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