, and a jutting jaw—as well as a brain about the size of a chimpanzee's.
• Lucy - world's most famous early human ancestor, the 3.2-million-year-old ape, With a mixture of ape and human features - long dangling arms but pelvic, spine, foot, and leg bones suited to walking upright—slender Lucy stood three and a half feet (107 centimeters) tall

02

Homo Habilis

• "handy or apt or fit man," so-called because of the crude stone tools found with its remains, is one of the earliest Homo species.
• Males stood a little over 5 feet tall and females were significantly smaller.
• The face has little forehead and a sloping profile; its teeth are much larger than those of modern humans but smaller than those of A. africanus.
• The brain size of this species ranges between 500 and 800 cc
• Its skull is slightly more rounded on the top than an australopithecine skull
• has quite long arms, but is efficiently bipedal

03

Homo Erectus

• Was the most long-lived species in the genus Homo, and, rather than simply going extinct, appears to have evolved into several transition species or subspecies in Africa, Asia, and Europe. The remains of Homo erectus, dispersed across three continents, have also given rise to a multitude of classification issues and other controversies, as we would expect.
• Turkana or Noriokotome Boy - five feet, four inches tall. His body is remarkably modern looking, was both powerfully and gracefully built, and perfectly adapted to swift, efficient bipedal locomotion, slim hips and un-flared rib cage, the spinal cord of this individual was significantly smaller than modern human.

Homo Erectus

• Shows the progressive increase in brain size that defines our genus.
• Although the largest brain sizes of H. erectus fall within the range of modern humans, the H. erectus brain is configured somewhat differently than our own, particularly in the areas related to speech.
• Among early Homo erectus/ergaster specimens, males are much larger than females, as is typical of early hominids.
• The brain size of this species ranged from 700-850 cc, and it is the first Homo species to have roughly the same body proportions as modern humans. One male of this species was 6’3” tall

04

Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis

• "Neanderthal Man"—was a robust human species occupying Europe and western Asia during the recent ice age
• Scientists long believed they were a closely related sub-species of modern humans and for a time classified as Homo sapiens neandertalensis
• Their arm and leg bones are, in fact, approximately twice as thick as ours, suggesting both their immense strength and the rugged conditions of their existence. Otherwise, their bodies are strikingly modern. They had prominent noses, long, forward-thrusting faces with sloping foreheads and big skulls. Their average brain capacity (1400-1500 cc) actually exceeds that of modern humans. Though large, the configuration of their brain is different from ours. The speech areas of the Neanderthal brain are not as developed as ours, and the forebrain is smaller.

Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis

05

Homo Sapiens Sapiens

• Based on current evidence, it appears that our species arose in Africa some time after 200,000 years ago

• The 130,000 year-old reconstructed skull shown above at left represents one of the earliest known example of a modern human being, Homo sapiens sapiens. It was found at Omo in East Africa; skull size and shape are completely modern. Shown beside the skull are some characteristic tools of Homo sapiens, all from East or South Africa: a bola for throwing at small game, flake tools, and a long flake blade and the core from which such blades have been struck.

Homo Sapiens Sapiens

• And on the center is a skull of "Cro-Magnon man" from Les Eysie, France, approximately 28,000 years old. The distinctive features of our species can be seen in the skull at far right, also an example of Cro-Magnon man, contrasted with a typical Neanderthal skull to its immediate left. The H. sapiens sapiens skull is smaller and more compact and the face is much less elongated than the Neanderthal; the modern human skull has a higher forehead, less prominent brow-ridges and smaller teeth. Modern humans are typically much less robust in body form and skeleton than Neanderthals.
• Modern human females are only slightly smaller on average than males.

Otzi, the 5,300 year old Ice Man

TO SUMMARIZE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF HOMINIDS/HOMO

Thank You.