Hominid Fossil Recordpages.geo.wvu.edu/~kammer/g3/22.pdf · Homo floresiensis, a hobbit-size human...
Transcript of Hominid Fossil Recordpages.geo.wvu.edu/~kammer/g3/22.pdf · Homo floresiensis, a hobbit-size human...
Outline 22:Hominid Fossil Record
Human ancestors
A.=Australopithicus
Assumed direct lineage to modern humans
Babcock textbook
Lots of names but pattern is clear that Homoevolved from an australopithecine over 2 m.y. ago.
Collecting hominid fossils in East Africa
Using Stratigraphy and Radiometric Dating of volcanic ash beds to date hominid fossils
Hominid Jawbones from Ethiopia
Sahelanthropus tchadensis, 6.5 MY old
Sahelanthropus tchadensis,
6.5 MY old
Gorilla – female on left, male on right; note the sexual dimorphism
Orrorin tugenensis – the sum total of specimens
Ardipithecus ramidus, 2009
Australopithecus anamensis
The Australopithecines
• 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.
Australopithecuscouple 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. The spinal cord opening is underneath the skull.
Pelvis of Australopithecus afarensis
Reconstruction of Australopithecus afarensis
Face-to-face with
A. afarensis
A troop of A. afarensisfeeding on tubers in the forest.
A. afarensisfamily unit crossing the savannah.
Fossil Species
• Australopithecus africanus: 2.8-2.5 MY• Robust australopithecines:
Paranthropus aethiopicus: 2.6-2.2 MYP. robustus: 2.0-1.2 MYP. 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?
Or Darth Vader?
Fossil Species
• Homo habilis: 2.5-1.6 MY• H. erectus: 1.8 MY- 25,000 yrs?
Java manPeking 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.
One of many
hypotheses.
Homo erectus from Indonesia, Java Man
Skull of Homo erectus from China
Peking Man
Skeleton of Homo erectus, Turkana Boy from Kenya
H. erectus skull of Turkana Boy
The face of Homo erectus
Homo erectus using fire to sharpen spears
Homo sapiens?
• Archaic H. sapiens or unique species?H. antecessor: 800,000 years oldH. heidelbergensis: 500,000 years oldH. neandertalensis: 200,000-32,000
years old• Currently all thought to be unique
species.
Homo antecessor from Spain, 800,000 years old
Homo heidelbergensis, 500,000 years BP
Neanderthal skull, Spain
Fleshing out a Neanderthal skull
Neanderthal skeleton, Germany
Shanidar Cave, Iraq: Neanderthal burial, 50,000 yrs. BP
Shanidar Cave, Iraq: Neanderthal burial, 50,000 yrs. BP
Did Neanderthals have naked skin like we do? What would the Theory of
Neoteny say?
Reconstruction of Neanderthal child from Gibraltar, Spain, 30,000 years B.P.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19960748
How scientists recreated Neanderthal man
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8660940.stm
1%-4% DNA
500 ky
30 ky
2010: Genetic studies of Neanderthal bones indicates that between 1-4% of modern human DNA is from Neandertals. Suggests interbreeding around 60,000 years ago.
Fig. 1 Samples and sites from which DNA was retrieved.
R E Green et al. Science 2010;328:710-722
2010: Genetic studies of Neanderthal bones indicates that between 1-4% of modern human DNA is from Neandertals. Suggests interbreeding around 60,000 years ago.
Did light colored skin and hair come from Neanderthal genes?
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/modern-humans-more-neanderthal-than-once-thought-studies-suggest/
Homo sapiens
• modern H. sapiens: first appearancesEast Africa: 195,000 years agoMiddle East: 90,000 years agoAustralia: 50,000 years agoEurope: 32,000 years agoAmericas: 20,000 years ago
Homo sapiens,Israel, 90,000
yrs BPFYI: Abraham lived only 4,000 yrs BP
Cro-Magnon man from France, Homo sapiens, 28,000 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
Other rock paintings
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 HumansTwo 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.
How far back in time did the modern races diverge from a common ancestor?
DNA studies show the common
ancestor of all humans lived in
Africa about 170,000 years
ago
Tree Diagram
of Genetic Similarity