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). Upon discovery, the ambiguity in traits caused much debate with regards to classifying the skeletal remains. Initially, it was thought that the skeletal remains were representative of that of modern humans, however, more recent analyses show that the developmental pattern are more closely related to the apes (Text-book). This paper will explore the Nariokotome boy as a possible common ancestor for both modern humans and apes by analyzing the Nariokotome boy’s body size and shape, cranial space, and morphological structure. …show more content…
Body size and Shape Although the Nariokotome boy died at a very young age (about 8 years old), he was approximately 1.60 m tall, which is exceptionally tall in comparison to modern human boys at the same age. Modern humans living in colder climates are known to have shorter limbs in contrast to those living in more tropical regions who have longer limbs that results in more body surface area and, thus, promote heat loss (Reference). The Nariokotome boy had a tall, thin body with long limbs that resemble more closely to modern tropical populations rather than our early human ancestors, which suggests that he was accustomed to living in a hot climate (Reference). One of the studies found that his body proportions are almost identical to those of the tall Dinka people of southern Sudan that is located about 124 miles west of the Nariokotome River (Reference). However, their study attributed the similarities to be physiological rather than genetic due to the fact that the Dinka are no more closely related to humans than any other modern people (Reference). The locomotion of living humans require the trunk to be balanced over the legs by a series of curvatures and other adaptations in the spine and hips to give us the upright posture and bipedalism (Reference). These similar ensembles were also found in the Nariokotome boy such as the curvatures of the spine, the orientation and balancing of the hips, and the presence of a barrel-shaped rib cage like that of modern humans (Reference). Furthermore, this may be indicative that he was adapted to habitual upright walking. Nonetheless, there were two striking differences that existed between the spine of the Nariokotome boy and modern humans; First, through detailed analysis, it was found that while 96 percent of us humans have five bones in the lower back region of the spines, the Nariokotome boy had six bones instead (Reference). Anthropologists suggested that this might have aided him with the curvatures of the spine that was essential for bipedalism and then disappeared after the time of
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). Upon discovery, the ambiguity in traits caused much debate with regards to classifying the skeletal remains. Initially, it was thought that the skeletal remains were representative of that of modern humans, however, more recent analyses show that the developmental pattern are more closely related to the apes (Text-book). This paper will explore the Nariokotome boy as a possible common ancestor for both modern humans and apes by analyzing the Nariokotome boy’s body size and shape, cranial space, and morphological structure. …show more content…
Body size and Shape Although the Nariokotome boy died at a very young age (about 8 years old), he was approximately 1.60 m tall, which is exceptionally tall in comparison to modern human boys at the same age. Modern humans living in colder climates are known to have shorter limbs in contrast to those living in more tropical regions who have longer limbs that results in more body surface area and, thus, promote heat loss (Reference). The Nariokotome boy had a tall, thin body with long limbs that resemble more closely to modern tropical populations rather than our early human ancestors, which suggests that he was accustomed to living in a hot climate (Reference). One of the studies found that his body proportions are almost identical to those of the tall Dinka people of southern Sudan that is located about 124 miles west of the Nariokotome River (Reference). However, their study attributed the similarities to be physiological rather than genetic due to the fact that the Dinka are no more closely related to humans than any other modern people (Reference). The locomotion of living humans require the trunk to be balanced over the legs by a series of curvatures and other adaptations in the spine and hips to give us the upright posture and bipedalism (Reference). These similar ensembles were also found in the Nariokotome boy such as the curvatures of the spine, the orientation and balancing of the hips, and the presence of a barrel-shaped rib cage like that of modern humans (Reference). Furthermore, this may be indicative that he was adapted to habitual upright walking. Nonetheless, there were two striking differences that existed between the spine of the Nariokotome boy and modern humans; First, through detailed analysis, it was found that while 96 percent of us humans have five bones in the lower back region of the spines, the Nariokotome boy had six bones instead (Reference). Anthropologists suggested that this might have aided him with the curvatures of the spine that was essential for bipedalism and then disappeared after the time of