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Development Team Paper No. : 01 Physical/Biological Anthropology Module : 15 Australopithecus Development Team Prof. Anup Kumar Kapoor Principal Investigator Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi Paper Coordinator Prof. Subho Roy Department of Anthropology ,University of Calcutta Prof. Subho Roy Content Writer Department Of Anthropology, University of Calcutta Content Reviewer Prof. Barun Mukhopadhyay Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata 1 Physical/Biological Anthropology Anthropology Australopithecus Description Of Module Subject Name Anthropology Paper Name 01 Physical/Biological Anthropology Module Name/Title Australopithecus Module Id 15 2 Physical/Biological Anthropology Anthropology Australopithecus Glossary • Australopithecus: The genus including several species of early bipeds from southern and eastern Africa living between about 1.1 and 4.3 million years ago, one of whom was directly ancestral to humans. • Gracile australopithecines: Members of the genus Australopithecus possessing a more lightly built chewing apparatus; likely had a diet that included more meat than that of the robust australopithecines; best represented by the South African species A. Africanus. • Robust australopithecines: Several species within the genus Australopithecus, who lived from 1.1 to 2.5 million years ago in eastern and southern Africa; known for the rugged nature of their chewing apparatus (large back teeth, large chewing muscles, and a bony ridge on their skull tops to allow for these large muscles). References 1. Michel Brunet, Franck Guy, David Pilbeam, Hassane Taisso Mackaye, Andossa Likius, Djimdoumalbaye Ahounta, Alain Beauvilain, Cécile Blondel, Hervé Bocherens, Jean-Renaud Boisserie, Louis De Bonis, Yves Coppens, Jean Dejax, Christiane Denys, Philippe Duringer, Véra Eisenmann, Gongdibé Fanone, Pierre Fronty, Denis Geraads, Thomas Lehmann, Fabrice Lihoreau, Antoine Louchart, Adoum Mahamat, Gildas Merceron, Guy Mouchelin, Olga Otero, Pablo Pelaez Campomanes, Marcia Ponce De Leon, Jean-Claude Rage, Michel Sapanet, Mathieu Schuster, Jean Sudre, Pascal Tassy, Xavier Valentin, Patrick Vignaud, Laurent Viriot, Antoine Zazzo & Christoph Zollikofer, 2002. A New Hominid From The Upper Miocene Of Chad, Central Africa. Nature 418, 145-151. 2. Milford H. Wolpoff, Brigitte Senut, Martin Pickford & John Hawks 2002. Palaeo anthropology (communication arising): Sahelanthropus or 'Sahelpithecus'? Nature 419, 581-582 (10 October 2002) doi:10.1038/419581a 3. Brigitte Senuta, Martin Pickfordb, Dominique Gommeryc, Pierre Meind, Kiptalam Cheboie, Yves Coppensf . 2001. First hominid from the Miocene. Palaeontology 332: 137–144. 4. K. Galik1, B. Senut, M. Pickford, D. Gommery, J. Treil, A. J. Kuperavage, R. B. Eckhardt. 2004. External and Internal Morphology of the BAR 1002'00 Orrorin tugenensis Femur. Science 3 septembervol.305 (5689): 1450-1453. DOI: 10.1126/science.1098807. 5. Tim D. White, Gen Suwa and Berhane Asfaw 2001. Australopithecus ramidus, a new species of early hominid from Aramis, Ethiopia. Nature 412 (July 12) 178-181. (doi:10.1038/35084063). 6. Haile-Selassie Y., Suwa G., White T. D. 2004. Late Miocene teeth from Middle Awash. Ethiopia, and early hominid d dental evolution. Science 303, 1503–1505 (doi:10.1126/science.1092978). 3 Physical/Biological Anthropology Anthropology Australopithecus 7. Leakey, M.G., Feibel, C.S., mcdougall, I., Walker, A., 1995. New four-million-year-old hominid species from Kanapoi and Allia Bay, Kenya. Nature 376,565-571. 8. Johanson, D.C., White, T.D., Coppens, Y. 1978. A new species of the genus Australopithecus (Primates: Hominidae) from the Pliocene of Eastern Africa. Kirtlandia 28, 2-14. 9. Johanson, D.C., Edey, M.E., 1981. Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind. St Albans, Granada. 10. White T.D. 2003: Early hominids - diversity or distortion? Science, 299:1994-7. 11. Leakey M.G., Spoor F., Brown F., Gathogo P.N., Kiarie C., Leakey L.N. et al. 2001: New hominin genus from eastern Africa shows diverse middle Pliocene lineages. Nature, 410:433-40. 12. Dart, R., 1925. Australopithecus africanus. The man-ape of South Africa. Nature 115, 195-199 13. Asfaw, B., White, T., Lovejoy, O., Latimer, B., Simpson, S., Suwa, G., 1999. Australopithecus garhi: a new species of early hominid from Ethiopia. Science 284, 629-635. 14. Aiello, L.C. and Dean, M.C. (1990). An Introduction to Human Evolutionary Anatomy. Academic Press, London. 15. Walker, A.C., R.E. Leakey, J.M. Harris, and F.H. Brown. 1986. “2.5-Myr Australopithecus boisei from west of Lake Turkana, Kenya.” In Nature, vol. 322, pp. 517–522. 16. Broom, R., 1938. The Pleistocene anthropoid apes of South Africa. Nature 142, 377-379. 17. Johanson, D., and B. Edgar. 1996. From Lucy to Language. New York: Simon and Schuster Editions. 18. Keyser A.W. 2000. The Drimolen skull: the most complete australopithecine cranium and mandible to date. South African Journal of Science, 96:189-93. 19. Leakey, L.S.B., 1959. A new fossil from Olduvai. Nature 184, 491-494. Suggested readings • Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution 2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. • Harrison G A, Baker P T, Tanner J M, Pilbeam D R (eds.) 1988. Human Biology an Introduction to Human Evolution Variation Growth and Adaptability. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Web references 1. http://humanorigins.si.edu/resources/about. 4 Physical/Biological Anthropology Anthropology Australopithecus .
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