ANTHR 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Orrorin, Sahelanthropus, Foramen Magnum
Document Summary
Earliest hominins: pre-australopiths (6+ - 4. 4 mya, australopiths (4. 2 - 1. 2 mya, early homo (2+ - 1. 4 mya) Bipedal: found a femur, top looks more rounded and ball like, suggests it walked on two feet. Not considered a missing link, believed to be first one after the spit. Ardipithecus ramidus: 4. 4 ma in ethiopia, complete but fragmented skeleton, suggested to be bipedal and has a diverging big toe, chimp-like teeth characteristics, lived in woody environment, australopithecines. Features: found in pliocene (4. 3-1. 1 ma, small bipeds, large jaws and teeth, scavengers and gatherers, gracile and robust australopithecine, australopithecus anamensis. Obligate biped/climber: most efficient locomotion was on two feet, australopithecus afarensis (lucy) Bipedal but has long fingers, probably spent time in trees. Dental arcade intermediate between apes and modern humans. Represents an evolutionary bridge linking major patterns of early hominin evolution. Potentially the ancestor of all later hominins. Tool user cut marks on the bones.
