THE EVOLUTION OF GENUS HOMO

6 SPECIES OF HOMO

1. HOMO habilis1. 2.3-1.5 mya

2. East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia) & southern Africa

3. Increased brain size (680-800ml)

4. Stone tools

EXAMPLE: Homo habilis at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

Brain size & face showed advances towards more human-like form

Skeletal remains discovered at Olduvai Gorge in 1986 by Don Johanson revealed limb sizes and proportions nearly identical to australopithecines

6 SPECIES OF HOMO

2. Homo ergaster1. 1.8-1.6 mya

2. Lake Turkana, Kenya

3. Increased Brain Size (800-880 ml)

4. Thinner Skull with smaller facial bones (than Homo erectus)

EXAMPLE: Turkana Boy Skeleton

• 90% of skeleton of adolescent male found west of Lake Turkana in the mid 1980s

•1.6 mya, very modern skeleton, similar to that of fully modern human

6 SPECIES OF HOMO

3. Homo Erectus1. 1.8 mya – 33,000 ya

2. Africa, then Russia, China, Java, Italy, etc. (p. 270-71)

3. 50% increased brain size (900-1600 ml)

4. Fire, clothing, shelters, cooking

Homo erectus Facial Morphology

EXAMPLE: Peking Man Reconstruction

6 SPECIES OF HOMO

4. Homo antecessor1. 780,000 ya

2. Gran Dolina, Spain (oldest fossil humans in EU!)

3. Increased Brain Size (1000 ml)

4. Direct ancestor of H. heidelbergensis & H. neanderthalensis (?)

EXAMPLE: Homo antecessor

• Mixture of "archaic" and "modern" traits, with especially modern-looking mid-face

• Other features are not unique & could be considered a form of European H. erectus

6 SPECIES OF HOMO

5. Homo heidelbergensis1. 130,000 ya – 700,000 ya

2. Germany, China, Ethiopia, Greece, Hungary, Zambia, etc. (p.289)

3. Increased Brain Size (1000-1400 ml)

4. “Prepared Core” tools, wooden spears, dealt with changing environments

EXAMPLE: The Steinheim Cranium

The Steinheim specimen excavated in the 1930s from Germany

1st archaic cranium discovered in Europe

Archaic Homo sapiens

• Hominids with larger brains & more modern cranial features than classic H. erectus

• Recently divided into Homo antecessor & heidelbergensis

• Taxonomy is problematic: some fossils could be H. erectus, others could be direct ancestors of later Neanderthals or pre-modern forms of H. sapiens

AFRICAN ARCHAICS

EUROPEAN ARCHAICS

Kabwe, Zambia Bodo, Ethiopia

Arago, France Petroloma, Greece

6 SPECIES OF HOMO6. Homo neanderthalensis

1. 28,000 ya – 225,000 ya

2. Belgium, Croatia, Germany, France, Iraq, Israel, Italy (p.297)

3. Increased Brain Size (1200-1700 ml)

4. “Retouched flakes” (tool use), big game hunters, buried dead, cave art, early language?, compassion

EXAMPLE: Original Neanderthal Skullcap

Neanderthal Features

Neanderthal Adaptations

African European-SW Asian East Asian Australian

Modern Human Regional Variation

• Part of mDNA extracted recently from bones of a 60,000 year old modern Homo sapiens skeleton found in 1974 on the shores of Lake Mungo in Australia

• Oldest DNA extracted from a human so far!

• Comparison of this DNA with that of 9 other ancient Australian skeletons, 2 Neandertals, and 3,453 contemporary people from around the world indicates: "Mungo Man" had a unique genetic marker

• Indicates that a now lost genetic line of modern Homo sapiens existed in Australia BEFORE arrival of later Australian Aborigines

• This evidence provides significant support for rejecting the "out of Africa" complete replacement model of modern Homo sapiens evolution

Recent Research: “Mungo Man”