...for evolution to happen (Carey et al. 2001:411-412). With regards to the importance of paleodietary shift within the hominin lineage, it is imperative to understand that diet has had a lasting influence to longevity and lifespan within the genus Homo. Why do modern humans have such high life expectancies compared to their ancestors, and how has life expectancy changed within the genus Homo as its species has evolved? As time has passed, life expectancy within the genus Homo has increased due to numerous dietary advancements, such as the shift from heavy chewing to hunter-gathering...
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...Human Fossil Report your name here Part I. Comparison Chart (roman numeral) = Name 1 = Genus and species 2 = Time frame and Location 3 = Brain Size 4 = Physical characteristics 5 = Height and weight 6 = Cultural -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Homo neanderthalensis 1. Homo, H neanderthalsensis 2. 400,000 - 40,000 years ago, Europe and southwestern to central asia 3. brains that were just as large as a human and often larger 4. features included their skulls having a large middle part of the face, angled cheek bones, and a huge nose for humidifying and warming cold, dry air. Their oval shaped skulls had a low, receding forehead and distinct browridges, with thick, strong bones. Their bodies were shorter and stockier than ours, another adaptation to living in cold environments. Their large skulls indicated brains that were just as large as ours and often larger. 5. Males average 5 ft 5 in (164 cm). Females average 5 ft 1 in (155 cm). Males average 143 lbs (65 kg). Females average 119 lbs (54 kg). 6. They created and used sophisticated tools, controlled fire, lived in shelters, made and wore clothing, as well as were skilled hunters of large animals. They also ate plants as food and occasionally made symbolic or ornamental objects. There is evidence that they deliberately buried their dead and occasionally even marked their graves with offerings such as flowers...
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...accurate analysis in a broader sense. When comparing A. afarensis to a chimpanzee, a species with many traits that for hominins are considered primitive, and a modern human, it is concluded that the subject is very primitive, because it shows few developed traits. The Lucy skeleton is female and it is approximately 3 or 4 feet tall, while other A. afarensis male fossils have been found that are about 5 feet tall. While male chimpanzees average height is 4 feet tall and female average height is 3 feet tall, the male human height average is 5 feet 9 inches and the female average is 5 feet 3 inches. Therefore, like chimpanzees, Australopithecus afarensis has smaller body size than the modern human. Also, A. afarensis is sexually dimorphic, which is a trait that is common for attraction and reproduction among apes, while humans are not very different in body size among sexes. One of the most characteristic derived traits of modern humans is brain size. Modern humans have between 1150 to 1750 cm3, chimpanzees have 285 to 500 cm3, and A. afarensis have a 438 cm3 of cranial capacity. When these quantities are considered in comparison to body size, it is inferred that A. afarensis’ cranial capacity is bigger than chimpanzees’ cranial capacity since they are similar in height. However, even though a human is taller than an A. afarensis the ratio of brain and body size is not the same. Therefore, the brain of an A. afarensis is slightly...
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...The earliest well-accepted hominin is the Australopithecus, or Southern ape. Fossils, dated to 4.2 to 2.5 mya have been found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Chad and South Africa. From these fossils, we know that these early humans walked fully upright on two legs, known as bipedalism. These early humans showed prognathism, the jutting forward of the lower face and jaw area, they also had pointed canine teeth like that of apes. They had the brain size of chimps, about 480 ml, and weighed about 105 pounds on average. They also had long and heavily muscled arms and relatively shorter legs. These early hominins looked like apes, except they walked bipedally. Microscopic analyses of their teeth indicate a mixed vegetable diet of fruits and leaves. The fossil skeleton of ‘Lucy’ is an example of Australopithecus. The adaptive themes of bipedalism, large brains, complex social organizations, and tool technology were established during this period. The first hominin feature to evolve was bipedalism, millions of years before the development of our big brains. The evolution of bipedalism with the retention of long, strong, and powerful shoulders and arms was an adaptation to living in an environment of both arboreal (forested) and terrestrial (plains) areas, giving our early ancestors great adaptive flexibility. Bipedalism served various important functions. It freed the forelimbs to carry things such as food or offspring and it aided early hominins’ ability to find food and...
