THE EVOLUTION OF GENUS HOMO

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THE EVOLUTION OF GENUS HOMO
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6 SPECIES OF HOMO

• 1. HOMO habilis
• 1. 2.3-1.5 mya
• 2. East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia)
  southern Africa
• 3. Increased brain size (680-800ml)
• 4. Stone tools

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EXAMPLE Homo habilis at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
Skeletal remains discovered at Olduvai Gorge in
1986 by Don Johanson revealed limb sizes and
proportions nearly identical to australopithecines
Brain size face showed advances towards more
human-like form
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6 SPECIES OF HOMO

• 2. Homo ergaster
• 1. 1.8-1.6 mya
• 2. Lake Turkana, Kenya
• 3. Increased Brain Size (800-880 ml)
• 4. Thinner Skull with smaller facial bones (than
  Homo erectus)

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EXAMPLE Turkana Boy Skeleton

• 90 of skeleton of adolescent male found west of
  Lake Turkana in the mid 1980s
• 1.6 mya, very modern skeleton, similar to that of
  fully modern human

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6 SPECIES OF HOMO

• 3. Homo Erectus
• 1. 1.8 mya 33,000 ya
• 2. Africa, then Russia, China, Java, Italy, etc.
  (p. 270-71)
• 3. 50 increased brain size (900-1600 ml)
• 4. Fire, clothing, shelters, cooking

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Homo erectus Facial Morphology
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EXAMPLE Peking Man Reconstruction
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6 SPECIES OF HOMO

• 4. Homo antecessor
• 1. 780,000 ya
• 2. Gran Dolina, Spain (oldest fossil humans in
  EU!)
• 3. Increased Brain Size (1000 ml)
• 4. Direct ancestor of H. heidelbergensis H.
  neanderthalensis (?)

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EXAMPLE Homo antecessor

• Mixture of "archaic" and "modern" traits, with
  especially modern-looking mid-face
• Other features are not unique could be
  considered a form of European H. erectus

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6 SPECIES OF HOMO

• 5. Homo heidelbergensis
• 1. 130,000 ya 700,000 ya
• 2. Germany, China, Ethiopia, Greece, Hungary,
  Zambia, etc. (p.289)
• 3. Increased Brain Size (1000-1400 ml)
• 4. Prepared Core tools, wooden spears, dealt
  with changing environments

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EXAMPLE The Steinheim Cranium
The Steinheim specimen excavated in the 1930s
from Germany 1st archaic cranium discovered in
Europe
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Archaic Homo sapiens

• Hominids with larger brains more modern cranial
  features than classic H. erectus
• Recently divided into Homo antecessor
  heidelbergensis
• Taxonomy is problematic some fossils could be H.
  erectus, others could be direct ancestors of
  later Neanderthals or pre-modern forms of H.
  sapiens

AFRICAN ARCHAICS
Kabwe, Zambia
Bodo, Ethiopia
EUROPEAN ARCHAICS
Arago, France
Petroloma, Greece
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6 SPECIES OF HOMO

• 6. Homo neanderthalensis
• 1. 28,000 ya 225,000 ya
• 2. Belgium, Croatia, Germany, France, Iraq,
  Israel, Italy (p.297)
• 3. Increased Brain Size (1200-1700 ml)
• 4. Retouched flakes (tool use), big game
  hunters, buried dead, cave art, early language?,
  compassion

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EXAMPLE Original Neanderthal Skullcap
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Neanderthal Features
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Neanderthal Adaptations
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Modern Human Regional Variation
African
European-SW Asian
East Asian
Australian
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Recent Research Mungo Man

• Part of mDNA extracted recently from bones of a
  60,000 year old modern Homo sapiens skeleton
  found in 1974 on the shores of Lake Mungo in
  Australia
• Oldest DNA extracted from a human so far!
• Comparison of this DNA with that of 9 other
  ancient Australian skeletons, 2 Neandertals, and
  3,453 contemporary people from around the world
  indicates "Mungo Man" had a unique genetic
  marker
• Indicates that a now lost genetic line of modern
  Homo sapiens existed in Australia BEFORE arrival
  of later Australian Aborigines
• This evidence provides significant support for
  rejecting the "out of Africa" complete
  replacement model of modern Homo sapiens evolution

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