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59 Cards in this Set
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- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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What was the first hominid fossil found? When was it found?
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A Neandertal found in Engis, France in 1829.
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When and where was the Neander Valley fossil found?
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It was blasted out of a limestone cave in 1856.
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What was the reaction to the Neander Valley fossil? What did Vichrow say about it?
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Nobody believed it; there was no context for it. Origin had not been published yet. Virchow said it was a pathological fully modern human. (Russian soldier with rickets.)
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How did the Spy Neandertal finds change the interpretation of Neandertals?
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The find (2 whole specimens) made the popular theory of Neandertals being pathological fully modern humans less believable.
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Who was Eugene Dubois? What did he find? What was the reaction to his find?
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Dutch; went in search of the missing link in SE Asia. He found Homo erectus remains on the island of Java. People did not believe him; some said it was a giant gibbon, others said femur and skull not associated (which was true).
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Who was Marcelin Boule? What did he do? How did it affect the history of paleoanthropological interpretation?
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He found the Neandertal site La Chapelle aux Saints in 1908. He compiled a book of all Neandertal finds up until 1910. His book was completely wrong and focused on everything brutish and apelike; influencing our perceptions for many years.
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Who was Raymond Dart? What did he find? When? Where?
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Anthropologist best known for finding the Taung child (Australopithecus africanus) in 1924 at the site of Taung, South Africa. It has a well preserved endocast and is thought to be ~2.5 million years old.
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Who was Robert Broom? What did he find? When? Where?
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Paleontologist; went out in search of hominids after the Taung child was found. He discovered Australopithecus robustus in South Africa in 1937.
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What are some of the problems associated with the search for the first human ancestors?
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1. Specimens are very fragmentary.
2. Hard to tell if a species is a hominid sometimes due to the fragmentary fossil record. 3. Lumpers vs. Splitters: everyone wants to find a new species; causing people to name things as separate species when perhaps they are not. |
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What is Sahelnathropus tchadensis? Who found it and where? When does it date to?
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Possibly the earliest hominid. Found by Michael Brunet in Toros-Manella, Chad in 2002. Dates between 6 and 7 mya.
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What characteristics like Sahelanthropus tchadensis with apes? Which link it with humans?
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Similar to apes: small brain, u-shaped dental arcade, large brow ridge.
Similar to humans: small canines, short, orognathic face, anterior appearance of foramen magnum (debatable because skull is reconstructed). |
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What is Orrorin tugenensis? Who found it and where? When does it date to?
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One of the oldest hominids, found by Martin Pickford and Briggitte Senut in Tugen Hills of Kenya. Dates to 6 mya.
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Why do we think Orrorin tugenensis might be a hominid?
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Has similar features to the australopithecines, and evidence for bipedalism. CT slices of the femur indicate thicker cortical bone as is seen in bipedal animals.
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What is the evidence that Sahelanthropus and Orrorin were bipedal?
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Sahelanthropus has a foramen magnum orientation that indicates bipedalism and Orrorin's femur morphology (thick cortical bone) indicates bipedalism.
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Contrast the dental evidence for Sahelanthropus and Orrorin.
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Both have smaller canines than male apes, both are non-honing. Sahelanthropus has intermediate enamel thickness, while Orrorin has thick enamel like a human.
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When does the species Ardipithecus date to? Who found it and where?
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Dates to 5.8 to 4.4 mya, found by Tim White in Aramis, Ethiopia.
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Why were the recent papers on Ardipithecus so exciting to the anthropological community?
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Species was found and named in 1994, and until recently very little information was available about this find. It gives us more information about hominid evolution. The 11 papers published in Science gave the entire community sense of camaraderie.
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What does the Ardipithecus cranium look like? The teeth? The hands? The pelvis? The feet? The body proportions?
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Cranium: digitally reconstructed, capacity 300 - 350 cc, reduced prognathism.
Teeth: Omnivorous, had no big incisors like a chimp, canine size reduced, very little sexual dimorphism. Intermediate enamel thickness. Hands: phalanges are long, metacarpals are short. No adaptations for knuckle-walking, wrist adapted to dorsiflexion. Moved “palmigrade” primitive like a monkey or early ape. Pelvis: ilium is short and broad, but hamstrings and ischium are still primitive, birth probably like chimps. Feet: fully abductable big toe, foot is stiff (like a monkey), able to absorb shock from arboreal living. Proportions: ardi has monkey-like proportions, arms and legs being roughly equal. |
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If Ardipithecus is a hominid, what does this tell us about the levels of convergence in the homonoid family tree?
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If Ardi is a hominid, the homonoid (ape) tree is littered with convergent characteristics.
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What is the evidence that Ardipithecus was bipedal?
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Has a broad, flaring ilium allowing it to stand on one leg without shifting its weight from side to side. (Specimen is crushed to badly to know valgus angle.)
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What are some of the hypotheses for why hominids became bipedal?
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Thermoregulation a decent possibility; others that aren't so great: carrying weapons, hunting, harvesting fruit from small trees, metabolic efficiency, and Dr. Lovejoy’s theory of everything that sites provisioning of offspring as leading to upright walking.
