Bipedalism

fossils and making a physical model of the skeleton which they would use as a basis of the reconstruction (Prehistoric Autopsy video). Professor Robin Crompton used a series of footprint trails from the Laetoli area to find more information about bipedalism of afarensis. He then compared those footprints to human footprints and found out that Lucy walked upright. They also used animations to demonstrate how Lucy would of have had walked. There would be a slight swing of the hips because the hip…

Introduction What makes us humans? Is it the way we walk? The way we talk? The way we experience certain life events or emotions? How could we possibly be different than other animals? We all share some sort of basic life cycle e.g every animal (including humans) can produce offspring, we are made up of blood and flesh, we breath the same air as well so what exactly makes us so different? Primates vs Humans It is believed by scientists that we share 99% of our DNA with chimps. If we share 99%…

The ancestry of the Malagan society begins with the discovery of the Australopithecus afarensis (A. afarensis) which split off and evolved into a group known as the Homo erectus (H. erectus) species which finally became the Archaic Homo sapiens (H. sapiens). As of today the Malagans are AMH’s or anatomically modern humans. First species on the evolutionary timeline of the Malagans would be A. afarensis. A. afarensis fossil evidence was found in 2 sites. The first of those sites being Laetoli in…

Humans are one of the most complex beings to roam the Earth. They are one of the only species with bipedalism, they have the ability to collectively learn, and they can communicate with each other verbally and nonverbally. However, humans aren’t the only species who can communicate to one another. Humans are the only ones to communicate with a verbal language, yet there is no need for a verbal language to get across an idea. Other animals that roam this Earth can communicate to each other, and…

control, has affected and shaped modern day gender roles. The major drive for early hominids and Homo sapiens was the acquisition of food and reproductive success which was essential in their survival. Biologist suggest that with the development of bipedalism came some possible advantages for early hominids. Biologist state, “Males may have acquired food far afield, and if they could carry it back to…

evolution first began in Africa roughly 6 million years ago and it describes the long process that our ancestors went through to transform into modern day humans. One of the first original human traits that were discovered around 4 million years ago was bipedalism, which is the ability to walk on two legs. Over a long period of times humans have grown taller, we have developed smaller teeth and jaws and have developed more complex language skills. Natural selection is a theory based off of…

I recently visited the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco to gain a new perspective on what we learned in Anthropology this semester. In this paper I will be discussing the Human Origin exhibit that is currently being shown at The Academy of Sciences and how it relates to all that I have learned this semester. This particular exhibit shows the various physical forms that hominins took as they evolved over 4 million years ago. I loved being able to see in person the actual skulls on…

The discovery and observations of fossils have led us to a lot of conclusions of where modern humans come from (Larsen 2008). Fossils are very significant because they are pieces from the past that provide us with evidence of organisms that were once alive (Larsen 2008). The three hominins that I’ll be comparing are Sahelanthropus tchadensis, the Australopitheicus afarensis, and the Homo neanderthaleasis. This gives us a wide range to compare from really early on to a more recent hominins that…

sapiens oldest common ancestor roamed the earth, specifically in the north-central region on the continent of Africa. This ancestor is known as Sahelanthropus tchadensis (Tattersall). They are accepted to have common lineage due to their terrestrial bipedalism, forward positioned foramen magnum, the broad and flat facial structure, and the smaller canines separating it from the very similar ape family (Tattersall). Unfortunately the genus Homo has not had much luck with their population sizes…

Evolution is the theory used to describe exactly why life on earth changes the way it does. It is evident that all things change throughout time, but understanding the reason behind these changes can be infuriating. In Evolution for Everyone, David Sloane Wilson bonds the basic concepts of evolutionary theory with different disciplines such as: art, religion, language, and pro-social behaviors. Wilson establishes a unity between the evolutionary theory and the development of culture, language,…