According to the theory of plate tectonics, the continents
embedded in underlying plates on the earths surface have moved in
relation to one another over the history of life on earth. They are
still moving today.
Slide 3
Climate changes led to the appearance of primates about 65
million years ago. These were small, arboreal, nocturnal, insect
eaters. About 23 million years ago, hominoids, the primates that
include all living and extinct apes and humans began to appear in
Asia, Africa, and Europe. DNA studies have confirmed that the
African apes are our closest living relatives. Bipedalism preceded
brain expansion and played a pivotal role in setting us apart from
the apes.
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Slide 5
In the past 35 years, studies have confirmed that the African
apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas) are our closest living
relatives. Between 8 and 5 million years ago, humans, chimpanzees,
and gorillas began to follow separate evolutionary courses. Humans
and their ancestors are distinct among hominoids for bipedalism, a
form of locomotion on two feet.
Slide 6
Dated to 4.4 million years ago. The remains show that some of
the earliest bipeds inhabited a forested environment.
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Position of foramen magnum
Slide 8
Shape of spine Shape of pelvis
Slide 9
The genus including several species of early bipeds from
southern and eastern Africa living between about 4.3 and 1.1
million years ago, one of whom was directly ancestral to
humans.
Slide 10
Known for the rugged nature of their chewing apparatus (large
back teeth, large chewing muscles, and bony ridge on their skull
tops for the insertion of these large muscles).
Slide 11
Members of the genus Australopithecus possessing a more lightly
built chewing apparatus. Likely had a diet that included more meat
than that of the robust australopithecines.
Slide 12
Handy human. The first fossil members of the genus Homo
appearing 2.5 million years ago, with larger brains and smaller
faces than australopithecines. May have been a tertiary
scavenger.
Slide 13
The first stone tool industry. Marked the start of the Lower
Paleolithic (or Old Stone Age) beginning about 2.6 million years
ago.
Slide 14
Upright human. A species within the genus Homo first appearing
just after 2 million years ago in Africa and spreading through the
Old World. Had a brain close in size to that of modern humans. Had
sophisticated behaviors including use of fire for warmth, cooking,
and protection. Made smaller and lighter tools.
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Slide 16
Between 400,000 and 200,000 years ago, evolving humans achieved
the brain capacity of contemporary Homo sapiens. Several variations
of the genus Homo existed around this time, and they are ancestral
to both Neandertals in Europe and the Middle East, and Modern
Humans.
Slide 17
A distinct group within the genus Homo inhabiting Europe and
Southwest Asia from approximately 125,000 to 30,000 years ago.
Represented as the classic cavemen. They had modern-sized brains
with faces and skulls that were very different from later
fossilized remains. Associated with the Mousterian tool
industry.
Slide 18
The use of fire was essential to their survival in cold
climates. They lived in small bands or single family units, in the
open and in caves. They likely used language to communicate. They
buried their dead, reflecting ritual behavior. Fossil remains of an
amputee discovered in Iraq and an arthritic man excavated in France
imply they cared for the disabled.
Slide 19
The tool industry of the Neandertals and their contemporaries
of Europe, Southwest Asia, and northern Africa from 125,000 to
40,000 years ago. Mousterian tools are lighter and smaller than
those of earlier traditions. Previous industries obtained only two
or three flakes from an entire stone core, Mousterian toolmakers
obtained many smaller flakes, which they retouched and
sharpened.
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The last part (40,000 to 10,000 years ago) of the Old Stone
Age, featuring tool industries characterized by long slim blades
and an explosion of creative symbolic forms.
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Evidence indicates that at least one population of archaic H.
sapiens evolved into modern humans. Whether this was due to the
biological evolution of a new species or a simultaneous worldwide
process involving all archaic forms is debated.
Slide 24
The hypothesis that modern humans originated through a process
of simultaneous local transition from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens
throughout the inhabited world.
Slide 25
The hypothesis that all modern people are derived from a single
population of archaic H. sapiens from Africa. These H. sapiens
replaced other archaic forms due to superior cultural capabilities.
Also called the Eve or Out of Africa hypothesis.