1

Study and class preparation

I.

Read the textbook and assigned readings

Review the lecture and lecture notes

3.

Come up with questions for class and topics that

you feel need to be covered in greater detail
and/or explained

Note lecture slides are part of homework and will

only be referred to as relevant to in-class questions
and need for greater explication or detail. Be ready to
explain/discuss key points to your peers.

Scientists are accumulating ever more data to unravel the tale of human evolution, but as
they are doing so, the story is becoming ever more complex. At every step, it has
challenged and enlarged our idea of who we are as a species. This lecture offers an
overview of the current state of our knowledge, resultant insights, and perplexing
mysteries, both old and new.

t ts
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Looking at this chart of where the different classes of primates ive, what do
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you notice?
Fi
t st tr
sts
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lt, istr,
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Find at least three insights about primates (evolution, history, ecology, life
str,
ir fr
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ts
.
history, behavior) from reading this map.
s ss fr t
?
Who is missing from the map?

Recall from the previous lecture that primates are thought to evolved from
small mammals akin to tree shrews.
Before you look at the next slide, try to recall what the key primate
characteristics are.

Consider each of these five distinctive features:

What are the implications for behavior and lifestyle? How were/are
they beneficial?
Subsistence strategy?
Reproductive career?
What are the trade-offs or costs of these features?

Primates evolved to be arboreal, that is, to living in trees. The earliest lineages
with distinct primate features appeared well after the Cretaceous Extinction.

Taxonomy of the primate order.The branching lines indicate where lineages

diverged, which gives a sense of degree of relatedness among the different
taxa.
Looking at the chart, what ecological shift made the arboreal lifestyle of
primates advantageous? (the answer is on there)
Can the chart tell you who is more distantly related, gibbons and orangutans, or
orangutans and chimpanzees?
Do tarsiers and Old World monkeys have a more recent common ancestor than
Old World monkeys and New World monkeys?
How did New World monkeys wind up in the Western Hemisphere? Did
humans descend from apes?

Prosimians (tarsiers and lemurs) are almost entirely arboreal and share
features characteristic of early primates more than do the anthropoids.

Anthropoids include monkeys, apes, and human, and have more derived
characteristics (that is, developed from ancestral forms) of eyes, snout, and
brain. These shared features indicate that Old and New World primates likely
shared a common ancestor before the continent of South America split off from
Africa. The rift between Africa and the westward-drifting South America
opened to full separation by the widening Atlantic Ocean by around 110 mya.
Thereafter, evolution of the Old and New World primates proceeded
independently.

10

This chart displays the allometric relationship between brain and body size
among primates. Notice the units on the X and Y axis! Based on this chart,
what can you say about the following:
Differences in body size between prosimians and cercopithecoids?
Cercopithecoids and hominoids?
Differences in brain mass between prosimians and hominoids?
Why is it useful to evaluate brain mass in relation to body mass?
Why is Homo sapiens considered the odd one out?
Overall, is the relationship of brain size to body size linear (one to one)? What
does this mean?

11

Here is a sampling of New World primates, who are mainly small-to-medium

sized arboreal species.

12

An important fossil that shows how the lineage looked before the Old World
monkeys and apes split (red asterisk) is Aegyptopithecus.

13

Aegyptopithecus is believed to be a basal catarrhine, an early form that predates

the divergence between hominoids (apes) and Old World monkeys and represents
a crucial link between earlier forms and later fossil hominoids. Notice how
fragmentary our evidence is. Aegyptopithecus is known from a single species
Aegyptopithecus zeuxis that lived some 35-33 million years ago that likely shared
features with contemporary New World monkeys and was about 22 to 36 in long.
As the name suggests, Aegyptopithecus fossils have been found primarily in
modern-day Egypt. In the time of Aegyptopithecus, the Fayum was a forested
subtropical region. The species was an arboreal frugivore (fruit-eater), which fits
the picture of early Old World monkeys and anthropoids as forest-living
frugivores.

14

Here is a small sampling of contemporary Old World monkeys

(Cercopithecidae) that comprise two sub-families, cercopithecines (vervet and
baboon are examples here) and colobines (red colobus and white naped
mangabey are examples here). They include both arboreal and terrestrial
species, though nearly all use trees to varying degrees.

