Hominid Fossil Record

Outline 22: Hominid Fossil Record The Australopithecines

 Ardipithecus: known mostly from teeth  Australopithecus: the gracile australopithecines  Paranthropus: the robust australopithecines Fossil Species

 Ardipithecus ramidus: 4.4 MY, teeth, jaws and bone fragments suggest it is a hominid, not a pongid.  Australopithecus afarensis: 3.8-3.0 MY based on good fossils. Clearly a bipedal animal based on bones and fossil footprints. Fossil Species

 Australopithecus africanus: 2.8-2.5 MY  Robust australopithecines:

 Paranthropus aethiopicus: 2.6-2.2 MY

 P. robustus: 2.0-1.2 MY

 P. boisei: 2.6-1.0 MY

Fossil Species

 Homo habilis: 2.5-1.6 MY  H. erectus: 1.8 MY- 25,000 yrs?

 Java man

 Peking man

 H. sapiens: archaic vs. modern Homo sapiens  Archaic H. sapiens or unique species?

 H. antecessor: 800,000 years old

 H. heidelbergensis: 500,000 years old

 H. neandertalensis: 200,000-32,000 years old

Homo sapiens

 modern H. sapiens

 South Africa: 120,000 years ago

 Middle East: 90,000 years ago

 Australia: 50,000 years ago

 Europe: 32,000 years ago

 Americas: 20,000 years ago

Evolution of Modern Humans

 Two Theories:

 Out of Africa: all modern humans descended from a single population. Racial differences have very recent origins.

 Multiregional Theory: modern humans evolved from local populations of H. erectus at several places in the Old World. Accounts for the racial differences in modern humans.