1. Humans Have a Relatively Short History
4/16/2017 2:56 AM
Humans Have a Relatively Short History
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2. Fossil Records
Indicate that modern humans have a relatively recent history
Began in Africa
In a short time, humans have become the most numerous and widespread large animal on Earth

3. A Closer Look at Primates
Primates (Order: Primates)
Include Lemurs, monkeys, apes, and humans
There are approximately 300 primate species living today

4. Primates
Fossil evidence support the hypothesis that primates evolved from a small tree-dwelling, insect-eating ancestor 85 to 65 million years ago.

5. Primates Primates retain adaptations from living in trees
Flexible shoulder joints
Hands that were used in hanging from branches
Sensitive fingers and nails instead of claws
Binocular Vision
2 eyes close together on the front of the face
Wes Welker
Justin Verlander
Mike Lowell

6. Primates Binocular Vision In field of vision the two eyes overlap
This enhances depth perceptions
Eye hand coordination

7. Primates
Mammals devote more time and energy to care for young, than most other vertebrates
Most primates have single births and nurture their offspring

8. Two Primate Groups Includes Lorises, Galagos, and Lemurs
Lemurs are found on Madagascar and the Comoro Island, off the coast of Africa.
Galagos
Loris

9. Madagascar and the Comoro
Two Primate Groups
Madagascar and the Comoro
Madagascar

10. Two Primate Groups
Includes: Tarsiers, New World Monkeys, Old World Monkeys
Tarsiers:
Flat Faces with large eyes
Limited to South East Asia
Nocturnal

11. Two Primate Groups New World Monkeys
Found in the America’s
Tree Dwelling
Prehensile Tails – (grasping tails) function as an extra appendage for swinging on trees
So, if they swing on their tails =
New World Monkey
Some Old World Monkeys have tails but their tails are not prehensile.

12. Two Primate Groups Old World Monkeys
Include Baboons, Macaques, and Mandrills are mainly ground dwellers
Mandrills
Macaques
Baboons

13. The Apes Gibbons Orangutans Gorillas Chimpanzees
Modern Apes live only in tropical areas of the Old World
except for some gibbons; apes are generally
larger than other primates
They have long arms, short legs, no tail

14. The Apes / Hominoids
All apes can move through trees but only the orangutans and gibbons are mainly tree dwellers
Gorillas and chimps are very social
Chimpanzees are biologically closest relatives of humans
DNA only 5% difference

15. Early Hominines Hominines – the hominoids in the lineage that led
to humans
Homo Sapien (modern human) – only species in
existence today
Many hominines lived in the past
Earliest hominines may have lived 6 to 7 million years ago

16. Early Hominines
Two important developments in the evolution of hominids:
Upright Posture (leading to 2 – legged walking)
Brain enlargement

17. Early Hominines Sahelanthropus
7million year old – Found in Central Africa
A million years older than any other known hominine
Brain about the size of a modern chimp
Short broad face was more human
Still debate whether this fossil represents a hominine

18. Early Hominines Walking Upright Bipedalism – walking on two feet
Australopithecus Afarensis – oldest evidence of upright posture and walking on two feet.
Walked upright 4 million years ago
Lucy – a female Australopithecus Afarensis
3 ½ feet tall, head about the size of a softball
Australopithecus Afarensis species were extinct by about 1.2 million years ago

19. Early Hominines Australopithecus Afarensis
Dikika Baby
Lucy

20. Early Hominines
Later species overlapped in time with early species of the genus homo.
Walking upright evolved before enlarged brain

21. Early Hominines Enlarged Brain
First enlarged brain relative to body size appeared 2.5 million years ago
Many skulls have been found between the size of Australopithecus and H. Sapiens
Simple stone tools were found with these species
Species name Homo habilis (Handy Man)
Used skilled hands and big brains to invent tools
Enhanced the ability to hunt, gather food, and scavenge for food

22. Homo habilis - Handy Man
Early Hominines
Homo habilis - Handy Man

23. Early Hominines Paranthropus
3 recent species grouped together which grew into the size of well-fed NFL Linebackers placed in their own genus
Diets include course and fibrous plant foods like modern gorillas

24. Early Hominines Homo erectus – first hominine fossil observed in a
continent other than Africa
H. Erectus was taller and had a larger brain tha H. habilis
During their 1.5 million years of existence they grew to about the size of modern humans
Oldest H. erectus fossils found outside of Africa are 1.8 million years ago in the country of Georgia, near Russia

25. Early Hominines Homo erectus

26. The Origin of Modern Humans
Early Homo Sapiens coexisted with another hominid species; Homo Neanderthalensis
Neanderthals
Lived in area of Europe
Made tools from stone and wood
Fossil records indicate that Neanderthals
Did NOT give rise to modern Homo
Sapien
Became extinct 30,000 years ago

27. The Origin of Modern Humans
There are many hypothesis for the origin of fully modern humans
Fossil records now suggest that ancestors originated in Africa
Homo Sapien fossils that look like today’s modern Homo Sapien are about 195,000 years old and it was discovered in Ethiopia
Also discovered in Ethiopia
Also supported by DNA

28. Out of Africa Theory
Molecular biologist analyzed mitochondrial DNA from living humans around the world
determined when they last shared a common ancestor.
The estimated date for that African common ancestor is between 200,000 and 150,000 years ago.
More recent DNA data suggest that a small subset of those African ancestors left northeastern Africa between 65,000 and 50,000 years ago to colonize the world.
Data supports Theory

29. Out of Africa Theory

30. The Origin of Modern Humans
New Findings
In 2003 scientist discovered a fossilized skeleton of a previously unknown hominine species
Found on the island of Flores, Indonesia
Called Flores Man (Homo Floresiensis)
Only years old
Smaller skull and shorter than modern Homo Sapiens
Previously thought no other hominine existed while
Homo Sapiens had spread over most of the Earth