1. Chapter 11
April 6, 2010

2. Humans Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Homonidea
Genus: Homo
Species: Sapiens
Subspecies: Homo sapiens sapiens

3. Other Primates Suborder: Haplorhini Suborder: Strepsirhini
Humans, tarsiers, monkeys, apes
Infraorder: Catarrhinni
Humans, old world monkeys, apes
Infraorder: Platyrrhinii
New world monkeys
Suborder: Strepsirhini
Lemurs, lorises, indiriids

4. Primates
Hominoidea – superfamily including humans, the small apes (gibbons), and the great apes (chimps, orangutans, gorillas)
Similarities in blood and protein chemistry
Humans share 98% of DNA with chimps
Pentadactyl – having 5 fingers and toes
Prehensile – ability of hands and feet to grasp objects

5. Primates
Clavicle and scapula (shoulder blade) allow for great range of movement and strength
Reduced sense of smell compared to other mammals
Stereoscopic, color vision
More mobility in head movement versus other mammals
Molars, canines, and incisors – adaptation to generalist diet
Large brains

6. Adaptations to Arboreal Existence?
Prehensile hands and feet, shoulder and arm design
color stereoscopic vision – for judging distance, identifying food and predators
Low numbers of offspring
Molecular clock – when did humans diverge from chimp ancestors?
mtDNA from mother
5 to 10 mya

7. Early Primates Arose 70 may during late Cretaceous
Related by common ancestor to insectivores and bats
Extinct suborder Plesiadapiformes – appeared in North America 65 mya
Arboreal
Size of squirrels or house cats – rodent-like with primate teeth
Ate seeds and insects
Died out 55 mya

8. 23 to 14 mya – great increase in ape diversity and range
Extensive forests covered Africa and Eurasia
20 different genera of Caterrhinii apes from Africa, to western Europe, to southeast Asia
Pliopithecus – western Europe – similar to modern gibbons
Gigantopithecus – China and India – larger than modern gorillas
Ramapithecines – jaws and teeth like humans and apes; skull like orangutans
14 mya – climate changes requiring adaptation to savanna climate
Lived at forest edge
Bipedal – uses less energy
Reduced canines

9. Pliopithecus sp. (1); Dryopithecus sp
Pliopithecus sp. (1); Dryopithecus sp. (2); Australopithecus afarensis (3) Homo habilis (4) (Mammiferi, Primati).
Gigantopithecus
Pliopithecus sp.

10. Hominid
Hominid refers to humans and extinct bipedal primate that are ancestral or closely related to humans
Genus Australopithecus
Africa 5 mya
Forest-savanna ecotone
Reduced canines

11. Australopithecines Appeared between 4 and 3.8 mya Disappeared by 1 mya
Fossils found only in Africa
3.3–5 feet; 66–132 pounds; small brains
Closer to modern chimps and gorillas than modern humans
No evidence of tool making or fire use
Ate nuts and grasses

12. Early Homo
Oldest Homo fossils 2.5 myo and from Olduvai Gorge, east Africa
Homo habilis (handy man)
Small hominid
Bipedal
Increased brain size
Manufacture and use of specialized tools
Oldowan Tradition

13. Homo habilis

14. Homo erectus
Acheulean Tradition

15. Early Homo Homo erectus – “Java Man” and “Peking Man”
Older than Homo sapiens, younger than Homo habilis
Found in western Europe, Republic of Georgia, Java, China, east and south Africa
1.7 mya–300,000 years ago
Acheulean Tradition
Used fire

16. Homo sapiens
More prominent brow and thicker skull than modern-day humans
Appeared 400,000 years ago in Europe, Africa, and Asia
Eve Hypothesis – all modern humans descended from one African Homo sapiens female that lived 200,000 years ago
Multiregional Model – Homo sapiens evolved from Homo erectus separately at two or more geographic locations
Most Anthropologists support Out of Africa Model

17. Homo sapiens neanderthalensis
Fossils from 130,000 to 35,000 years ago
Europe and Near East
Only hominids that unquestionably did not evolve in sub-Saharan Africa
Not ancestral to modern humans
Evolved from archaic Homo sapiens
Mousterian Tradition
Fire, clothing, shelter, rituals, music

19. Homo sapiens sapiens Adapted to warm conditons and open countryside
Human Revolution – 50,000 years ago rapid expansion inside of and out of Africa; creating art and ritual burials