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1
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2
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- Kingdom Animal
- Phylum Chordate
- Class Mammal
- Order Primates
- Family Hominids
- Genus Homo
- Species Sapiens
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3
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- The evolution of primates is characterized by trends towards:
- mobile limbs
- grasping hands (with opposable thumbs)
- a flattened face
- binocular vision
- a large, complex brain (for learned behavior)
- a reduced reproductive rate
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4
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- Most primates have flat nails as well as sensitive pads on the
undersides of fingers and toes.
- Many also have both an opposable big toe and thumb.
- Mobile limbs and clawless opposable digits allow primates to freely
grasp and release tree limbs.
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5
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6
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- Stereoscopic vision and resultant depth perception allows primates to
make accurate judgments about distance and position of adjoining tree
limbs.
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7
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- Prosimians were the first type of primate to diverge from the ancestral
primate line.
- Surviving anthropoids are classified into three superfamilies.
- New World monkeys
- Old World monkeys
- Hominoids
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8
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- Proconsul is believed ancestral to hominids.
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9
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10
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- Phylogenetic tree indicates humans are most closely related to African
apes.
- Last common ancestor appears to have lived about 5-7 million years ago
(mya)
- Genetic changes used as a molecular clock to measure relatedness of
different groups.
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11
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- To be a hominid, a fossil must have an anatomy suitable for standing
erect and walking on two feet.
- Bipedalism
- Human anatomy differs from that of an ape largely because humans are
bipedal while apes are quadrupedal.
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12
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- It is possible that one of the australopithecines that evolved and
diversified in Africa 4 mya is a direct ancestor of humans.
- Southern Africa
- Australopithecus africanus
- Eastern Africa
- Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy)
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13
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- A reconstruction of Lucy’s skeleton
- Lucy is ~ 3.5-million-years-old
- Australopithecus afarensis
- adaptations in Lucy’s hip, leg and foot allowed a fully bipedal means
of locomotion
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14
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- Preserved in volcanic ash in Tanzania
- Discovered in 1978
- Proved hominids were bipedal walkers at least 3.5 million years ago
- Most scientists think the footprints were made by A. afarensis, whose
fossils are found nearby
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15
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- Re-creation
- of a Pliocene
- landscape
- showing
- members of
- A. Afarensis
- gathering
- and eating
- various fruits
- and seeds
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16
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- Homo habilis, dated between 2.0 an 1.9 mya, may be ancestral to modern
humans.
- Skulls suggest portions of the brain associated with speech were
enlarged.
- Ability to speak may have led to hunting cooperatively and the advent
of culture.
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17
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18
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- A reconstruction of the skull of Homo erectus
- a widely distributed species
- whose remains have been found in Africa, Europe, India, China, and
Indonesia
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19
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- Homo erectus and like fossils are found in Africa, Asia, and Europe and
are dated between 1.9 and 0.3 mya.
- Larger brain and flatter face than Homo habilis.
- Much taller than previous hominids.
- Believed to have first appeared in Africa and then migrated into Asia
and Europe.
- First hominid to use fire.
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20
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- Re-creation of a Pleistocene setting in which Homo erectus use fire & stone
tools
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21
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- Most researchers believe Homo sapiens evolved from Homo erectus.
- Multiregional Continuity Hypothesis
- Similar evolution occurred in many different places.
- Out-of-Africa Hypothesis
- H. sapiens evolved from H. erectus only in Africa, and thereafter
migrated to Europe.
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22
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23
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- Neanderthal (H. neanderthalensis) skeletons were first discovered in
Germany’s Neander Valley.
- Skeletons date back 200,000 years.
- Massive brow ridges with protruding nose, jaws, and teeth.
- Heavily muscled.
- Culturally advanced.
- Manufactured variety of tools.
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24
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- Reconstructed
Neanderthal
skull
- characterized
- by prominent heavy
brow ridges and week chin
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25
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- Neanderthals lived in caves and had ritual burials, such as this
depiction from Shanidar Cave, Iraq
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26
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27
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- Oldest fossils to be designated H. sapiens.
- Modern humans who entered Asia and Europe from Africa 100,000 years ago.
- Made advanced stone tools.
- Accomplished hunters.
- First to have complex language?
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28
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- Cro-Magnons were very skilled cave painters
- Painting of a horse from a cave in France
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29
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30
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31
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32
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33
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- With the appearance of Cro-Magnons,
- human evolution has become almost entirely cultural rather than
biological
- Humans have spread throughout the world
- by devising means to deal with a broad range of environmental
conditions
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34
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35
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Notes
