Primate Order
Anamalia, Vertebrata, Chordata,
Mammalia
Primate Classification
Primates – monkeys, lemurs,
gorillas, chimps, humans, etc.
Primates cont.
Family Hominoidea (hominid)– great apes (gorilla,
orangutans, chimps & bonobos), humans (living
and extinct)
Hominins – chimps, bonobos, and humans (living
and extinct)
Genus Homo – the humans
Primates
hair or fur
warm-blooded
live young
suckle
infant dependence
social life
play
observation and imitation
pecking order
Common Primate Traits
Primate Family Tree
Orangutan
Crown lemur
Ardipithecus genus
1st homonims?
Africa (Ethiopia)
6 mya – 4 mya
teeth more similar to hominins
than chimps
probably not bipedal
lived in woodlands and grasslands
Australopithecus genus
4 mya – 2 mya
throughout E Africa
ate fruits, vegetables & tubers
small brain but likely bipedal
not tool users
evolved into Homo habilis
Hominin Evolution
Homo habilis
(1.9-70kyBP)
H. neanderthalensis
(300-
30kyBP)
H. sapiens
(200kyBP – present)
~ 20 different homo species
Scale: Millions of Years BP
H. erectus
(2.0 – 1.6mya)
Hominid Evolution
Homo habilis: 2.3-1.6 mya
first humans
In Africa
toolmaker
probable meat-eater
possibly arboreal (woodlands)
no speech
Artist’s representation of a Homo
habilis band as it might have
existed two million years ago.
Homo erectus 1.8 mya to 70 000 yrs BP
evolved in Africa and migrated to Asia
bigger brains
more complex tools
walked completely upright
lived in small groups (bands)
fire
cooked meat
used furs
language unlikely
may have made sounds
possibly wiped out by Toba
supereruption? (~ 70 000 yrs BP in
Indonesia)
Homo neandertalensis
300 000 – 30 000 yrs BP
Europe
massive brains (as large or
larger than ours)
large torso, short limbs, broad
nasal passages
carnivores, adapted to cold
climates
co-existed with homo sapiens
DNA testing shows human DNA
contains 4-5% Neandertal DNA
Homo sapiens
Archaic – 200,000 to
35,000 years BP
Homo sapiens
Modern – 35,000
years BP to present
Anatomically modern
Homo sapiens
sapiens
Modern Homo Sapiens
Multiregional Model
Humans evolved more or less simultaneously across the entire Old
World from several ancestral populations.
Rapid-Replacement Model (Out of Africa)
Humans evolved only once--in Africa --and then migrated throughout
the Europe and Asia, replacing their ancestors
mDNA evidence supports this
Out of Africa
JOURNEY OF MANKIND - The Peopling
of the World
The Real Eve DVD