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...Early Hominin Species Hominin is used to refer to members consisted in the family of humans. These species are thought to have existed over 30 or 40 million years ago. An example of one of the early species is Australopithecus afarensis. A. afarensis is believed to have existed between 3.7-3.0 million years ago in east Africa. Their skeleton was transitional from the earlier species of ape since their face was apelike with a low forehead, a flat nose, a bony ridge on the eyes and had no chin. Their jaws were protruding and they had large back teeth. Its brain size ranged between 390 and 515cc. Their skull looked similar to that of the chimpanzee but their teeth looked more like those of humans. Their canine teeth were smaller and blunt than those of apes but larger and pointed than those of humans. Their molar teeth were large and had thick enamel. This suggests that they ate hard foods that required a lot of chewing. The shape of the jaw is between the parabolic shape of humans and the rectangular shape of apes. Their pelvis was bowl shaped which indicate that they were bipedal. Their legs were shorter and they were more adapted to walking than running (Leakey 1994). Their first toe was in line with the other toes (Ward, 2002; Harcourt-Smith and Aiello, 2004). Their forearm, toes and fingers were long and curved which suggests that they used trees regularly to forage and to refuge from predators at night. Their body size was small. Males weighed about 40kgs and...
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...Anthropology Describe LB1- LB1 was an adult of about 30, probably female. She was only about 3.3 feet (1 m) in height with a very small brain size of 417 cc. But, at her brain size she would not be able to think well enough to do basic functions, speak, organize her thoughts, and obtain food. The size of her brain meant she wasn’t a dwarf, but she wasn’t alone there are claims to be at least 8 or even 13 uncovered. LB1’s feet are long more than 60% the length of her femur, at least 10% more than with humans. She lacked a well developed arch, somewhat curved, suggesting wasn’t fast on ground, but good in trees. Her face is distinctive, no chin to speak of. Researchers have clashed over whether LB1 really does represent a species of its own, a descendant of Homo erectus or a pathological form of Homo sapiens. These specimens may represent a new hominin species, Homo floresiensis, descended from a local population of Homo erectus or from an earlier migration of a small-bodied and small-brained hominin out of Africa. Scientists found that the LB1 skull shows greater affinities to the fossil Homo sample than to pathological modern humans. Although some superficial similarities were found between LB1 and skulls of modern humans with pathologies, additional features linked LB1 exclusively with fossil Homo. Shows that LB1 is “clearly distinct from healthy modern humans and from those exhibiting hypothyroidism and Laron syndrome. The mandibles evidence suggests mandibles “share...
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...group of living plants - the whisk ferns - which resembles Rhynia. Psilotum nudum which grows in moist, shady habitats in the Caribbean is such a plant. At one time, Psilotum was thought to be a surviving relative of Rhynia. It is, however, more generally thought to be a Fern Ally, related to the Ferns, with loss of features such as leaves and roots. Event 13 “IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CHORDATE” FINDING THE ANCESTOR OF VERTEBRATES (AND OURSELVES) 530 million years ago The Cambrian explosion created all the major phyla of animals that we have today. This includes the phyla Chordata (chordates). Primitive forms are creatures with evidence of a notochord, a structural rod of cartilage and neural tissue running down the long axis of the body. This notochord was the early precursor to the spine in vertebrates (animals with a true backbone, like fish), and modern examples of simple chordates include sea squirts and lancelets. Two Cambrian fossil localities are of key importance here: Chengjiang in Yunnan Province, southern China, and the Burgess Shales in the British Columbia Rockies of Canada. Both of these localities have produced fossils classified as chordates. The Chinese forms include the forms Myllokunmingia and Haikouichthys (it has even been suggested these could be primitive vertebrate jawless fish). The Canadian form (somewhat later in the Cambrian period) is Pikaia, which especially resembles the modern lancelet. Event 15 “GET OUT OF THE POOL” EARLY AMPHIBIANS 360...
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...and different point from Australopithecus afarensis. According to “Exploring Biological Anthropology” Craig Stanford, John S. Allen, and Susan C. Anton say that in 1974 Donald Johanson and his team discovered Lucy, the famed skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis. She stood a little over a meter tall and possessed a cranial vault suggesting a modest brain size about equal to that of an adult chimpanzee. The cranium and teeth of afarensis are intermediate in appearance of a modern chimpanzee. The cranial capacity is small but slightly larger than that of a modern chimpanzee. The afarensis face was prognathic, but not so much as in the modern chimnpanzee, and the cranial base was relatively flat, similar to that of modern chimpanzee. Cranial crests, flanges of...
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...The shape of the pelvis identifies that the specimen was a male. His estimated age at death depends upon whether the maturity stage of his teeth or skeleton is used, and whether that maturity is compared to that of modern humans or chimpanzees. A key factor here is that while modern humans have a marked adolescent growth spurt, chimpanzees do not. While initial research assumed a modern human type of growth, more recent evidence from other fossils suggests this was less present in early Homo. This affects the estimation of both his age and his likely stature as a fully grown adult.[1] * Anthropologists Alan Walker and Richard Leakey in 1993 estimated the boy to have been about 11–12 years old based on known rates of bone maturity.[4][nb 2] * Christopher Dean (M. C. Dean) of University College London, in a Nova special, stated that Turkana Boy was 8 years old at death.[5][6] But Alan Walker and Richard Leakey said that dental dating often gives a younger age than a person's actual age.[7][nb 3] * Ronda Graves and colleagues in the most recent review of the problems involved concluded that he would "have grown an additional five to 14 cm before reaching adulthood" and that "if, at death, he was eight to ten years of age, [he would have been] 154 centimetres (61 in) tall, and growing faster than a modern human but slower than a chimpanzee. According to this scenario, KNM-WT 15000 would have attained an adult stature ranging between 159 centimetres (63 in) and 168 centimetres...
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...Scientists believe that the Ardipithecus ramidus species were omnivores based on the enamel of their teeth. Australopithecus anamensis was discovered in 1994. The history of this species began in the year 1965 when a research team led by Bryan Peterson from Harvard University found what appeared to be a single arm bone of an early human at a site of Kanapoi in northern Kenya. Patterson was unable to identify what species it belonged to due to the lack of additional fossils. In 1994, paleoanthropologist Meave Leakey and her team found large amounts of bone fragments and teeth at the exact same site where Patterson and his team had found the single arm bone. Leakey and her team determined the fossils were those of a very primitive hominin and...
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...to the theory of evolution in elementary school studying about dinosaurs. But evolution has not stood still; it has been an on-going process. There are many contributing factors to micro and macroevolution. Microevolution therefore refers to changes in DNA within a population for adaptation. Scientists have uncovered a gene BMP4, which shapes the beaks in Galapagos Finches. According to Weiner the finches represent the best and most detailed demonstration of natural selection. Therefore, whenever the food quality changes as a result of a drought or raining season. During the next couple of years, researchers could see a dramatic change in the beak sizes in various populations. Natural selection can drive changes of their beak sizes in response to selective pressure. As a result, the finches with more BMP4 revealed larger beak sizes. The evidence is all around us. The Galapagos Finches are a good example of microevolution; they provide small changes within a species. But I failed to see any facts that support for macroevolution. It is the process of one species changing into a different species over a long period of time. By producing a dog into a different species that would be an example of macroevolution....
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...grass would announce there presence to present predators in the area. Being slow, clumsy runners, the early hominids would have quickly fallen prey. Lacking the ability to fall back onto all fours and outrun the carnivores would have signaled the end of human evolution.There also anatomical changes that are associated with walking bipedally like the limbs and pelvis having to change.The pelvis had to be able to hold the weight of the whole body. The knees had to lock. There was also a difference in feet, and brain grew. The hind legs had to become stronger to carry all the weight....
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...3-20 million living organisms on the earth shown countless changes in shape, size, etc. With much of the world’s species extinct, there is now a projected 9% of species to have ever lived, now extinct. The development of the evolutionary theory over the past couples of decades has sparked more conversation now than ever before. Charles Darwin, an English naturalist and geologist, gave a clarification on why there is diversity and change in species. The four reasons were: • Physical traits and behaviours allow species to live and breed. • Physical behaviour...
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...What is Anthropology??? • • • 20:41 Anthropology • Scientific Approach, OBJECTIVE • Study of Humankind- human groups • Seeks to produce useful GENERALIZATIONS about people and their BEHAVIORS • To arrive at an UNBIASED UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN DIVERSITY • Only scientific discipline that attempts to embrace an understanding of all of humanity • Helps us understand ourselves an others Anthropology Perspectives • Holistic Approach (broadest view) o To view things in the broadest possible contest o To cover the whole scope of humanity o To provide a total or composite view o Human culture as a system, functional whole, all parts relate o Biocultural Perspective Studies both the PHYSICAL and SOCIAL EX: kuru disease (neurological disease)- disease caused by culture, transmitted by mortuary practices • Cultural Relativism o To view the beliefs and customs of other peoples within the context of their culture not one’s own o Practice of not judging other cultures based on the standards of one’s own culture o ENDOCENTRISM Group centeredness Tendency to see ones own culture as the center of everything The measure or standard against which all other lifeways are evaluated Tendency to consider ones own culture as superior or better than all others o Anthropologists must be unbiased, objective o Involves an effort to remain unbiased in ones observations o Acknowledges that cultures are DIFFERENT, but NOT RANKED o No right or wrong cultures...
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...Many people have tried to come up with explanations as to how the fossils got down there, but the evidence we have found does not match up with any hypotheses (Wong 2016:35). If a flood swept those bones in there we would have found other animal bones, and if a large animal had dragged those people down there we would have seen teeth marks on the bones, the only explanation that makes sense would be that Homo naledi purposefully put those bodies down there (Wong 2016:35). The entrance to the chamber is so difficult to navigate now it seems almost impossible that H. naledi were able to get themselves and another body all the way down there, but at the moment that is the only explanation we...
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