Nicholas Pagano
12 November 2015
TA Elias Capello
Friday 9:05-9:55
Anthropology 103
Australopithecus afarensis
Named by Donald Johanson & Tim White in 1978
I. Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Hominidae
Subfamily: Hominidae
Genus: Australopithecus
Species: A. afarensis
II. Physical Characteristics
The Australopithecus afarensis without a doubt had both ape and human features. Just looking at the face of this animal you can see a startling resemblance to humans. The way the eyes are set in the face, the slight protrusion of the nose, and the ever so small back set nature of the jaw brings to mind undeniably human features.
They were medium sized, dark creatures, with bodies …show more content…
So as the environment changed so did these early ancestors, it makes you wonder about how we will change with all these seemingly negative effects to our environment happening today. The paper goes as far to say that brain expansion occurred alongside the discovery of deep-water lake systems by early humans. Now, though, the terrain is much different than it previously was, the environment of East Africa is studded with mountains, some 4 km high, as well as vegetation that ranges from bone dry deserts to lush cloud …show more content…
Researchers have found that this particular ancestor, like many other primates, were extremely territorial. There would frequently be all out war between neighboring groups. It was a male hierarchy, as for mating the structure featured promiscuity from the female members, which means that one female would have multiple mates and consequently many offspring. Scientists believe that this caused the care given to each of those children to be less intense than if the relationships were monogamous and there were only a few offspring. There was also evidence that the adolescence in this early hominid was much shorter than the modern human. A study by anthropologist Christine Tardieu found that by measuring the femur and its development you could get a good indication of how these early ancestors developed. Her study found that the femur of the Australopithecus afarensis grew much faster, and in a less complete way (in her report she says that there is a certain growth spurt and development missing in A. afarensis, as well as other early hominids) which indicated that they matured at a much greater
12 November 2015
TA Elias Capello
Friday 9:05-9:55
Anthropology 103
Australopithecus afarensis
Named by Donald Johanson & Tim White in 1978
I. Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Hominidae
Subfamily: Hominidae
Genus: Australopithecus
Species: A. afarensis
II. Physical Characteristics
The Australopithecus afarensis without a doubt had both ape and human features. Just looking at the face of this animal you can see a startling resemblance to humans. The way the eyes are set in the face, the slight protrusion of the nose, and the ever so small back set nature of the jaw brings to mind undeniably human features.
They were medium sized, dark creatures, with bodies …show more content…
So as the environment changed so did these early ancestors, it makes you wonder about how we will change with all these seemingly negative effects to our environment happening today. The paper goes as far to say that brain expansion occurred alongside the discovery of deep-water lake systems by early humans. Now, though, the terrain is much different than it previously was, the environment of East Africa is studded with mountains, some 4 km high, as well as vegetation that ranges from bone dry deserts to lush cloud …show more content…
Researchers have found that this particular ancestor, like many other primates, were extremely territorial. There would frequently be all out war between neighboring groups. It was a male hierarchy, as for mating the structure featured promiscuity from the female members, which means that one female would have multiple mates and consequently many offspring. Scientists believe that this caused the care given to each of those children to be less intense than if the relationships were monogamous and there were only a few offspring. There was also evidence that the adolescence in this early hominid was much shorter than the modern human. A study by anthropologist Christine Tardieu found that by measuring the femur and its development you could get a good indication of how these early ancestors developed. Her study found that the femur of the Australopithecus afarensis grew much faster, and in a less complete way (in her report she says that there is a certain growth spurt and development missing in A. afarensis, as well as other early hominids) which indicated that they matured at a much greater