Origins of Humanity

Earliest Beginning
Characteristics of Ancestors
Early Behavior

Earliest Beginnings

Ca. 25-5 million years ago (mya)

Miocene primates

Ca. 6-2 mya

Hominids, early culture

Miocene Primate Evolution

The Miocene epoch (25-5 mya) "The Golden Age of Apes"

Two major hominoid radiations

The dryopiths - Early to Middle Miocene

(25-15 mya)
The ramapiths - Middle to Late Miocene
(15-5 mya)

Dryopithecus

Ramapiths (Sivapithecus)

Gigantopithecus

Gigantopithecus is known to have lived in what is

now China and Southeast Asia.
Gigantopithecus was the largest primate that ever
walked the Earth. He would have risen 9 to 10 feet
high if he choose to stand up on only his hind legs,
and probably weighed about 600 lbs (a mountain
gorilla male weigh about 400 lbs).
Some suggest that Gigantopithecus is not extinct,
but is hiding in remote areas of the Himalaya
Mountains or the forests of North-West America.
Could a Gigantopithecus, or his descendants, be
the source of the Yeti or Bigfoot tales?
http://www.unmuseum.org/bigape.htm

Size Differences

http://www.unmuseum.org/bigape.htm

Our Last Common Ancestor?

Unable to determine exact specimen

as yet (Dryopith or Ramapith)
Molecular data suggests split occurred
between 6 and 5 million years ago.
Extensive genetic diversity in
hominoids during the Miocene makes
things complicated.

Scientific Evidence

Earliest humans (hominids)

Evolved 5-6 million years ago in Africa

Very similar to apes, but:

Characteristics

Bipedal
Small brain size
Relatively small body size
Between 3 and 4 feet
60-100 pounds

Bipedality Evidence
Anatomy of Bipedalism

Early hominid pelvis on left,

modern human on right.

Comparisons

Basal Hominids (6-4 mya)

Sahelanthropus tchadensis
Ardipithecus ramidus
Australopithecus anamensis
Orrorin tugenensis
Recent specimens that date to this time
period may represent the earliest on the
human line, but not a lot of data yet. Most
have small brains and were probably
bipedal.

What did they look like?

tchadensis

tugenensis

anamensis

Australopithecines

Australopithecus afarensis
Australopithecus africanus
Australopithecus garhi

Australopithecus afarensis
(ca. 3.5mya)

Australopithecus afarensis
Lucy
Discovered by Donald Johanson and
Tom Gray in 1974 at Hadar in
Ethiopia (Johanson and Edey 1981;
Johanson and Taieb 1976). Its age is
about 3.2 million years. Lucy was an
adult female of about 25 years. About
40% of her skeleton was found, and
her pelvis, femur (the upper leg bone)
and tibia show her to have been
bipedal. She was about 107 cm (3'6")
tall (small for her species) and about
28 kg (62 lbs) in weight.

Other Evidence: Laetoli footprints

In 1976, members of a
team led by Mary
Leakey discovered the
fossilized footprints of
human ancestors in
Laetoli, Africa.
The footprints were
formed 3.5 million
years ago when at
least two individuals
walked over wet
volcanic ash. The wet
ash hardened like
cement and was then
covered by more ash.

Laeotoli

Some analysts have noted that the smaller

of the two clearest trails bears telltale signs
that suggest whoever left the prints was
burdened on one side -- perhaps a female
carrying an infant on her hip.
The detailed interpretation of the prints
remains a matter of debate, they remain an
extraordinary and fascinating fossil find,
preserving a moment in prehistoric time.

Laetoli

Paleoecological reconstructions for that time include bushland

and aquatic fauna at Laetoli and closed woodland at Hadar.
Direct evidence of bipedality in Australopithecus anamensis
dates from between about 3.9 and 4.2 mya (Leakey, et. al.
1995).
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/07/1/l_071_03.html

http://www.jqjacobs.net/anthro/paleo/bipedalism.html

Why Bipedal?

Three key features differentiate human and

chimpanzee bipedalism:

Chimpanzees are unable to extend their kneejoints to produce a straight leg in the stance
phase.
Muscular power has to be exerted to support the
body.
The constantly flexed position of the chimpanzee
leg also mean there is no toe off and heel strike
in the swing phase.
http://www.stanford.edu/~harryg/protected/chp15.htm

Advantages of Bipedalism?

With its radically different anatomy, bipedalism

clearly was an adaptation to terrestrial living, but
was it an advantage over quadrapedalism?
Not necessarily faster, but likely sustainable over
long distances
Protection from predators?
Latest evidence for earliest hominids puts them in
forested environment, not open habitat
Did free hands for tool-using, but what tools; or
possibly food transport?

Theories

The postural feeding hypothesis (Hunt 1996)

is an ecological model.
The behavioral model (Lovejoy 1981)
attributes bipedality to the social, sexual and
reproductive conduct of early hominids.
The thermoregulatory model (Wheeler 1991)
views the increased heat loss, increased
cooling, reduced heat gain and reduced
water requirements conferred by a bipedal
stance in a hot, tropical climate as the
selective pressure leading to bipedalism.
http://www.jqjacobs.net/anthro/paleo/bipedalism.html

Hunt's postural feeding

hypothesis

Hunt's postural feeding hypothesis asserts that the

arboreal food gathering postures of arm-hanging
and vertical climbing, a shared adaptation and
postural specialization of apes, are sufficiently
common to influence anatomy.