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What does Own Lovejoy's Origin of Man hypothesis say about bipedality?
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1. Reduced birth interval = increased percentage of offspring surviving.
2. Females began staying at home while the males gathered food. 3. Because males needed to be efficient at gathering lots of food and bringing it back home, bipedalism developed. 4. This system led to monogamy because a male did not want to be out gathering food for children he was not sure were his own. 5. This in turn led to concealed ovulation because in a monogamous society continuous sexual receptivity reinforces pair bonds. |
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What are some of the problems with Owen Lovejoy's theory?
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1. Estrus does not normally disappear when monogamy arises.
2. Monogamy is not universal in modern societies, only 22% are monogamous. 3. This theory gave no clear reasoning for the level of sexual dimorphism exhibited, usually monogamy lessens sexual dimorphism. 4. It just fits too well with our preconceived notions regarding women being the homemakers and men the hunters/providers. |
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What are the selective pressures against bipedalism?
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Giving up an added escape route, giving up another form of mobility, increased infant mortality, back pain, unstable knees, having to deal with altricial infants (which are a result of bipedalism).
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What does altricial mean? Precocious?
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Altricial means that the baby needs nourishment after birth, and can not get up and move around on their own after coming out of the womb.
Precocious is when animals mature relatively young and can function on their own soon after birth. |
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What is Australopithecus anamensis? Who found it? Where? When does it date to?
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Early australopithecine that dates to about 4.2-3.8 mya. It was probably ancestral to A. afarensis. The first fossil, a single arm bone, was discovered in Kanapoi, Kenya by a Harvard research team.
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Why do we think Australopithecus anamensis might be a hominid? What is the evidence that it was bipedal?
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It appears bipedal. Tibia indicates likely biped: straight shaft
concave condyles (chimps, convex for curved femur; humans, concave). Probably ancestral to A. afarensis |
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About how many Australopithecus afarensis individuals have been found?
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More than 100 individuals have been found, mostly in Hadar, Ethiopia.
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What are the main sites associated with Australopithecus afarensis?
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Laetoli, Tanzania
Hadar, Ethiopia Maka, Ethiopia Koobi Fora, Kenya |
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When does Australopithecus afarensis date to?
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3.7-2.8 mya
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What is the Dikika baby? What does it tell us about Australopithecus afarensis?
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A. afarensis fossil about age 3 at death; female, with hyoid bone. Cranial capacity from 375-450 cc. Showed the brain growth rate was slower than a chimp, but not as slow as humans.
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Cranial differences between A. afarensis, apes, and humans.
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Ape-like features:
1. 375-450cc (closer to chimp 350cc than human 1400cc) 2. Strong post-orbital constriction 3. Large temporal fossa 4. Strong temporal lines 5. Compound temporonuchal crest 6. Prognathic face 7. Large anterior dentition Human-like characteristics: 1. No sagittal crest 2. Foramen magnum more anterior Intermediate characteristics: 1. Modest supraorbital and small sulcus 2. Small, non-functional diastema 3. Dental arcade u-shaped but not exactly parallel |
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How do we know that Australopithecus afarensis was bipedal? What is the evidence from the hip? The knee? The foot?
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Foramen mangnum is located anteriorly; obvious valgus angle shown in knee, indicator of stress from learning how to walk as a child. Knee is under body. The pelvis is just about fully modern. The foot has non-divergent big toe, curved phalanges and the orientation of proximal articulation shows bipedal bending occurring.
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What can we say about birth in Australopithecus afarensis based on the shape of Lucy's pelvis?
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Due to the platypoid (mushed front to back) shape of Lucy's pelvis, birthing would have been more difficult for Australopithecus afarensis than for apes--whom have a more circular pelvis shape which accommodates for the circular shape of a newborn's cranium. This A/P compressed shape along with the fact that A. Afarensis had a larger cranial capacity than apes resulting in more difficult child birth - but still not as hard as modern humans.
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What are the Laetoli footprints? What do they tell us about Australopithecus afarensis?
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Track of footprints found at the site Laetoli in Tanzania preserved by volcanic ash and were said to be the footprints of 3 A. afarensis individuals dated at 3.6 million years old. The footprints show us that afarensis walked upright, with a non-opposable big toe and their foot had an arch similar to that of modern humans. We can also estimate that their walking speed averaged around 1m/s, similar to most human walking speeds.
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What did body proportions look like in Australopithecus afarensis?
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Femur is short compared to the humerus. Upper limb proportions are normal. Humerus is 84% of femoral length. (Humans are 73%) Stature around 3.5 to 5 ft.
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What level of sexual dimorphism was there in Australopithecus afarensis? What were male and female body sizes like?
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Highly sexually dimorphic; weight for males 49kg, weight for females 29kg. (1.6 ratio) Not as dimorphic as gorillas and orangs, but more than us.
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Did Australopithecus afarensis climb?
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Yes. Was probably not a good walker, but a good stander. It had not developed bipedalism enough to run, so it probably could still climb trees.
