1. Human Evolution The beginning: 10 million years ago in Africa
Climatic change. Getting drier. Unbroken tropical forests becoming a patchwork of woodland and savanna.

2. The split
Sometime around 7 mybp east African primates began on an evolutionary path distinct from central and west African primates.
West was more densely wooded. East less so, more open. East African primates went bipedal. Why? We don’t know
Carrying babies?
Making tools?
Thermodymics?
Wading along shorelines?
Looking for predators?
More efficient movement?

3. Earliest hominins: pre-Australopiths
Sahelanthropus tchadensis. (Toumai, “hope of life” in Goran). A single skull, jaw fragments, several teeth, unearthed in 2002 by Michael Brunet, dated to about 6.5 mybp Found in Chad, central Africa?
Forward position of foramen magnum suggest bipedalism

4. Earliest hominins: pre-Australopiths
Orrorin tugenenis “original man” in the local Tugen language. February 2001, French researcher Brigitte Senut, a few teeth and limb bone fragments in the Tugen hills of Kenya, dated to about 6mybp
Femur angle suggests bipedalism

5. Earliest hominins: pre-Australopiths
Ardipithecus kadabba found in the Middle Awash region of Ethiopia, dated to around 5.5 mybp
Ardipithecus ramidus (Ardi) remains are dated to between mybp; forest-dwelling, bipedal, but at home in trees as well. No evidence of knuckle-walking; is this derived feature in great apes?
Contros:
Are kadabba and ramidus related?
Are kadabba, orrorin, and sahelanthropus related?
Ardi appears to have low sexual size dimorphism, but australopiths have traditionally been thought of as highly dimorphic species?
Is Ardi the only one likely to be ancestral to Homo?

6. Earliest hominins: Australopiths
Australopithecus anamensis, first uncovered in 1995 in northern Kenya and dated to between 4.2 and 3.9 mybp.
Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy) found in the mid-1970’s by Donald Johanson and dated to around 3.3 mybp
Australopithecus africanus, Tung child found by Raymond Dart of the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, Dated as somewhat more recent than Lucy

7. Earliest hominins: Australopiths
Lucy bones – unquestionably bipedal. Some adaptations for tree-dwelling present. Small 3-4 feet in stature. High sexual dimorphism. Probably didn’t run very well. Ate fruits, nuts, insects, small USOs, amounts of meat. Was prey as much as predator.

8. Earliest hominins: Australopiths
Dart’s Taung child, killed by predator? Dated at about 2.5mybp, est. 4yrs.
Period of nutritional stress at 2.5yrs, possible early weaning age compared to apes; evidence of cooperative breeding, care of young?

9. Earliest hominins: Australopiths
The pitted pattern of Laetoli feet, about 3.5 mybp.

10. Earliest hominins: Australopiths
Two general types:
Gracile: Thinner boned, less powerful jaws, probably ate more fruits, insects, etc. (ex. Africanus, afarensis)
Robust: thicker boned, more powerful jaws, ridge crest on cranium, flatter teeth, seed-crusher, fibrous vegetable material (probably not human ancestor; ex: Australopithicus or Paranthropus boisei and A. or P. aethiopicus)

11. Earliest hominins: Australopiths
Summary: Time period 5-1mybp, robust later than gracile. Robusts may have made stone tools, but little evidence. High sexual dimorphism, male – male competition. Small family – female bonded groups, single male. Bipedal but well adapted to trees. Forest, waterside dweller. Chimp-size brain, robust a little larger. Probably restricted to Africa. Bipedal apes.

12. Early Homo
Homo habilis: Unearthed 1960’s Louis Leakey. Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania. Larger brain size (640cc; note chimps are about 400cc). Evidence of simple stone tools found also.
Homo rudolfensis: 1970’s Richard Leakey. Brain size 750cc, but with more primitive looking face. Both dated to around mybp

13. The Oldowan tool kit
Simple stone tools made by striking a hammer stone against a core to make a shape flake (cores may also have been used occasionally as tools). 2.6mybp
Probably used for butchery, scrapping, cutting, smashing

14. Hand/Brain and tool manufacture
Pad to side grip: thumb to side of index finger Three jawed chuck grip: thumb, index, middle finger (baseball grip) Five jawed cradle: thumb against four fingers Lucy could use these grips, apes generally cannot. Pounding, digging (USOs), throwing. Oldowan tools probably not, but maybe robusts later. What Lucy could not do: Oblique power grip: fourth and fifth fingers in ulnar opposition to thumb, used for holding and swinging clubs and hammers

15. Hand/Brain and tool manufacture
Pet scans of Oldowan knapping: visual-motor coordination
Primary motor cortex
Somatosensory cortex
Dorsal visual pathway (occipital/superior partietal)
Cerrebellum
Little frontal lobe activation

16. Knapping apes Kanzi knapping studies
Produces “oldowan-like” tools, but not using percussion technique
Less power; less precision and selectivity

17. Percussion technique requires motor control beyond that of nonhuman apes. Some advance in planning perceptual motor skills.
Some evidence of adjustment in ongoing flaking process (Lokalalei site, northern Keyna)
Probably not a big cognitive advance.