15

As you can see from the characteristics listed here, hominoids did not evolve
startlingly new features; rather, they extended evolutionary lines already
established among primates.
What does the lack of a tail suggest?
Any thoughts about why they have 5-pointed molars?
If a species exhibits pronounced sexual dimorphism in a species, what does
that suggest about its social relations and reproductive patterns?

16

The divergence of the Old World monkeys and hominoid lineages occurred at
around 20 mya, as documented by the fossil Proconsul.
From this chart, date the approximate time of the last common ancestor between
cercopithecoids like the macaque, and the great apes like the gorilla.

17

The fossil is important because it documents and dates the appearance of

features characteristic of apes, as listed above.
From this list, what do you conclude about
the habitat they inhabited,
how they moved around, and
what their mating strategies may have been?
[well learn more about the last point later in the class, but some of you
already may know what body size dimorphism implies]

18

During the Miocene (23 5.3 mya), the apes ruled the primate world. Its been
estimated that as many as 100 species ranged across Europe,Asia and Africa. But
ultimately, as far as we know, only one of these species evolved into a creature
with unusual skills in language, stone tool making, theory of mind and cultural
learning.
How was the brain of these ancestral species modified during evolution so
that humans alone manifested these particular, not to say peculiar, mental
abilities?
Will focusing on the brain alone answer this question?

19

Proconsul is thought to be part of a lineage that departed from that of the

hominids about 20 -19 mya and that is represented by the lesser apes
(hylobatids) today.

20

As we move forward in evolutionary time, cast a farewell glance a the lesser

apes who themselves have distinctive features.

21

This chart shows the approximate date of divergence (and thus of last
common ancestor) for the taxa among catarrhines. Hylobatids represent one
family, and hominids are another family. Does this answer a question posed
on slide 6:
Who is more closely related, gibbons and orangutans, or orangutans and
chimpanzees?
It may help to compare how long ago the lineages of gibbons and orangutans
diverged, with the time of divergence between orangutans and chimpanzees?
Why?

22

23

24

25

26

Humans (Homo sapiens)

bipedal

highly encephalized

wide geographical range

complex technology

highly innovative

highly social
elaborate system of communication

27

Summary I
Anthropoids and prosimians are the two suborders of the
Primate order. Monkeys, apes and humans are anthropoids.
Prosimians have more primitive characteristics and anthropoids have
more derived characteristics. Each suborder has several families
within it.
2.

The earliest true primates, the adapids and omomyids, appear in the
fossil record 55 mya

3.

Aegyptopithecus (-30 mya) may be ancestral to old world monkeys and

apes

4.

Proconsul (--20 mya) may be ancestral to all living apes

5.

DNA evidence suggests that humans and chimpanzees diverged about 6

mya.

6.

Taxonomy aims to represent relatedness. Genetic evidence has led to a

reclassification: humans and great apes are in the same family
(Hominidae).

28

The smudged red disk below the hand stencils is the oldest cave art yet dated, at
40,800 years old. Located in El Castillo cave in the Cantabria region of northern
Spain, this image might have been created by Neanderthals.

29

As this chart plots, accumulating evidence makes clear that humans and apes
diverged long ago, at least 6 mya in the case of chimps and humans. All of the
creatures on the lower track indicated by the blue box are called hominins.

30

What is a hominin?
A species that is more closely related to
modern humans than to modern
chimpanzees
Inferred primarily from evidence for
bipedalisnn

31

Take a moment to reflect on the structural adjustments required to locomote

bipedally, as opposed to quadrupedally or knuckle-walking, as gorillas and
chimpanzees do.
Think about the loads and forces involved as you go through the six points on this
chart. Notice these characteristics on your own body and pay attention to what is
happening next time you walk around (or try it now).

32

The two skulls on the lower right show the view from below. Take a
closer look at insertion of the spine into the skull and the shape of the
pelvis. Again, why does bipedalism require these changes?

