The Malagan Society

Improved Essays
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 northern Tanzania discovered by Mary Leaky and the second would be Hadar in Ethiopia in 1974 discovered by D.C. Johanson and M. Taieb during and international expedition. The Hadar discovery also uncovered “Lucy”, which was a nearly complete skeleton
…show more content…
H. erectus evolved from A. afarensis and lived from 1.9 million years ago until 300,000 year ago. (Kottak 9.1 Recap 189) A complete fossil of H. erectus found in West Turkana showed that the species had a cranial capacity of 900 cubed centimeters and had a modern body shape and height. (Kottak 182) The H. erectus was essentially modern as it was much larger and had longer legs than earlier hominins. It had a modern skeleton with a body and brain size more relative to H. sapiens rather than Australopithecus. (Kottak 185) These characteristics allowed for long distance migration which meant diverse environments. The species adapted to its diverse surrounding by learning to hunt and gather cooperatively. (Kottak 186) Another adaptation was tool use. H. erectus began using Lower Paleolithic tools known as Acheulean, named after the village of St. Acheul in France where they were found. They would repeatedly flake off pieces of rock in order to make sharp edges which would eventually become a hand axe shaped like a teardrop. These tools would be used for butchering tasks, wood working and even vegetable preparation. The fact that H. erectus were making tools such as these led archaeologists to believe that they had greater cognitive abilities than their ancestors. (Kottak 185) There is evidence provided from a site called Dmanisi that suggests the migration of early Homo species from Africa to Eurasia was …show more content…
The H. sapiens originated in Africa similar to their ancestors, H. erecuts. (Kottak 188) This species of Homo lived from 300,000 to 28,000 years ago, the last part of the Middle Pleistocene, during the Mindel glacial, the interglacial and the Riss glacial. The migration of H. sapien fossils and tools suggest that their environmental tolerance had increased. They could occupy regions that became bitterly cold during glacials, as well as occupy regions that were as tropical as Madagascar. (Kottak 188-189) Fossil evidence of H. sapien proves that their brain size was within modern human

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Nariokotome Boy Essay

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages

    TITLE OF THE ESSAY Introduction In the year of 1984, an almost complete skeleton, with the exception of the hands and feet, of an eight-year old boy was found by Kamoya Kimeu in Nariokotome near Lake Turkana in Kenya (Brown et al., 1986). The Nariokotome Boy, formerly known as the Turkana Boy/WT 15000, was very special in that it was the only hominid from the H.erectus produced with the most complete skeleton and was chronometrically dated back to about 1.6 million years (Brown et al., 1986). The hominid was about 160 cm (5’3”) tall with a brain size of 880cm3. This discovery was thought to be very crucial, because such well-preserved postcranial elements make for a very unusual and highly useful discovery, because these elements are scarce at other H.erectus sites (Text-Book).…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ardipithecus Ramidus

    • 1241 Words
    • 5 Pages

    There are theories like extrinsic, spreading of African habitats and animals, or intrinsic. (Flower 2016)They lived in groups. This indicates H. erectus had a way of communicating with their own people. Especially, H. erectus began to use tools and were leaning for hunting. One of these hunting tools were biforal tools which were hand axes and havers.…

    • 1241 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1. The two genera of Eocene fossil primates I choose are Eosimias and Darwinius. Eosimias was first described in 1999 and discovered in 1994 by Christopher Beard. Darwinius was discovered and described in 1983 at the Messel pit.…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Lone Survivors Summary

    • 1487 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In a book titled “Lone Survivors” by Chris Stringer, Stringer presents to us his interpretations of the origin of modern humans. Previously, there were two fossils including a tooth and a finger of a female and male, found in the Denisova cave of Siberia which revealed a species that was perhaps indirectly related to both the Neanderthals as well as Homo Sapiens. In addition, they have unique features that are enough to separate them to their own distinct species. These fossils convinced Stringer that perhaps modern humans today are not a pure species but rather a mixture of other hominid groups. Neanderthal genes may still be in us.…

    • 1487 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lucy Research Paper

    • 2270 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Jesus E Fernandez WCIV 10100-H Dr. LePree Fall 2016 Lucy; the most important discovery of the 20th Century Ever since discussions of human ancestry began, many people believed that Europe was the home of the first ancestors of humankind up until the end of the 20th century. An American paleoanthropologist by the name of Dr. Donald Carl Johanson, visited Ethiopia as part of the International Afar Research Expedition in 1973, as a result of this expedition, Dr. Johanson found a knee of a hominid that turned out to be about 3 million years old. Because of its size and the shape, he concluded that this knee belonged to an individual who was bipedal; a species that walks on two legs. A year after his first finding, Johanson went back to Ethiopia with his own expedition team to find what will later be called, Lucy, the Australopithecus Afarensis.…

    • 2270 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mo Naledi Research Paper

