Lecture 22

Genus Homo
Early Homo: 2.0 – 1.4 mya
1
Early Transitional Humans
•  Family Hominidae (humans,
chimps, bonobos)
•  Tribe Hominini (Hominina):
humans
•  Genus: Australopithecus
•  Genus: Homo
•  Modern people: Homo
sapiens
Habitual bipeds
2
Homo habilis/rudolfensis
Homo rudolfensis
(2.4 - 1.9 mya)
Homo habilis (2.0 - 1.5 mya)
3
1
Climate Change: 2.5 MYA
4
Olduvai Hominids 7 & 23
–  Louis and Mary
Leakey, 1960,
OH7
–  Homo habilis
( handy or
skilled human )
–  stone tools
OH7
OH 23 Twiggy
5
East Lake Turkana (Rudolf)
Koobi Fora: ER1470, ER1813,
ER1590: Homo rudolfensis
ER1813
ER1470
6
2
Other early Homo
•  Omo, Ethiopia
•  Sterkfontein: STW 53
•  Swartkrans: SK
80/846/847
STW 53 Homo
habilis?
7
Early Humans & Australopithecines
Sts5
Early Homo
Late gracile australopithecine
8
Homo habilis cranial capacity:
650 cc (500-800 cc)
9
3
Teeth
OH07
OH65
10
Body Size
11
Koobi Fora, Lake Turkana, Kenya
ER1470
1.8- 1.6 mya
12
4
Bipedalism
13
A. boisei and Modern Human
14
Early Hominins and Their Immediate Ancestors
SPECIES
pre-hominin
apes or
ape-hominin
transitional
species
Sahelanthropus tchadensis
Orrorin tugenensis
Ardipithecus ramidus
gracile
species
early
hominins
7-6?
6.0
5.8 - 4.4
Australopithecus anamensis
4.2 - 3.9
Australopithecus afarensis
4.0 - 2.9
Kenyanthropus platyops
3.5 - 3.2
Australopithecus bahrelghazalia
3.4 - 3.0
Australopithecus africanus
3.3 - 2.3
Australopithecus garhi
Australopithecus aethiopicus
robust
species
TIME RANGE
(millions of years ago)
Australopithecus robustus
Australopithecus boisei
2.5
2.5
2.0 ? - 1.5
2.0 - 1.2
15
5
Early Australopithecine Species
•  Australopithecus
anamensis
•  4.2- 3.9 MYA, East
Africa
Australopithecus anamensis
16
Australopithecus afarensis
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
4.0 – 2.9 MYA
East Africa
Hadar,Ethiopia
Laetoli, Tanzania
Lucy”
Kenyanthropus
platyops ?
A. bahrelghazali ?
17
Australopithecus africanus
•  3.3 – 2.3 MYA
•  East & South Africa
18
6
Australopithecus gahri
•  2.5 MYA
•  East & South Africa
19
Early & Late Australopithecines
•  Gracile
•  Robust
20
Australopithecus aethiopicus
•  2.5 MYA
•  East Africa
21
7
A. robustus
•  South Africa
•  2.0 – 1.5
MYA
22
A. boisei
23
John Robinson s Dietary
Hypothesis
Gracile
Robust
4 - 4.5 ft. (60 lbs)
4.5 - 5 feet (100 lbs)
smaller c.c. 442 cc
larger c.c. 530 cc
more rounded braincase w/
more vertical forehead
flatter vault and flattened
forehead
dish-shaped lightly built
faces
sagittal crest (larger
temporalis)
comparatively larger front
teeth
larger back teeth (extreme
crowding of ant. teeth rel. to
front teeth
smaller jaws
larger jaws
24
8
Body Size
Australopithecus afarensis (right); chimpanzee
(left); modern human (center).
25
Ardipithecus ramidus
•  Tim White
•  1992
•  Middle Awash,N.
Ethiopia
26
Phylogenetic Interpretations/Timeline
Ardipithecus ramidus
•  Most inhabiting arboreal habitats
•  Diets of the large-tooth hominins: tough
fibrous foods/roots
•  Little evidence for increased body or
brain size
•  Accelerated growth
•  Small bipedal creatures
27
9
Change in Environment 2.5 mya
Serengeti, Tanzania ( Photo: Pietrusewsky, 2011)
28
Early Human Culture
Stone tools
New Subsistence
Occupation of new
environments
29
Stone Tool Technology
•  2.5 million years ago
•  stone cobbles
•  Gona River Region
of Ethiopia
•  stone flakes
30
10
Oldowan Tools
1 - 1.5 mya
Stone cobbles and stone flakes
31
Osteodontokeratic Tradition
bone/tooth/horn
•  Raymond Dart
•  Acheulian (H. erectus)
32
Hunting or Scavenging?
33
11
Home Bases?
34
12