Homo Timeline

Elizabeth MillerJacqueline Foulke

Period 4

Homo habilis• Short• Disproportionately short

arms• Slightly less than half the

amount of cranial capacity as modern day humans

• “Handy-Man”• Lived 2.3-1.4 years ago• Travel; Oldowan tools were

found that made the scavenger lifestyle easier

Homo rudolfensis• Larger brain case • Longer face• Larger molar and premolar

teeth than Homo habilis• Didn't have quite as heavy of a

jaw - strong jaw attachments seen in robust early humans

• Lived 1.9 million years ago• “KNM-ER 1470”• Travel; May have used stone

tools

Homo ergaster

• “Workman”• Showed periodontal

disease• Broader nasal bones• 1.9-1.4 million years

ago• Travel; Found for the

most part in Africa

Homo georgicus• “Dimanisi man”• Small brain • Travel was accomplished by

using assemblage of stone tools and their ability to control fire

• Lived 1.8 million years ago• Travel; May have been the

first species of homo to settle in Europe

Homo erectus• Between about 1.89 million and

70,000 years ago• Possessed modern human-like

body proportions• Travel; Created large cutting

tools like axes and cleavers allowed them to adapt and travel

• Possessed climbing adaptations, with the ability to walk and possibly run long distances

• “Upright man”

Homo cepranensis• “Ceprano Man”• Between 300,000 and

500,000 years ago• Cranial features in between

that of the Homo eructus and Homo heidelbergensis

• Travel;This species originated in Eurasia

• Has a massive shelf-like brow ridge

Homo antecessor• Has a marked double-

arched browridge• Travel; It is the earliest

dated hominid-bearing site in Europe proper

• The remains have been securely dated at over 780 kyr

• Reduced mandibular corpus thickness when compared to ergaster or early erectus

Homo heidelbergensis

• Between 600,000 and 400,000 years ago

• More advanced tools and behavior

• Larger brain case• More muscular than

modern humans• Travel; Evidence of

hunting• “Heidelberg Man”

Homo rhodesiensis• Between 300,000 and

125,000 years ago• “Rhodesian man”• Travel; Tools became more

efficient possibly because of the rhodesiensis

• Undirect cranial capacity estimate is 1100 ml

• Has supratoral sculus morphology and presence of protuberance

Homo neanderthalensis• Neanderthals show a very

distinctive craniofacial morphology relative to modern human populations

• “Neanderthal”• About 200,000 - 28,000 years

ago• Large middle part of the face,

angled cheek bones, and a huge nose

• Travel; Bodies adapted to living in cold environments

Homo sapiens• Highly developed brain• “Modern Humans”• About 200,000 years ago to

present • Travel; When first came about,

they gathered and hunted food, and evolved behaviors that helped them respond to the challenges of survival in unstable environments

• Our jaws are less heavily developed, with smaller teeth

Reflections on Evolution

We believe that humans evolved from prehistoric humans but not from monkeys, apes, chimpanzees, or gorillas. We believe this because the fact that we have one less chromosome that scientists say combined together over time doesn’t mean that we are the same. Also the fact that the monkey/human skulls could’ve just been another species, not necessarily a transition species.

Human Evolution Evidence From Apes

• Clear improvement of tools shown over a long period of time through improvement from ape to human

• Gain of knowledge (fire, hunting, utilize food) shown throughout the homo species over time

• Gain of language • Population growth leading to natural selection• Discovering and experimenting with new land

Ways Humans are still Evolving

• Shrinking brains over the past five thousand years, shrunk ten percent

• Lactose intolerance-began about 7,500 years ago

• Evolution may be accelerating• Hundreds of our genes have changed over the

past ten thousand years of human evolution• Slowly evolving a defense against malaria