33

Rudolph Franz Zallinger, The Road to Homo Sapiens, in F. Clark

Howells Early Man (Time-Life Books, 1965): When this fold-out
picture depicting mans long march from apelike ancestors to Homo
sapiens appeared, it caused an immediate sensation. Today it remains
one of the most famous scientific illustrations ever produced. As
paleoanthropologists discovered new skeletal partsindicated by white
highlightsthey were being fitted not into a branching Darwinian
scheme, but into the framework of the original Huxley diagram.
Although the text clarified that the evolution of man could not be
reduced to a linear sequence, it was read that way by many viewers.
From: http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2012/10/27/what-our-mostfamous-evolutionary-cartoon-gets-wrong/
drKMD5121W6EUxXJ4pF0YL/igraphic.html

34

Contrary to that linear view of human evolution, accumulating evidence

documents hominin diversity that itself may have represented a form of
adaptive radiation as different form radiated into the niches that could be
occupied by bipeds.

35

This chart maps lineages up to the near present.

How many lineages can you count, just on this simplified chart?
From: http://thumbnails.visually.netdna-cdn.com/timeline-ofhominid-evolution_517f2065cdb2b.png

36

Hominin Phylogeny

Orrorin

Ardipithecus
ramidus

HRH CHIMPANZEE

Au. afaren i

HOMO

Au. africanus
i

Sahelan thropus

Au. anamensis
Au. robustus

Au. aethiopicus
Au. boisei
The fossil record on early hominins is thin for the first
2 million
years .
6 MYR S M
AGO

4 MYR
AGO

3 MYR
AGO

2 MYR
AGO

1 MYR
AGO,

37

Two different genera have been found that exhibit cranial features compatible
with more bipedal habits.

38

The introductory lecture touched on the limitations of fossil evidence and the
rarity of finding complete specimens, so paleontologists usually are working with
bones and bone fragments. Therefore, there was tremendous excitement over the
discovery of a partial skeleton from about 4.4 mya. You can see that the toe
diverges which indicates climbing but the rigidity of the foot seems to suggest
bipedal capacity. Evidence of the ecology from the location of the remains
indicates it occupied a wooded rather than grassland habitat.

39

Ardipithecus ramidus
I.

4.4 nnya

2. 4 feet ta11,1 I 2 lbs

3. Bipedal (pelvis)
4. Small, chimp-sized brain (skull)
5. Climbers (grasping big toe)
6. Woodland/forest environment
7. Mosaic of traits
Side line or main line?

We would expect to see a mix of traits on creatures on an

evolutionary pathway from one major adaptive niche to
another.This is what is seen in A. ramidus.

40

The great majority of the early hominin fossil record discovered so far was
located in East and Southern Africa. There is a big gap between these two
areas, as you can see on the map, so there must have been hominins living in
between. Again, we need to keep in mind how partial our record of our
evolutionary past still is, although more is being discovered every year.

41

The first fully bipedal lineage is the Australopithecines, who appeared

starting about 4 mya. There is a rich fossil record of diverse forms of
Australopithecines that persisted nearly 3 million years.

42

Notice the presence of forms with a light build and forms with a much more
heavy build, which is thought to relate to different feeding strategies.
Australopithecines were definitely bipedal, but looking at the chart, what
would you conclude about the evolution of cranial capacity over this long time
period?

43

One of the most famous fossils that shows us what early bipeds were like is
another partially complete skeleton, Lucy, who was a member of the earliest
known Australopithecine species, afarensis, that persisted for nearly a million
years. Again, the relative completeness of the skeleton allowed
paleoanthropologists to extract a huge amount of information about her.
Notice the shape of the pelvis: why is that a very telling indicator of bipedal
gait?

44

Recall we said during the first lecture that behavior does not fossilize. The
Laetoli footprints were a spectacular exception to this rule: three individuals,
two adults and a child, walked together through a fresh deposit of volcanic ash.
Subsequent damp turned the ash to a solid Look at the footprint. Watch the clip
of the film linked here and listen to what Attenborough tells us about the many
lessons from these footprints. Notice how long ago this was!
Show Laetoli min 23:40-26:00

45

So the great majority of early evolution in the hominin lineage relates to the
emergence and then long persistence of bipedal forms in the absence of cranial
expansion. Lets consider again the potential benefits of bipedalism that
established and maintained this mode of locomotion.

