1. Human Evolution
Year 10
Human Biology
2014

2. Who are we? We are Primates! Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata
Sub-phylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primate
Family: Hominidae
Genus: Homo
Species: sapiens

3. Primates? Really?
Yup 
To be a primate you have the following characteristics:
Forward facing eyes (better 3D vision)
Grasping hands (prehensile)
Nails not claws
Opposable first digit
Large brain – relative to body size

4. So who is in our family then?
We belong to the family Hominidae
Gorillas
Orangutans
Chimpanzees
Us!
However we (Homo sapiens) do something that the other primates don’t do…

5. We can stand upright
There are lots of adaptations to our skeleton that allow us to be bipedal (on 2 feet)
These include
Foramen magnum
Vertebral column
Pelvis
Femur
Knee
Foot

6. So who are our ancestors?
The Australopithecines
This is a different genus to us, but contains at least 6 different species
Lived in Africa from 6 to 2MYA
Most interesting Australopithecine is Australopithecine afarensis

7. A. afarenis Lived from 3.7 to 2.5MYA in East Africa
Cranial capacity of 400cc
Height 1.3m
Weight 30kg
Walked habitually upright as seen by the Laetoli footprints, shape of the femur and the pelvis

10. What about our genus? Earliest Homo is the Homo habilis (handy man)
Lived in East Africa from 2.4 to 1.4MYA
He was a tool maker and scavenged carcasses for meat.
This led to a larger brain size

11. Who came next? After Homo habilis there came
Homo erectus (1.9MYA) – Fire man
Homo ergaster (1.5MYA) – The wanderer
Homo heidelbergensis ( YA)
Homo neanderthalensis ( – YA)
Homo sapiens ( YA)

12. Homo ergaster

14. Out of Africa
years ago all continental landmasses (except Antarctica) were colonised by Homo sapiens.
How do we know this?
Mitochondrial DNA analysis
Allows us to track migration patterns by studying the mtDNA found in fossil remains.

15. Summary of evolution Things to look for in our ancestors over time
Flatter face (reduced prognathism)
Smaller mandible (jaw)
Formation of a chin
Vertical forehead (to encase a larger frontal lobe)
Larger and rounder cranium (to encase a larger brain)