Both chimpanzee behavior and australopithecine anatomy inform

the model.
Eighty percent of chimpanzee bipedalism is during feeding with
arm-hanging stabilizing the posture 93% of the time in terminal
branches and 52% in the central parts of trees.
Torso form in australopithecines features adaptations to armhanging, inferring australopithecine adaptation to arboreal
bipedal fruit gathering.
According to Hunt, this early and specialized origin of bipedalism
only later evolved into habitual bipedal locomotion.
http://www.jqjacobs.net/anthro/paleo/bipedalism.html

The behavioral model

The behavioral model, as presented by

Lovejoy, focuses on social behavioral
mechanisms that influence survivorship and
birthrate.

Human sexual behavior and anatomy are

hypothesized as implying a monogamous mating
structure, a social form seen as prerequisite to male
provisioning.
Provisioning behavior with the upper limbs used to
transport food to a mate and offspring is seen as a
strong selection factor for bipedality by directly
improving offspring survivorship and increasing
reproductive rate.
http://www.jqjacobs.net/anthro/paleo/bipedalism.html

Wheeler's thermoregulatory model

Wheeler's thermoregulatory model proposes, as the

selective pressure, bipedalism conferring reduction
in heat gain and facilitation of heat dissipation.

Bipedalism raises the mean body surface higher above

the ground, where more favorable wind speeds and
temperatures prevail.
Greater wind flow translates to higher convective heat
loss.
Bipedalism reduces evaporative cooling requirements
and conserves body water.
Vertical orientation also minimizes direct solar exposure
during the time of day when the solar radiation is most
intense.

http://www.jqjacobs.net/anthro/paleo/bipedalism.html

Do we really know?

Timing

The timing of the appearance of bipedalism is of

critical importance in assessing these competing
hypothesis.
The models all present plausible selective
pressures needed for evolutionary change: food
access, provisioning, survivorship assurance,
increase in offspring, predator and injury avoidance
and energy and water conservation.
Under different conditions the individual importance
of these pressures will change. The important
question is what conditions prevailed at the time
that bipedalism appears in the fossil record.
http://www.jqjacobs.net/anthro/paleo/bipedalism.html

Paleoenvironment

Vrba's "turn-over pulse" hypothesis supports a

major climate change, with onset of drier
conditions and diminution of wooded habitats,
beginning in the Pliocene around 2.5 mya.
Habitat reconstruction based on faunal
associations with hominid fossils demonstrate
that Australopithecus species lived in wooded
and well watered environments (Reed 1997).
Homo is the first hominid known to have
adapted to open, savannah-like habitats, well
after the evolution of bipedality.
http://www.jqjacobs.net/anthro/paleo/bipedalism.html

Which is it?

Thus, from an paleoecological perspective, the

thermoregulatory model does not fit the evidence.
With the behavioral model, which hypothesizes
monogamous pair bonding and reduction in mate
competition as changing social factors antecedent
to bipedalism, one would expect an earlier reduction
in canine size, in parallel with the evolution of
bipedalism.
Arm-hanging anatomy persists long after the onset
of bipedal characteristics, indicating occupation of
wooded niches for the early bipedal hominids, so
Hunts feeding model might be most appropriate.
http://www.jqjacobs.net/anthro/paleo/bipedalism.html

Australopithecus africanus
(ca. 3 mya)

South Africa was the home to the

species Australopithecus africanus,
which lived 3.3 to 2.5 million years
ago.
This species was the first of the
australopiths to be described;
Raymond Dart named the genus
and species in 1925 after his
discovery of the famous Taung
child.
Many features of the cranium of A.
africanus are more evolved than
that of earlier A. afarensis.

These features include a more

globular cranium and slightly higher
ratio of brain size to body size.
Also the teeth and face appear less
primitive.

http://www.mnh.si.edu/anthro/humanorigins/ha/afri.html

A. africanus

For years researchers considered the

evolution of early humans to pass from A.
afarensis to A. africanus and lead to early
Homo.
However, some researchers now believe
that facial features link A. africanus to the
"robust" early human species of southern
Africa, Paranthropus robustus
http://www.mnh.si.edu/anthro/humanorigins/ha/afri.html

Australopithecus garhi

A. garhi existed 2.5 million years ago. Tim White and Berhame
Asfaw found it in Bouri, East Ethiopia.
Characteristics:

cranial capacity of 450ml.

canines and premolars like Homo genus
huge molars
no diastema
prognathic
ape-like arms and legs

The importance of this hominid is that it was found with many

tools and an array of slaughtered animals. Tool use has been the
defining criteria that separated the Homo genus from the
Australopithecines.

http://www.humboldt.edu/~mrc1/main.shtml

Genus Paranthropus

Robust Early Hominids (2.5-1.5 mya)

Extinct branch/lineage
Highly specialized features
Heavy brows
Large teeth, particularly back
Large muscle attachment areas

Paranthropus robustus
DNH 7, "Eurydice",
Paranthropus robustus.
Discovered
by Andr Keyser in
1994 at the Drimolen
cave in South Africa.
Estimated age is
between 1.5 and 2.0
million years.

Paranthropus boisei
OH 5, "Zinjanthropus",
"Nutcracker Man",
Paranthropus boisei
Discovered by Mary Leakey
in 1959 at Olduvai Gorge in
Tanzania (Leakey 1959).
Estimated age is 1.8 million
years.

Paranthropus aethiopicus

By 2.7 million years

ago, a new lineage
of early humans
had evolved in East
Africa:
Paranthropus
aethiopicus

http://www.mnh.si.edu/anthro/humanorigins/ha/a_tree.html