46

Is bipedalism an adaptation?

Head higher (see further, smell upwind; wade)

Free upper limbs (reach, carry [food, child, gear],

manual tasking)

Thermoregulation (heat dissipation)

Increased walking efficiency

Look bigger, threat display

Many suggestions have been made about the adaptive advantages of

bipedalism that account for its emergence and persistence.

47

Experiments testing the energy consumed in different modes of locomotion have

shown that bipedalism in humans is remarkably efficient. On the other hand,
bipedalism in chimpanzees, who can walk bipedally but are most habitual
knuckle walkers, is no more efficient than quadrupedal locomotion. So, energy
efficiency would not have been a large adaptive advantage in early forms having
partial adaptation to bipedalism. Other advantages conferred by capacity to be
bipedal must have contributed to selective advantages for incompletely adapted
bipeds.
Read this graph and the legend below carefully to see what it really tells you.
You can extract a lot of information from a good graph, and this one has a lot of
information. If you have trouble seeing the graph, switch to Normal or
Presentation mode.
Net cost of transport (ml of O2 kg1 m1) for chimpanzee quadrupedal
walking (blue), chimpanzee bipedal walking (red), and human walking
(yellow). Dashed lines indicate trendlines for running and walking in birds
and mammals. The running trendline is for 65 terrestrial species (15).
Walking data (open symbols) were collected from the literature [see
supporting information (SI) Table 2].

Here are reconstructions of how australopithecines may have looked, based on

the rather extensive fossil collections available. The gracile form is represented
on the left and the robust from is on the right. Recent anatomical evidence
suggests that a gracile form (Australopithecus africanus) used tools.
Notice the differences in the face and hands in the two forms. What dietary
differences might they represent?
Check out the skulls. What kind of diet might the gracile form on left eaten, as
compared to the robust form on right?

49

We know that brain expansion occurred along the hominin lineage, such that
brains are three to four times larger than chimpanzee brains and nearly three
times that much large than Australopithecines. A major question about human
evolution is how and why this occurred. At the outset, paleoanthropologists
expected that cranial expansion would co-evolve with bipedalism, freeing of
hands, and so forth.

50

Direct evidence of human brain evolution comes from the very rare fossilized
skulls of our ancestors. These skulls can be used to make endocasts, as
illustrated here. Endocast volume can then be measured as an approximation of
brain volume.

51

Over the course of human evolution, brain size tripled so that the modern
human brain is the largest and most complex of any living primate. The
emerging answers to when (and why) this happened are surprising.
Endocasts of H. erectus, left, and H. sapiens, right.
From: http://humanorigins.si.edu/human-characteristics/brains

52

This graph plots braincase volume (thus, presumably, brain size) over time,
making it clear that notable cranial expansion did not begin until about 2 million
years ago. Once it began, however, brain size increased consistently over time to
achieve current cranial capacity relatively late in human evolution.
Can you think of selection pressures that might have favored bigger brains and
thus could account for this pattern?

53

Hominid Phylogeny

HONCH
O
CHIMPANZE
E

HOMO

We return to this chartArdipithecus

to remind you where we are in the
ramidus
07rin
timeline of hominin evolution. Au. afaren i
Au. robustus
Au. afritanus
Sahelanthropus

Au. anamensis
Au. aethiopicus
Au. boisei

6 MYR
AGO

5 MYR
AGO

4 MYR
AGO

3 MYR
AGO

1
MYR
AG O ,

54

Trends in the genus Homo

e
n

Reduced face, jaws and teeth

Enlarged brain

Australopithecus africanus
4413cc

Homo erectus
101110cc

Homo sapiens
1300 + cc

Compare the three skulls shown here.

What do the differences suggest about diet?

What might have made such changes in diet possible?

55

This chart shows you brain size by species over time. Cranial expansion began
with Homo habilis and continued through the history of the genus Homo.
Note when body size increased.
What does that suggest?

