Title: Homo Erectus
1Homo Erectus
(Homo Erectus Telemarketus)
2Who is Homo erectus and what makes this primate
unique?
- Homo erectus was the first hominid species to be
found in different places around the world - Recent re-dating of Homo erectus has suggested
that Homo erectus in Java was there 1.8 million
years ago - The Homo erectus skull was long, low and thickly
walled with a prominent brow. - Homo erectus also had a prominent projecting nose
in addition to thrusting upper and lower jaws.
3When were homo erectus fossils discovered?
- In 1891 a Dutch man Eugene Dubois was digging in
Java and found erect ape man - Dubois found a cranium and a thigh-bone, the
fragments were considered for a long time part
for two separate animals - G.H. R von Koenigswalds find in the 1930s in
Java confirmed Dubois theory and extended our
knowledge of H. Erectus.
Dubois (1850- 1940)
G. H. R. von Koenigswald (1902- 1982)
4The Physical Characteristics of Homo Erectus
- Homo Erectus was the first hominid to have third
molars that were smaller than the second or first
molars, as in modern humans. - However, the molars also had an enlarged pulp
cavity, called taurodontism, which may have
allowed teeth to withstand harder use and wear
than modern human teeth.
5Evolution of Homo Erectus
In the Early Pleistocene, 1.51 MYA, in Africa,
Asia, and Europe, presumably, Homo habilis
evolved larger brains and made more elaborate
stone tools these differences and others are
sufficient for anthropologists to classify them
as a new species, H. erectus. In addition H.
erectus was the first human ancestor to walk
truly upright. This was made possible by the
evolution of locking knees and a different
location of the foramen magnum (the hole in the
skull where the spine enters). They may have used
fire to cook their meat. A famous example of Homo
erectus is Peking Man others were found in Asia
(notably in Indonesia), Africa, and Europe.
6Progression of the Species
7Research Frontiers Homo Erectus, One or More
Species?
Many paleoanthropologists are now using the term
Homo ergaster for the non-Asian forms of this
group, and reserving H. erectus only for those
fossils found in the Asian region and meeting
certain skeletal and dental requirements which
differ slightly from ergaster.