Transcript Nature of Humanity - Susquehanna University

The Last Ape Standing
It is therefore probable that Africa was formerly
inhabited by extinct apes closely allied to the gorilla
and chimpanzee: and as these two species are now
man’s nearest allies, it is somewhat more probable
that our early progenitors lived on the African
continent than elsewhere.
-Darwin (1871) The Descent of Man
Mt-DNA Primate Tree
Our Living Sisters
Pan
Gorilla
http://www.mnh.si.edu/anthro/humanorigins/ha/a_tree.html
Living Asian Apes
Gibbon (Hyalobates)
Orangutan (Pongo)
Apes in the Primates
Features that distinguish the
Hominins from other living apes
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Bipedal Locomotion
Loss of fur
Reduced dentition
Enlargement of the brain
Vocal communication
Possible origins of bipedal
locomotion
Figure 1 from Richmond, B. G., D. R. Begun, and D.
S. Strait. 2001. Origin of human bipedalism:
The knuckle-walking hypothesis revisited.
Yearbook of Physical Anthropology. 44:70-105.
Bipedalism
• Freed the hands and • Widened feeding
allowed more
potential
manipulative
• Reduced predation
capabilities
pressures
• Led to a higher
• Was more
thermoregulatory
energetically
efficiency
efficient mode of
locomotion
Oldest evidence of bipedalism
Australopithecus afarensis
Footprint experiment
(Raichlen et al. 2010)
A. Normal gait in
sand (H.sapiens)
B. Bent-knee, benthip gait in sand
(similar to walk of
apes)
C. Footprint from
Laetoli, Tanzania
Neoteny
• An explanation for:
– Nakedness
– Large Brain Size
– Reduced Dentition
The Neotenic Apes
Hair loss and lice
Phylogeny of some living
primates and their lice
Tales of the Lice
• Human head louse vs chimp louse (how
long ago we diverged) ~6-7MYA
• Human head louse vs human body louse
(how long ago we began to wear clothes)
~50-100KYA
• Human pubic louse vs gorilla body louse
(how long ago we began to lose fur to
patches of hair) ~3-4MYA
Large Brain
Potts 2011
Navarette et al. 2011
Reduced dentition
Vocal communication
•Lower larynx
•Fox P2 gene
http://www.voice.northwestern.edu/VOICEBOX/Larynx.htm
PBS NOVA
Proconsul
Likely a sister to the apes
with a mix of ape-monkey
characters
14-23 MYA
Africa
Dryopithecus
Early ape
15-9 MYA
Africa, Eurasia
Ardipithecus
•Africa
•Brain ~300-350cc
•120 (f) cm tall
•50 (f) kg
•~6.0 – 4.2 MYA
Miocene Epoch
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23-5.3 MYA
Epoch of ape radiation (>100
species of apes in the latter part
of the Miocene)
• They ranged though Africa,
Europe, and Asia
• The end of the Miocene saw
the separation between the
African Apes (chimpanzees,
bonobos, and gorillas) and the
Hominin Apes
• Africa moved northward and
formed the Mediterranean Sea,
which dried out multiple times.
Data from NASA, USGS, NOAA
Pliocene Epoch
• 5.3-2.5 MYA
• Epoch of bipedal ape radiation.
• They ranged though Africa
• Gracile and robust lines
• Pliocene relatively warm
Data from NASA, USGS, NOAA
Human Phylogeny
The Smithsonian Institution Museum of Natural History
http://www.mnh.si.edu/anthro/humanorigins/ha/a_tree.html
Hominin Series
(A) Pan troglodytes, chimpanzee, modern
(B) Australopithecus africanus, 2.6 My
(C) Australopithecus africanus, 2.5 My
(D) Homo habilis, 1.9 My
(E) Homo habilis, 1.8 My
(F) Homo rudolfensis, 1.8 My
(G) Homo erectus, 1.75 My
http://www.talkingorigins.com
(H) Homo ergaster (early H. erectus), 1.75 My
(I) Homo heidelbergensis, 300,000 - 125,000 y
(J) Homo neanderthalensis, 70,000 y
(K) Homo neanderthalensis, 60,000 y
(L) Homo neanderthalensis, 45,000 y
(M) Homo sapiens, 30,000 y
(N) Homo sapiens, modern
Australopithecus afarensis
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Africa
Brain 375-550 cc
107 (f)-152 (m) cm tall
29 (f) – 42 (m) kg
~3.0-3.9 MYA
British Museum of Natural History and Smithsonian Museum
Australopithecus africanus
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Africa
Brain 420-500 cc
110 (f)-140 (m) cm tall
30 (f) - 41 (m) kg
~2.4-2.8 MYA
British Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Museum
Paranthropus robustus
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Africa
Brain ~530cc
110 (f)-130 (m) cm tall
32 (f) – 40 (m) kg
~1.0 – 2.0 MYA
http://www.maropeng.co.za
Pleistocene Epoch
• 2.5-0.012 MYA
• Appearance and radiation of
Homo.