56

Note the behavioral, physical, and ecological correlates of brain size over
time. These begin to tell us more about selective pressures.
Brain size increases slowly from 62 million years ago
During this time period, early humans began to walk upright and make simple
tools. Brain size increased, but only slightly.
Brain and body size increase from 2 million800,000 years ago
During this time period early humans spread around the globe, encountering
many new environments on different continents. These challenges, along with an
increase in body size, led to an increase in brain size.
Brain size increases rapidly from 800,000200,000 years ago
Endocasts of H. erectus, left, and H. sapiens, right.
From: http://humanorigins.si.edu/human-characteristics/brains

57

We plot changes in behavior and ecology (blue boxes) against the pattern of
changing brain size.
For a long time, tool use was considered a mark of intelligence that would open
new dietary niches and life history strategies. Thence, the expectation was tool
production would accompany increased brain size because tool use.
From this chart, would you say that the evidence supports that expectation?
What does this suggest about hominin evolution?
Notice that geographic expansion of the species outside Africa apparently
occurred only with the start of cranial expansion, among the genus Homo.

58

Reason brain size increased?

PBS Becoming Human, Episode I, chapter 2

i luvaiviueu.pus.ui 8/ viueui 1 J 1 LJLLL-r 1 I

Approximately 40:26 42:45

Do you remember Rick Potts idea about the ecological stimulus for
brain expansion? Review this segment in the PBS program that you
watched.

59

Human brain size evolved most rapidly during a time of dramatic climate
instability and change.
Why might the onset of climate instability and opening of novel environments
have created selective pressures favoring expanding brain size?
From: http://humanorigins.si.edu/human-characteristics/brains

60

Current thinking suggests that larger, more complex brains enabled early
humans of this time period to interact with each other and with their
surroundings in new and different ways. As the environment became more
unpredictable, bigger brains helped our ancestors survive.
This skull is a representative of the first species in our genus Homo.

61

Production and use of complex tools also is considered a key feature of the
human lineage. The first known tools, known as Oldowan, are dated at about
2.6 mya, and were associated with late australopithecines. The photos show
examples. Upper right is a chopper, lower right are flakes and the core they
were struck from. And these are the tools associated with Homo habilis.
Think about what you can do with tools like these.
If you are interested in early tool use and its relationship to human evolution,
especially brain evolution, we have a world expert on the Anthropology faculty
here, Prof. Dietrich Stout.

62

The maps shows the distribution of bones at an ancient butchery site.The bone
fragment comes from that butchery side. Look at the places on the bone indicated
by the arrows.
Here is exciting evidence that the tools were used to butcher carcasses. The
arrows point to cut marks on the bone clearly made by a sharp edge rather than a
tooth.
If you are interested in early human behavior, tool use, and ecology, we also
have a world expert on the Anthropology faculty, Prof. Jessica Thompson.

63

Watch carefully the segment of this program showing a kudu hunt. What skills
are required to perform this? We will discuss this further in future lectures, but
this will get you started thinking about it. From what you have seen about the
record of human evolution in this lecture, you will know that the vast majority
of human evolution (for at least 2 million years since tool use became quite
common) was spent in the forager, hunting-gathering niche.
Hunting: 31:29 35:44

64

Changes that distinguished the next member of the lineage, Homo erectus, showed
some increase in brain volume but a substantial increase in height. This species
was extant for over a million years, and was the first member of our genus to
migrate outside Africa.

65

Here you can compare two famous, relatively complete skeleton finds,
Australopithecus africanus Lucy and Homo erectus Nariokotome Boy.
See how many differences you can find between these two.

66

This is a representative Homo erectus skull. Compared to those you have seen
previously, what are distinctive features here?
Note height and angle of forehead, brows, cheekbones, plane of lower face and
angle of teeth. Use of tools and fire for processing foods reduced the need for
powerful jaws and heavy teeth, permitting a reduced muscles around face and jaw,
lighter cheekbones and more acute angle of jaw for chewing rather than pulling
and tearing.