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What is Australopithecus africanus? Who found it and where? When does it date to?
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A south African species found by Raymond Dart at Taung. Dates to 3.0-2.3 mya.
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What are the major sites associated with Australopithecus africanus?
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South Africa:
1. Taung 2. Sterkfontein 3. Makapansgat |
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What are the features that differentiate Australopithecus africanus from Australopithecus afarensis?
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A. africanus has:
1. a relatively bigger brain 2. larger jaw, and bigger molars 3. has a relatively smaller canine 4. has anterior nasal pillars (that A. afarensis lacks) (Suggested to be a southern variety of afarensis.) |
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What does the Taung endocast tell us about brain development in Australopithecus africanus?
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Rate of brain development is closer to what is seen in apes, making the Taung child around 3 years old. But, the ratio of cerebral to cerebellar is higher than in gorillas, and the sulci pattern also appears more like the human condition.
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What is Kenyanthopus platyops? Who found it and where? When does it date to? What does it look like?
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Hominid found by the Leakys in West Lake Turkana, Kenya. Dates to 3.5 mya. It has a flat, orognathic face, small molars, small brain (400-500cc), and the cranium is very distorted, looks very beat up.
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What is Australopithecus garhi? Who found it and where? When does it date to? What does it look like?
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Hominid found by Tim White in Bouri, Ethiopia. Dates to 2.5 mya. Brain abut 450 cc, prognathic face (more like afarensis). Large teeth, molars (bigger teeth than afarensis).
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What do the body proportions of Australopithecus garhi look like?
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Australopithecus garhi has a longer femur like humans, but retains the shorter forearm like chimps.
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What was found near Australopithecus garhi that tells us something about cultural adaptations by early hominids?
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Bones with hammer and cut marks were found near by indicating possible tool use to process and eat meat and marrow.
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What are the three species of "robust" Australopithecine?
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1. Australopithecus aethiopicus
2. Australopithecus robustus 3. Australopithecus boisei |
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Many cranial characteristics differentiate robusts from the gracile Australopithecines. Name them.
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1. Brain size around 450-530cc.
2. Highly orognathic face. Long face. 3. Nuchal crest or compound temporonuchal crest. 4. Wide cheeks (zygomatics); with concave face. 5. Sagittal crest (fin). Strong post-orbital constriction. 6. HUGE molars, small anterior teeth, premolars are "molarized," no diastema, mandible is deep and thick. |
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How does a sagittal crest form?
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Direct result of big chewing muscles that need a strong muscle attachment.
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What unifies many of the features we see in robust Australopithecines? What is the primary adaptation?
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The features seen in robusts are a result of heavy chewing muscles and dentition needed for eating hard food.
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What is Australopithecus aethiopicus? When did it exist? What features link it with the robusts and what features link it with Australopithecus afarensis?
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An early robust Australopithecine from 2.5 mya.
Like robusts it has a sagittal crest, wide zygomatics, and space for huge back teeth. Like afarensis it has a tiny brain, prognathic face, and large anterior teeth. |
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Which robust Australopithecine is the most robust?
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Australopithecus boisei
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When and where did Australopithecus boisei live? What sites is it associated with?
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East Africa:
Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania Koobi Fora, Kenya Omo, Ethiopia. Dated 1.1-2.0 mya. |
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When and where did Australopithecus robustus live? What sites is it associated with?
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South Africa: Kromdraai, Swartkrans, Drimolen. Dated 1.4-2.1 mya. (Roughly contemporaneous with A. boisei.)
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What is the evidence that Australopithecus robustus ate termites? What site is it from? What else did Australopithecus robustus likely eat?
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Analysis of microwear striations in tools used at Swartkrans, South Africa shows tools were used to retrieve termites from mounds. May have also eaten harder shelled fruits and things that were gritty.
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What are we pretty sure about considering the phylogenetic relationships between early hominids?
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Australopithecus afarensis is probably on the direct line to Homo and robust Australopithecines are a side branch.
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Why do some people call robust Australopithecines Paranthropus and some Australopithecus? How do the different ways of naming them reflect different ideas about how they evolved?
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Some believe they are a significantly different group that should be placed in their own genus, rather than being a side branch of Australopithecines. If they evolved once (aethiopicus into boisei and robustus) then they would be a monophyletic group and should called Paranthropus. If they evolved twice (afarensis into aethiopicus and boisei, and africanus into robustus) then they are a polyphyletic group and belong with the Australopithecines.
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What used to be the four main criteria for inclusion in the genus Homo?
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1. Brain size
2. Language 3. Stone tools 4. Opposable thumb |
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Name the site by their codes:
OH KNM-ER KNM-WT SK STS STW AL |
OH - Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
KNM-ER - East Turkana (East Rudolf - Koobi Fora), Kenya KNM-WT - West Turkana, Kenya SK - Swartkrans, S. Africa STS - Sterfonktein, (main), S. Africa STW - Sterkfontein, (west) S. Africa AL - Afar Locality, Hadar, Ethiopia |
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