• They ranged though Africa and
emerged into the rest of the
earth.
• Global climates extremely
unsettled and variable
Data from NASA, USGS, NOAA
Homo habilis
•Africa
•Brain ~500-800 cc
•100 (f) – 135 (m) cm tall
•32 (f) – 37 (m) kg
•~1.44-2.3 MYA
http://macscience.files.wordpress.com
Olduwan stone tools in Ethiopia
• 2.6 -1.8 MYA
• Chipped pebbles and
choppers, usually lava
• Likely made by H. habilis
Homo erectus
•Africa, Eurasia
•~Brain 750-1225 cc
•145 (f) – 185 (m) cm tall
•40 (f) – 68 (m) kg
•~0.3-1.8 MYA
http://www.mnh.si.edu/anthro/humanorigins/ha/a_tree.html
Range of H. erectus
• Evidence for
controlled use of fire
• Acheulean tools (1.70.1 MYA)
http://anthro.palomar.edu
Homo heidelbergensis
•Africa, Eurasia
•Brain ~1100-1400 cc
•157 (f) - 175 (m) cm tall
•51 (f) – 62 (m) kg
•~0.2-0.6 MYA
Smithsonian Institution
Homo neanderthalensis
•Eurasia
•Brain ~1100-1400 cc
•155 (f) – 164 (m) cm tall
•54 (f) – 64 (m) kg
•~0.03-0.3 MYA
Neanderthal Museum
Range of the Neanderthals
http://www.rhesusnegative.net
Behaviors of H. neanderthalensis
Neanderthal vs rodeo trama
patterns (redrawn Berger &
Trinkhaus 1995)
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• Scavengers and up close spear
hunting of large animals (see
Figure)
• Relatively complex stone tools
(Mousterian, see Figure)
• Tools from wood, bone, tusks,
and antlers
• Evidence of burials and
ceremony
• Possible verbal communication
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NEANDERTHAL
RODEO
Homo floresiensis
•Asia (Indonesia)
•Brain ~380-417 cc
•~106 (f?) cm tall
•30 (f?) kg
•~0.013-0.095 MYA
Homo sapiens
•Africa to all land surfaces
•~1350 cc (975-1499)
•US ave: 162 (f) – 175.8 (m) cm tall
•US ave: 74 (f) – 86.4 (m) kg
•~present-0.2 MYA
Homo sapiens
• Appeared ~200,000 years
ago with a suite of
behaviors similar to
neanderthals
• Likely in small
populations (~140) with
a total number of
100,000
• Bottleneck reduced to
~10,000 individuals
Theories regarding the origin of
Homo sapiens
Recent Out of Africa
– More consistent with
the genetic data
• Mitochondrial
• Y-chromosome
• Genetic variability
– Consistent with
language families
– Neanderthals a
different species
Multiregional Hypothesis
– Explains racial
differences by isolation
and periodic mixing
between populations
– Connects H. erectus
directly to H. sapiens
– Neanderthal a step in the
evolution of modern
humans
Genetic variation in Homo sapiens
Classic archaeologically-accessible
evidence of behavioral modernity includes:
• finely-made tools
• fishing
• evidence of long-distance
exchange or barter
among groups
• systematic use of
pigment (such as ochre)
and jewelry for
decoration or selfornamentation
• figurative art (cave
paintings, petroglyphs,
figurine)
• game playing and
music
• foods being cooked
and seasoned instead
of being consumed in
the raw
• burial
Calvin. 2003. A Brief History of Mind; Stringer. 2011. Origin of our Species
Homo sapiens, the generalist
Rick Potts of the Smithsonian Institution
Why are we the last ape standing?
• We were lucky
• We outcompeted the other bipedal apes
• We killed the other bipedal apes