67

Acheulean tools are worked symmetrically on both sides. Such tools are
characteristic of Homo erectus and first appeared when the species appeared.
This tradition persisted for over 1.5 million years, from ~1.8 to ~0.1 mya.
It may seem rather dull to maintain a single tradition for such an immense
length of time (think of how rapidly our technology changes), but consider
what is required to maintain such fidelity over that long period. Moreover, the
method of preparation was applied to produce an increasingly wide array of
tool types.

68

The oldest known evidence of hominins outside of Africa are Homo erectus
fossils that come from the site of Dmanisi in the Republic of Georgia, one of the
most prolific fossil human sites in recent years. The age of the
Dmanisi fossils is about 1.85 to 1.75 million years old. Comparing the
Georgian and Chinese dates, the evidence from the Nihewan and Yuanmou
regions is consistent with the spread of early hominin populations beyond
Africa into the Caucasus region and into East Asia between roughly 2 million
and 1.7 million years ago.
By 1.66 million years ago, early humans of the genus Homo who reached
eastern Asia were able to disperse over a wide area that extended from at least
40N (Nihewan basin) to 7S (Java, Indonesia), across a habitat range from
temperate grassland to tropical woodland and possibly forest.
From: http://humanorigins.si.edu/research/asian-research/earliest-humanschina

69

As more finds are made, the hominin record is getting more and
more complicated. This chart on the upper right shows that:

For extended periods, the genus Homo included up to multiple

species (erectus, heidelbergensis, neanderthalenses, ancient or
modern sapiens), or maybe more.

As the genus became more widespread, geographic isolation

could occur, and speciation could arise

Homo sapiens spread through all regions inhabited by the

other species and supplanted them.

The map on the left shows hominin sites, documenting the wide
distribution of Homo erectus and later forms.
Not included on either graph is the diminutive Homo floresiensis,
found in Indonesia in 2003, living ~93000 13000 ya.
Who knows, there may be other species of early Homo that have not
been discovered.

70

More fossil evidence from diverse sites across Africa, Europe and Asia plus the
ability to analyze ancient DNA has greatly increased both the complexity of the
record and our ability to discern the tangled, evolving web of Homo species
through time. We now clearly know that human evolution emphatically was not
a neat, linear story that lead directly to our species. Rather, many species have
been woven into the history of an evolving lineage that both evolved diverse
forms yet also maintained linkages through interbreeding.
H. sapiens skull is Cro Magnon, early modern humans in Europe earliest dated at
43000 ya

71

Genetic studies have revealed clear patterns of inbreeding across diverse

populations of Homo, suggesting that they were not reproductively isolated
species. Gene flow may have contributed to the relative genetic homogeneity of
humans that yielded a single surviving species, Homo sapiens sapiens.

72

Changing understandings of Neanderthals are symptomatic of our rapidly

changing and evolving knowledge of human evolution. Popular imagination
has been captured by the Neanderthals ever since their fossils were first found
in Europe in the early and mid Nineteenth Century.At first considered brutish
and ponderous, evidence of their tool production, mortuary and ritual
practices, art, and large cranial capacity suggest otherwise. The Neanderthal
genome was sequenced in 2009. Comparison with modern humans revealed
that around 1-4% of the modern human genome of non-African origin may be
Neanderthal in origin. Now that we see how related we may be, views of
Neanderthals popular among humans have substantially improved.

73

Neanderthal Range

tirr

fr

:ate

V
latiner,
4ffir
ins
s tcY 4s,
,Ast,vv,
I

II
4 I
1.4 givens
4AIL

rag ;raga

Although the range of Neanderthal habitation at first was

thought to be limited to Europe, finds first in the Middle East, and
then more recently across Central Asia have greatly expanded it.

74

Appearance of modern humans in the fossil record is accompanied by the

suite of characteristics shown above. We noted in a previous discussion that
behavior does not fossilize, and speech or language is perhaps the most of all
(until its written down, of course, but that came later). Some genetic and
anatomical evidence has been but the timing of language evolution among
humans remains a mystery, although it is generally thought to have occurred
late, perhaps among modern Homo sapiens alone.

75

The disappearance of Neanderthals and replacement by modern humans may

have occurred both because of selective pressures (climate and related
ecological fluctuations) on Neanderthals that challenged their large game
subsistence strategies, and because of features of humans that gave them
adaptive advantages in those conditions. High injury rates that shortened
Neanderthal lifespans also may have contributed.

