ANTHROP 2E03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Hominidae, Taung Child, Australopithecus
13 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
March&21&lecture&
African&great&apes&and&hominids:&
Pelvis&broadens&over&time
•
Complexity&of&hands&increases&
•
Mouth/teeth/jaw&widens&
•
Raymond&dart&and&Australopithecus&africanus:&
South&Africa,&1924&
•
Discovered&the&"taung&child"&
Named&the&Australopithecus&africanus&
○
•
Had&all&its&baby&teeth&and&adult&molars
•
Looked&like&a&human&child&but¬&fully&
Larger&molars
○
•
Experts&thought&dart&had&misidentified&an&extinct&ape&
Because&baby&apes&have&really&short&faces&
○
•
South&African&Australopithecus:&
Named&for&massive&cheek&teeth
•
Robust&mandible
•
Massive&wade&and&flat&cheek&bones&
•
Heavier&musculature&indicative&of&tougher&diet,&heavy&chewing&
•
Australopithecus&robustus:&
Discovered&by&Leaky&
•
Australopithecus&aethiopicus:&
West&Turkana,&2.5mya&
•
Anatomy&shows&a&unique&combination&of&primitive&and&derived&traits&
Small&brain
○
Prognathic&face
○
Flat&cranial&base
○
Huge&back&teeth
○
Huge&chewing&muscles&
○
Very&large&face&
○
•
Donald&Johanson&and&Australopithecus&afarensis:&
Ethiopia&1970's&•
Discovered&by&donald&•
"first&family"&and&"lucy"&•
Dated&to&3.2&mya&oldest&evidence&of&bipedality&•
Lucy&-Australopithecus&afarensis:&
40%&of&a&completed&skeleton&•
Included&pelvis,&humerus,&tibia•
Bowl-shaped&pelvis,&"knock-kneed"•
Australopithecus&afarensis:&
Fossilized&footprinted&of&2-3&individuals•
More&primitive&but&fit&human&pattern•
Ape-like&limb&proportions&
Long&arms,&short&legs,&scapula
○
•
Zeresenay&Alemseged:&
Australopithecus&anamensis:&
1995,&Kenya•
Oldest&evidence&of&bipedalism&•
Hominid&evolutionary&hypotheses:
Linear&(Anagenetic)&
Hominid&evolution&depicted&by&change&within&lineages&
○
Results&in&lumping&of&fossils&into&a&small&number&of&taxa&
○
•
Branching&(cladogenetic)&
Hominid&evolution&depicted&by&a&number&of&branching&events&
○
Result&of&splitting&fossils&into&a&large&number&of&taxa&
○
•
The&first&hominids?&
Analysis&complicated&by&fragmentary&nature•
Fossils&separated&geographically&and&temporally•
Conflicting&signals&from&evidence&•
No&direct&evidence&of&bipedalism&•
Earliest&hominin?&
Ardi&-Ardipithecus&ramidus
Discovered&in&1995,&Ethiopia•
"ardi"&most&complete&early&hominid&skeleton&
Very&fragmentary&
○
•
Bipedal&attributes&
Shorted&ilium
○
Foot&morphology&
○
•
Bipedalism:&
No&evidence&of&knuckle-walking&in&Ardi•
Australopithecines:&
Diet•
Possible&evidence&of&tool&use•
Cut&marks&on&bone&•
What&did&they&use&them&for?&
Meat-marrow&exploitation?&
○
Hunting&or&scavenging?&
○
•
Social
Dimorphic&in&body&size
○
Reduced&canine&dimorphism
○
Males&less&competitive&
○
•
African(great(apes(and(hominids:(
Tuesday,& April&10,&2018
6:16&PM
