the way we move/ walk

For Hominids= acquiring and transporting food

creatures that walk on 2 feet (excluding birds, dinosaurs, macropods, etc)

= hominids

ancient and modern apes

and

hominins (including modern humans)

tree living

(climbers, leapers, brachiators)

Chewing Food

(important Hominid trait)

Short, Wide Ilium (pelvis)

Long Femur

Pan: Towards the back of skull

Human: Center of skull

round heels

double-arches

heel to toe (longitudinal) + medial to outside (transverse)

nondivergent big toes

(non-opposable/grasping)

nonhoning

 emphasis on crushing foods

(no sagittal crest)

Hominds + Orangutan= Thick (for seeds and nuts)

Pongids = Thin (for plants and soft fruit)

 not original, but stemming from mutation or adaptation

7-6 mya, Chad (N.Central Africa)

Sagittal crest
Small braincase
Massive brow ridges

Primitive Traits

6 mya, Kenya

femurs indicate bipedalism

mid-sagittal crest

arboreal

5.8 mya and 4.5 mya, Aramis, Ethiopia

only hominids with thin enamel

curved foot phalanges = arboreal

but also

femur and pelvic traits = bipedalism

Habitual bipeds

Relatively long arms Relatively short legs

Sagittal crests, Small brain

4.2-3.9 mya, Lake Turkana Kenya

ape-like 'u-shaped' tooth rows

mixed ape and human anatomy

bipedal

short legs = inefficient locomotion

3.6 - 3 mya, E. Africa (possibly S. as well)

arboreal upper body

no tool evidence

variable morphology in different environments

famous for Laetoli footprints

2 famous Australopithecus afarensis

3.18 mya, Ethiopia, 27kg + 1m tall

and

3 year old, gorilla like scapula,

ape-like hyoid (no speech)

A. africanus : 3 - 2mya (S. Africa)

A. bahrelghazalia : 3.5 - 3mya  (C.Africa)

both similar to A. afarensis

A. aethiopicus : 2.5mya (Ethiopia)

A. boisei : 2.2 - 1.3mya (E. Africa)

A.robustus : 1.8 - 1mya (S. Africa)

2.5mya Ethiopia

possible tool use

possible ancestral homo sapiens

Sarich and Wilson, Molecular clock: 4.5mya

Morris Goodman, genetic analysis: 6mya

phylogenetic tree

'dendritic' tree like descent

not linear:

multiple species coexisted

Larger Brains, Smaller Canines, Bipedalism

effect and effected by

Tool Use

Hands free to:

• carry food, harvest from trees
• hold food in trees or on ground
• use tools

quadrupedalism not efficient in patchy forest

Owen Lovejoy's

Provisioning Hypothesis

free hands allows males to help females gather food

better nutrition = more frequent babies

more babies with learned disposition to share and provision?

monogamous fathers

male:male cooperation = low sexual dimorphism

• visual surveillance (standing over grass)
• thermoregulation at midday
• hands-free tool carrying
• hands-free food carrying
• efficient travel between resources

(likely a mix of these)

true or false:

rapid/sudden/early brain growth is an early hominid trait

false

(brain growth in hominids)

foramen magnum directly beneath skull

short pelvis form front to back

long legs

double-arched foot

nonopposable big toe

blunt, nonprojecting canine

small canine relative to other teeth

no diastema (gap between teeth)

wear on tips of canines and third premolars

lower third premolar cusps are equal size

stone tool culture (inlcluding chopper tools)

associated with H. habilis and A. garhi

exposure of ancient soil levels

chronometrically datable materials and levels

relatively datable materials through stratigraphy