76

The precise relationship among early hominin ancestors is unclear, though

scientific methodologies can help determined the most parsimonious
relationships. Since only a very small percentage of the extinct hominin
population has been discovered in the fossil record, perhaps as small as >1%,
scientists can only construct evolutionary relationships based on their
currently knowledge. With each new hominin fossil discovered, the possible
evolutionary relationship between species may be reinforced or even change
dramatically. The story continues to evolve, expanding our insight into our
origins as it does.
Scientists must consult a wide array of scientific evidence in order to
determine which ancestral-descendant relationship is the most likely, though
there are many differing opinions. The phylogenies presented here are just a
few of the working hypotheses from different authors. Phylogengies and
cladograms are constantly being reworked as more fossil and genetic material
becomes available. Source: Klein 2009

77

The map above shows the likely paths of human migration out from the
location in Africa where modern humans probably first appeared. The alreadyoccupied range of Homo erectus is shown for comparison. (Not shown is the
radiation of Homo heidelbergensis into Europe.) Also, that of Homo
neanderthalensis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acheulean#/media/
File:Spreading_homo_sapiens_la.svg

78

Hominidae: living humans, all human ancestors, the many extinct members of
Australopithecus, and our closest primate relatives, the chimpanzee and gorilla.
According to The Tree of Life by Guillaume Lecointre and Herv Le Guyader
(Harvard University Press: 2006), the similarly named and easily confused
categories of humans and near human apes, in order of increasing inclusiveness,
are:

Hominini - modern humans and all previous human,

australopithecine, paranthropine and ardipithecine ancestors

Homininae - all of the above, plus chimpanzees (Panini), our closest

living biological kin (a genetic kinship so close that some scientists have
suggested their genus name should be changed from Pan to Homo).

Hominidae - all of the above, plus gorillas (Gorillinae)

Hominoidae - all of the above, plus orangutans (Pongidae)
Hominoidea - all of the above, plus gibbons (Hylobatoidae).

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By now you probably have a good sense of the answer to the question of why
our knowledge of human evolution remains incomplete. Indeed the full story
likely will never be known, but we are learning a great deal not only about
ourselves and our assumptions, but also about evolution and ecology in
general.
Homoplasy is the sharing of a common trait among related species whose
common ancestral species did not have that trait. Homoplasy reflects
convergent evolution as species adapting to the same niche evolve
characteristics to meet the selective pressures of that niche.
Why might the search for the Last Common Ancestor with our ape relatives (or
any other species) be a fruitless quest? For one, the LCA surely was a
population. For another, that population also would have been comprised of
many traits neither chimp nor human-like. Both species evolved tremendously.

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Summary II
Species that are more closely related to modern humans than
modern chimpanzees are known as hominins
Hominins are identified by skeletal specializations for bipedalism and by reduced canine
teeth

2.

Ardipithecus, the earliest undisputed biped (4.4 mya), had an ape-sized

brain and a grasping big toe

3.

Australopithecines came in two forms, gracile and robust, and lived in

South and East Africa between about 4 and I mya

Australopithecines were bipedal but had ape-sized brains

4.
The evolution of the genus Homo involved a dramatic increase in
brain size and a reduction in the face, jaws and teeth

H. habilis was the first widespread stone tool maker

H. ergastedereaus was the first hominin to migrate out of Africa

Neanderthals had large brains but were outcompeted by Cro-Magnons (anatomically modern
humans in Europe)

All living humans are descended from a small population that lived in
Africa approximately 100-200,000 years ago. Modern and archaic humans
interbred.

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Questions from videos I

What features did Lucy have that were more apelike,

and more human-like? How about Turkana boy?

What do stone tools tell us about human brain

evolution?

How did lice help us understand human

evolution?

Describe five techniques in dating fossilized

remains.

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Questions from videos 2

How does Homo floresiensis fit into the taxonomy of

human evolution?

What is the Denisova find?

How has this affected emerging understandings of

human evolution and history?

What evidence is used in studies of human

evolution?

What do you consider are the key take-home

messages?

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