Title: Human Evolution
1Human Evolution
2Overview
- Evolution of Primates
- Evolution of Hominids
- Focus on Homo
- Human Variation
- Humans as a selective agent
3Early Primates
- Prosimians (58mya)
- Monkeys (35mya)
- Apes (23mya)
- Hominids (6mya)
4First Arboreal Mammals
- The first arboreal mammals probably resembled
shrews - long snouts.
- Good sense of smell.
- Probably nocturnal.
- Very active.
- CLAWS
5First Arboreal Mammals?
6Eosimias
- The First Primate?
- Comparison with tree shrew
7Prosimians
Lemurs
Tarsiers
Pottos
Loris
8Tarsier
9Ring tailed lemur
10Indri
11Aye aye what do they sound like? This
12Slender loris
13Primate Characteristics
- What is the major selective pressure associated
with life in the trees? - How are primates adapted to this life?
14Binocular Color Vision
15Primate Hands
16Mobile Limbs
- Most primates have flat nails as well as
sensitive pads on the undersides of fingers and
toes. - Many also have both an opposable big toe and
thumb. - Mobile limbs and clawless opposable digits allow
primates to freely grasp and release tree limbs.
17Other important features
- Upright posture.
- Small litter size.
- Expanded forebrain, larger brain capacity.
- Advantages?
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19Two main groups of primates
- 1. Prosimians lemurs, lorises, pottos
tarsiers - 2. Anthropoids monkeys, apes and man
20Prosimians
Lemurs
Tarsiers
Pottos
Loris
21ANTHROPOIDS
2. Anthropoids monkeys apes man
- Monkeys
- Old world monkeys
- New world monkeys
Old World Monkey Long snout Close
nostrils Non-prehensile tail
New World Monkey Flat face Wide
nostrils Prehensile tail
22Taxonomy
- Anthropoids Hominoids monkeys
- Hominoids Asian and African Apes Hominids
- Hominids Humans
23Proconsul- Ancestor to Hominoids?
24Proconsul
A skull of Proconsul africanus from the Kenya
National Museum.
25Selective pressures
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27Skull Comparisons
28Sahelanthropus tchadensis
- 6 to 7 million years ago
- Flat face like Homo
- Cranial capacity about the same as a chimp
- Walked upright
29Hominids
30To be Human
- standard primate characteristics
- upright, bipedal posture
- much expanded brain
- well defined sexual dimorphism
- hidden estrus
- altered female sexual response
- extended childhood
- language
- society
- culture
31Homo erectus, Australopithecus, Human
32Map of Australopithecine Finds
Map of Australopithecus sites in Africa, with a
focus on the East African rift valley and
limestone caves of South Africa.
33Lucy Australopithecus afarensis
An Example of Mosaic Evolution
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35A. boisei
A. afarensis
A. africanus
A. robustus
36Human Ancestors
37Human Evolution
38Australopithecus africanus
- 2.8 million years ago
- Cranial capacity 460 cc
39Genus Homo
40Homo habilis
Brain600cc Handy Man Olduwan tools Speech?
Artists representation of a Homo habilis band as
it might have existed two million years ago.
41Oldowan Tools
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43Homo erectus
- Upright Man
- Larger brain than H. habilis
- Migrated
- Acheulean tools
- More advanced culture?
44Homo erectus
45Homo erectus
46Trends in Skull Development
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48Neanderthals
- Neanderthal (H. neanderthalensis) skeletons were
first discovered in Germanys Neander Valley. - Skeletons date back 200,000 years.
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51Neanderthal Culture
52What happened to Neandertals?
- Coexisted w/H. sapiens for up to 60,000 years.
- Interbred?
- Killed off?
- Outcompeted?
53Neanderthal Man
54Homo floresiensis Nature, Oct. 28, 2004
55 Nature Oct 28, 2004
56Science, Nov 19, 2004
57Homo sapiens
- Archaic 100,000 to 35,000 years BP
- Sometimes called Homo sapiens and Homo sapiens
neanderthalensis - Modern 35,000 years BP to present
- Anatomically modern
- Sometimes called Homo sapiens sapiens
58Cro-Magnons
- Oldest fossils to be designated H. sapiens.
- Modern humans who entered Asia and Europe from
Africa 100,000 years ago. - Aurignacian tools.
- Accomplished hunters.
- Language.
59Cro-Magnon Man
- Cro-Magnon humans
- 1,600 cc cranial capacity
- Not a different species, just old Homo sapiens
from Europe
Artists reconstruction of a Cro-Magnon man
60Archaic H. sapiens Culture
- Art
- Female figurines
- 27,000 to 22,000 years ago
- Called venuses,
61Archaic H. sapiens Culture
62Human Variation
- Responses to the environment
- Bergmanns Rule
- Allens Rule
63New World Humans
64Sequence of Human EvolutionOne of several
possibilities
Homo sapiens