EARLY
HOMINIDS
Genus/Species
MYA/KYA
Skull shape, bones,
foramen magnum
Teeth
Habitat / Other
Middle Awash Basin –
Ethiopia
5.8-4.4 mya
Pneumatized1 basil
cranium (P) Foramen
located under skull (H)
Small incisor-like canines
(H2), Small molars (P), thin
tooth enamel (P)
Forested environments, ~90
fossil specimens-teeth & post
crania
Ororrin
tugenensis
Tugen Hills – Kenya
~6.0 mya
Climbing & bipedal
adaptations
Ape-like teeth, thick tooth
enamel (H)
Woodland & savannah, 13
fossil specimens
Australopithecus
anamensis
Kanapoi – Kenya
4.2-3.8 mya
Small, ellipse-shaped ear
holes (P), receding chin (P)
Mixture of dry woodlands,
gallery forest (along rivers),
>50 fossil specimens
afarensis(Lucy)
Hadar – Ethiopia
4-3 mya
africanus
South Africa
3.0-2.2 mya
Large molars
Fast maturation
garhi
Awash Valley –
Ethiopia
2.5 mya
Malapa, South Africa
1.95-1.78 mya
Pneumatized basil cranium
(P), small endocranial
volume (P) bipedal
adaptation, sub-nasal
prognathism3
Fewer airpockets in skull
(than afarensis), short face,
reduced subnasal
prognathism
Small brain, sub-nasal
prognathism, sagittal crest,
elongated femur (relative
to afarensis)
Small brain, ape-like arms,
derived pelvis
Large molars w/thick enamel
(H), u-shaped dental
arcade(P)
V-shaped dental arcade,
intermediate 3rd premolar
morphology, “modest”
diastema4
Ardipithecus
ramidus
sediba
1
Location
Broad base at back of skull
H=hominid (derived) trait P=pongid (ancestral) trait
3
Prognathic face
4
Gap between teeth
2
Broader canines & larger
molars than afarensis &
africanus
Small teeth
Full biped; likely descended
from africanus; relationship to
Homo unclear!?
Genus/Species
Location
MYA/KYA
Skull shape, bones,
foramen magnum
Teeth
Habitat/Other
Human-like skulls and
teeth but retain small
brains
Larger brains but retain
robust skulls and teeth
Mixture of derived &
ancestral traits
Anthros divided on whether the
same or not
Post-crania & development
similar to Australopithecines
Associated with tools
Originally classified as Homo
Sagittal crest, flatter face,
forehead & shorter snout
than africanus
Small brain, bipedal
“hyper-robust”, larger
body than robust, skull
specialized for chewing
“massive” chewing apparatus
“massive” chewing apparatus
Meat important in diet?
Thick enamel, small molars
“a dizzying mosaic of features”
habilis
East Turkana – Kenya
2.0-1.6 mya
rudolfensis
East Turkana – Kenya
2.0-1.6 mya
West Turkana –
Kenya
2.5 mya
Swartkrans – S. Africa
Olduvai GorgeTanzania
1.8-1.0 mya
2.2-1.3 mya
West Turkana –
Kenya
3.5-3.2 mya
Small ear hole, small
braincase, broad flat face
Sahelanthopus
tchadensis
Toros-Menalla – Chad
7.0-6.0 mya
Relatively flat face,
massive brow ridge,
foramen magnum under
skull, small braincase 320350 cc
Homo5
floresiensis
Flores, Indonesia
95.0-13.0 kya
Paranthropus
aethiopicus
robustus
boisei
Kenyanthropus
platyops
5
Hominid Evolution
- No simple progression (ie. Not goal oriented)
- Many different (?) species with a variety of adaptations
- The importance of (intra-specific) variation
Genus/Species
MYA/KYA
Skull shape, bones,
foramen magnum
East & South Africa
1.8-1.1 mya
erectus
Java & China
1.8 mya-30 kya
Larger braincase-800cc,
supraorbital torus or
browridges -“eye bar”,
zygomatic arch, long
skeletons, rounded skull,
short face,
Thicker skull, more
pronounced browridges,
sides of skull more sloped,
more pronounced occipital
torus, sagittal keel,
heidelbergensis
neandertalensis
Africa & W. Eurasia
W. Eurasia
90-130 kya
127-30 kya
sapiens
Global distribution
200-150 kya
Eastern Eurasia
Late
Pleistocene –
300-50 kya
Late
Pleistocene –
< 150 kya
Homo
ergaster
Location
Teeth
Habitat/Other
Associated w/ Oldowan (Mode
1) tools, first “migrant” out of
Africa ~1.7 mya, combination
of ancestral and derived traits
Only associated with Oldowan
tools, Mode 1
“archaic”
Large browridge, short,
muscular bodies, low
foreheads, large brains1600cc, more rounded
crania, big faces,
Small face w/ protruding
chin, rounded skull, high
forehead, less robust
postcranial skeleton
Small back teeth & large,
heavily worn front teeth
High population densities,
longer life spans, less evidence
of disease
Premodern/
”archaic” humans
Western Eurasia
African hominids
Late
Pleistocene –
Large brains case~1300cc
Rounded skulls, BUT
massive browridges
Mix of derived & primitive
features, “bulging”
features, double-arched
browridges, rounded
basilcrania
Robust features like H.
heidelbergensis, large
H. erectus & H. heidelbergensis
H. heidelbergensis &
neandertal
Distinct from neandertals
Tools
Oldowan Tools
Acheulean Tools
Mode I
Mode II
Levallois Tools
Mode III
Upper Paleolithic
Mode IV
300-200 kya
cranial volumns (13701510cc)
2.5-1.5 mya
1.6/1.5 mya300 kya
Beginning 300
kya
Earliest ~45
kya in Near
East
Simple cores and flakes
Bi-face
choppers, hammers, scrapers
Hand axes, cleavers, picks
First appearance of stone tools
Standardization of design
Prepare a core with one
convex surface
Highly variable in time and
space
Make a striking platform at
one end
Blade tools, many distinct,
standardized tool types
Knock off flake by hitting the
platform
Earliest evidence of modern
culture