    • 1910 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The search for the origins of humankind and the earliest human ancestor has intrigued anthropologists for generations. New evidence, while often scarce, is a vital aspect to the understanding and development of the field of paleoanthropology. Current research aids in the modification of the human ancestral tree and the analysis of various sites. One of the newest sites dealing with human evolution is the Rising Star cave system in South Africa, where a new species of human ancestors, Homo naledi, was discovered. Because of its modernity, quick excavation, and controversial conclusions, the site of the Rising Star cave system is still being actively researched.…

    • 1910 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Turkana Boy Theory

    • 1822 Words
    • 8 Pages

    In the search for answers to the past, we have come across clues that bring us closer to understanding our origin. No clues have brought us closer to understanding our past than the discoveries of; Lucy, the first hominoid discovered in near completed form. The Taung Child, discovered in the 1920’s, the discovery of “The Hobbit”, homo-erectus, and Turkana Boy, the most complete skeleton ever found. In discovering various fossilized remains early hominids, our past begins to unravel itself and history lends us its records to try to help us find out about our past, and in turn closing the gap of the evolutionary line.…

    • 1822 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Scientists have compared human and Neanderthal skulls, and have found that the Neanderthal brain size is equal to, or maybe greater, than our own (''What makes you human?'') . While comparing skulls, scientists also found a huge nasal cavity. This, combined with a huge chest, resulted in a high, squeaky, voice(Parmer). Based on remains found, Neanderthals also had a muscular build, with thick limbs (''Homo Neanderthalensis'') .…

    • 403 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Essay On Neanderthals

    • 869 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the 1800’s a strange skull was discovered in Gibraltar. The remains were name Homo neanderthalensis or Neanderthals, an ancient primitive form of human. They adapted physically and culturally to the ice age conditions that prevailed during much of their time. 10,000 years later the Neanderthals vanished and has been a mystery. Although some sources considered the Neanderthals were primitive with no language, art, stupid presence and no personality, scientists have discovered that the Neanderthals were actually intelligent and had used language, symbols and art like human.…

    • 869 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Experts found the fossil in the Hubei Province of China in the bottom of a former lake. It is estimated that the animal lived around 55 million years ago. Given the scientific name of Archiebus achilles, researchers hope that this discovery will reveal more information about early primate and human evolution. More specifically, the goal is to identify the point when modern-day large apes and humans split from their smaller, tree-dwelling relatives. Archiebus existed 55 million years ago, on an Earth that was extremely different from today’s world.…

    • 1060 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Denisovans

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Region As stated above Denisovans were first found in a remote cave in the harsh Siberian climate, in the Altai Mountains located in Russia between China and Mongolia.(German, PRI). When looking at regions Denisovans occupied and explored, it appears that Denisovans originally migrated out of Africa, around the same time as Neanderthals began to break away from the continent as well (Katsnelson, New). Although Denisovans took a more easterly/southern route compared to Neanderthals when leaving Africa. Exploring and settling regions in Central and SE Asia, stretching as far north as Siberia. Denisovans used land bridges exposed during the Pleistocene era, to gain access to regions as far south as Papua New Guinea and Australia.…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To verify the Out of Africa Theory, the fossils found in Africa needs to show presence of Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis, Homo sapien in the right sequence and time period. Examining morphological features such as the facial structure and skeletal structure can help correctly classify these fossils in the correct taxon. The fossils that need to be found outside of Africa need to be predominantly Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapien because the Out of Africa theory claims that dispersal occurred after the evolution of Homo sapiens. However, if the fossil record outside of Africa contains evidence of Homo erectus fossils, then the theory may lose some its validity. This type of analysis assumes that that there is a binary outcome that would either validate or support either…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Throughout history, in all forms of life, there has been one undeniable trend that has evolved and altered but still remained one of the basic necessities of life, eating. In Kristen J. Gremillion’s Ancestral Appetite: Food in Prehistory she sets up the history of eating, what and how people have eaten in the past few million years and her theory on how that has led to modern diets. As this work is set up in chronological order, Gremillion points out the major inventions, events, and changes to the world that added to the growth and evolution of the modern humans diet. With the help of archeological sites, wide range of sciences, and the known history, Kristen Gremillion attempts to prove that biology, culture, and invention are the reasons that people eat what they eat. Kristen Gremillion started with The Australopithecines, the most ancient, well documented, species related to the modern human.…

    • 1546 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Homo Sapiens Essay

    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “Most Paleoanthropologists agree that Homo erectus evolved into H. sapiens” (p.171). Reason being because, of classified fossils that were recorded fossils was piece of skulls and jaw bones. Fossils was not the only major part of human evolution. The Paleolithic period was also a big part of human evolution, it is broken up into three different measures lower, middle, and upper.…

    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The location also had to do with the food supply for hunting and gathering, and food to be hunted for eating. Some animals became scarce to the Neanderthals. In the north cows were very scarce because the cows would die of frost bite or being famished, due to the lack of grass and other resources. The Neanderthals ate mostly nuts, berries, and other things they could scrounge up to eat.…

    • 1413 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays