Australopithecines: The Earliest Definite Hominids

Origins and Classifications• In the mainland of Africa, discoveries of fossils

are the work of the paleoanthropologists just to trace the origins of man.

• Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Kenya- were the places of particular excavations and believed that man or bipedal hominids lived and walked there between 4 -3 million years ago.

• At Laetoli, Tanzania, more than 50 hardened humanlike footprints from about 3.6 million years old.

Origins and Classifications

• Excavated evidences in Africa were classified as Australopithecines.

• Paleoanthropologists divided the genus australopithecus into four species.

– Australopithecus anamensis

– Australopithecus afarensis

– Australopithecus africanus

– Australopithecus boisei

– Australopithecus robustus

Australopithecus Anamensis

• Discovered at the east of Lake Turkana, Kenya

• Believed to be 4.2 million years

Australopithecus Afarensis

• Found in the east of Africa from 4 to 3 million years ago.

• It was depicted that the fossils of these species are clear bipeds and thus originated from Laetoli, Hadar, and Ethiopia.

• Paleoanthropologist based their classification through the appearances of their teeth, jaws, and skull are still more alike to apes.

• Believed to be the fore species of the A. africanus.

Australopithecus Africanus

• Lived between 3 to 2 million years ago.

• Excavated at the caves at Sterkfontein and Makapansgat in South Africa.

• The braincase is rounded with relatively well-developed forehead.

• It was also believed that the Taung Child by Dr. Raymond Dart was so similar with this type of specie.

Australopithecus boisei and robustus

• Robustus lived in East Africa and in South Africa about 2.5 to 1 million years ago.

• Classified too as paranthropus which means beside humans.

• Believed to be resided at the caves in Kromdraai and in Swartkrans, and later in the Omo basin in Ethiopia, lake in Turkana Kenya and in Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania.

Australopithecus boisei and robustus

• Boisei was believed to walked around 2.5 million years ago.

• Paleoanthropologist refer boisei as descendants from the robustus and the africanus and thus, named as Australopithecus aethiopicus.

• Characterized as having extreme features with large molars, thick and deep jaws, thick cheek bones

Early Species : HOMO

• They are hominids that are absolutely and relatively larger than that of the australopithecines appear about 2.5 million years ago.

• Classified in our own specie, homo, discovered in Olduvai Gorge by Louis Leakey, Phillip Tobias, and John Napier.

HOMO HABILIS

• Classified as the first specie of the homo genus.

• Apparently lived in the same place together with the robustus and boisei.

• They do have large brains and reduced molars and premolars.

Homo Erectus

• They were found first in Java, China ,and Africa.

• It was believed that they moved and lived in Eastern Africa round 1.6 million years ago and about 1 million years ago in Asia.

• Recent re-dating suggest that early discoveries of H. erectus in Java maybe somewhat older dating to perhaps 1.8 million years ago.

Homo Sapiens

• Scientist believed that the H. Erectus evolved to Homo Sapiens.

• Early fossils of the discoveries of the Homo Sapiens were found in Africa, Europe and Asia.

• Particular in Broken Hill mine in Zambia dating from 200,000 years ago.

• Its cranial capacity is 1200 cc.

• Low forehead, large brow ridges.

• Closely related to the Neandertals who were considered also as the modern human beings classified as Homo Sapiens Neandertalensis.

Early Hominid Cultures

• Tool Traditions (2.5 million years)

• Percussion flaking

– Striking stone with another stone

• Unifacial tools

• Bifacial tools

Life style

• Archaeologists believed that early hominids in Olduvai Gorge had already specific lifestyles.

• They were very particular with their stone tools.

• Tools were studied and analyzed, and then believed to be used for whittling wood into sharp-pointed sticks, dismembering animals, and slitting the hides of some animals.

Early Hominid Cultures

• H. erectus used stone tools, known as Acheulian tool that was formed and discovered as stone-like hammers.

• Big –Game Eating

• Control of Fire

• Campsites