2. "Hominid" refers to members of the human
family, Hominidae, which consist of all
species from the point where the human line
splits from apes towards present day
humans.
Habitual bipedal locomotion (movement on
two legs), an upright position, and a large
brain that has lead to: tool use, language, and
culture characterize hominids.
3. Human evolution
A. History
B. Important stages in human evolution
C. Theories of human evolution
D. ‘Human Characteristics’
E. Are we still evolving?
10. Important stages in human
evolution
1. 3.2 million years ago
2. 3 million years ago
3. 2 million years ago
4. 1 million years ago
5. 200, 000 years ago
6. 150, 000 years ago
11. "Hominid" refers to members of the human
family, Hominidae, which consist of all
species from the point where the human line
splits from apes towards present day
humans.
Habitual bipedal locomotion (movement on
two legs), an upright position, and a large
brain that has lead to: tool use, language, and
culture characterize hominids.
12.
13. 3.2 mya: The southern ape of afar
• Fossil:
– “Lucy” (discovered
1974, Ethiopia)
– Australopithecus
afarensis
Male
15. Australopithecus afarensis
• Habitat: savannah and woodland
• Food: leaves, fruit, seeds, nuts, termites and
eggs, grasses (?)
• Physical characteristics:
– low forehead, flat nose, no chin
– small brain
– long dangly arms, short legs
– facultative bipedal (upright on ground but could
dangle from branches)
– sexually dimorphic
18. 3 mya: Paranthropus boisei
• Habitat: open terrain
• Food: nuts, roots and tubers
• Physical characteristics:
– enormous jaw with chewing muscles,
– large back teeth, small front teeth
– specialized as vegetarians
• Not direct human ancestors
19. 3 mya: Homo habilis-the ‘handy
man’
• Habitat: open terrain
• Food: Scavenged for meat
• Physical characteristics:
– small jaw and teeth
– shorter arms
– increase in brain size (because of
carnivorous diet and mode of feeding)
– capable of speech
24. 2 mya: Homo ergaster
• Habitat: dry -hot habitat
• Food: scavenger for meat
• Physical characteristics:
– Tall with long limbs
– Smooth and dark skin
• Temperature regulation through sweating
– Narrow pelvis (lead to narrow birth canal)
• Mothers needed support of partner and group to raise babies
27. • brain, almost human size
• stocky, human-like body (larger than Homo habilis)
• Java, China, and Africa
• use of fire
• increased but infrequent group hunting
• language
• crude shelters and some migration to colder areas
• used tools
Homo erectus
34. 200,000 ya: Neanderthal man
• Habitat: cold
• Food: hunted for meat
• Physical characteristics:
– Large face with massive ridges
– No chin
– Short stocky body (conserve heat)
– Muscular
• Language
• Social relationships important
35. What happened to the
Neanderthals?
• Extinct 28, 000 ya
• Competition from Homo sapiens?
36.
37. • 120, 000 ya
• Physical characteristics:
– Eyebrow ridge small or absent
– Prominent chin
• Tools --antler, bone, stone
• Clothing, jewelry, artwork, musical
instruments
Homo sapiens
38. Theories of human evolution
• Humans evolved in sub-Saharan
Africa and spread from there
or
• Humans evolved independently in
several places around the globe
39. Out of Africa hypothesis
• Homo sapiens evolved in a single
speciation event in Africa ~ 250, 000 ya
• Migrated to other regions, replaced
Homo erectus
40. Multi-regional hypothesis
• Local populations of Homo erectus evolved into
Homo sapiens
• Mixed genes
• Retained local characteristics
42. Races
• Original skin color- black
• Divergence from original black color to
many different colors
43. How different are the races?
• No genetic discontinuities between races
• Genetic differences between races only
10% of genetic diversity among humans
• No evidence for major biological
differences
44. Support for ‘out of Africa’ hypothesis
1. Level of diversity in maternally
inherited mitochondrial DNA of
humans from around the world
highest among Africans
45. 2. Based on genetic diversity all
non-Africans descended from a
small band of humans that left
Africa ~ 100, 000 ya
Support for ‘out of Africa’ hypothesis
46. 3. The Y-chromosome too shows
no sign of any non-African DNA
Support for ‘out of Africa’ hypothesis
47. • Australia --- ~60,000 ya
• Europe --- ~70,000 ya
• Near East --- ~90,000 ya
• Africa --- ~130, 000 ya
Human migration
48. Who were the first
Americans?
• 13,000 ya
• Crossed Bering Strait
50. Bipedalism
• When?
– Before Australopithecines
• Advantages:
– Freed hands to carry objects
– See predators better in grasslands
– Access to foods not previously available
– Carry children
– Protection from sun in grasslands
52. Evolution of big brain
• Meat eating from Homo habilis onwards
– Did not require large intestines
– Energy freed up for other organs including
brain
or
• Cooked tuber eating in Homo erectus
– Hunter-gatherers rely less on meat than
tubers
– Reliance on scavenged meat is difficult.
53. Tool making
• Homo habilis onwards
• Tool-making was considered a
‘human trait’
– Discovery of tool-making in
chimpanzees
– Tool making in Australopithecines?
54. Homo sapiens survived extinction in late
Pleistocene
– ‘bottlenecks’ (drastic reduction in
population size )
– cultural explosion
– Societies became co-operative (‘troop-to-
tribe transition’)
Social relationships, art, and culture
