DOC PREVIEW
U of M ANTH 1001 - Homo Erectus

This preview shows page 1-2-3-4-25-26-27-51-52-53-54 out of 54 pages.

Save
View full document
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 54 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 54 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 54 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 54 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 54 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 54 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 54 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 54 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 54 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 54 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 54 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 54 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience

Unformatted text preview:

4/3/18Homo erectus: the first intercontinental hominin1Practicalities• There IS lab this week.• Midterm #2 this Thursday.• There is NO lab next week.2Topics for Today• Wrap-up the discussion for why Homo erectus was able to leave Africa• New adaptations of Homo erectus.– Committed, efficient bipedalism– The new terrestrial niche– The Expensive Tissue Hypothesis– Return of the importance of anterior teeth– H. erectus life history: still growing up fast…– Derived features of the skull3Hypotheses for Hominin Range Expansion: Why leave Africa?• Technological change: evolution of the Acheuleantradition out of the Oldowan?• Generalized Range Expansion of African Faunas –hominins following other animals?• Brain Size Increase?• Body Size Increase?• Mating system shifts to pair-bonding & monogamy?• Changes in reciprocity – Older individuals transmit more knowledge base and increased cooperation.• Trophic Level Increase – More meat eating.• Committed and efficient bipedalism45West Turkana 15000, Kenya(Nariokotome Specimen, 1.5 mya)• A boy about 8-9 years old at death, based on incremental lines in teeth, and would have been mature at 15. • Best preserved H. erectus skeleton• Committed terrestrial biped• Long legs• Would have reached 5’ 4” at adulthood but with a slim body adapted for tropical climates (sweating?)• Brain would have reached 900ccWT 150006H. erectus: A Committed Biped• Intermembral index similar to modern human.• Pelvis now deep (anterior-posterior) as well as broad.• No arboreal traits in the shoulder.• A great runner!7Increased energetic efficiency now that locomotion is full terrestrial bipedalism.With increased locomotor efficiency of H. erectus comes increased home ranges and thus increased chances of finding new scavenging/hunting opportunities, more sharing opportunities, & less restriction to specific habitats. Changing habitats is easier for a carnivore than for an omnivore.VS.8New ecological niche of terrestrial meat eating: more to share…• By 1.8 mya, there is a divergence in the genetics of the human tapeworm from that of the hyena’s tapeworm. So we were no longer sharing our meat sources with hyenas…Vitamin A poisoning of one Homo erectus shows overconsumption of meatMicroscopic detail of ER 1808Normal H. erectusER 1808910An External Nose: to moisten air before it hits lungs in the dry & open habitats of the Pleistocene.Important for running…11Body hair reduction withH. erectus’ committed terrestrial bipedalism to allow increased sweating?Endurance Running Hypothesis for adaptive innovation of H. erectus12Bramble & Lieberman 2004 NatureBramble & Lieberman 2004 NatureEndurance Running in Modern Humans13Looking for derived features for Endurance Running vs. Walking14Modern humanHomo erectusA. afarensisPan troglodytesLooking for derived features for Endurance Running vs. Walking1516Return of anterior processing• H. erectus incisors & canines emphasize biting & tearing, less well suited for extensive molar chewing, compared to Early Homo & Australopiths.17Increased meat eating provides higher quality food (e.g., protein), thus allows brain expansion = The Expensive Tissue HypothesisThe Paleo-Diet, the Thrifty-Gene, and other evolutionary explanations for modern dietary health (or lack thereof)1819Sustainability & Humanity:What can our evolution teach us about our future?2021Brain expansion requires high quality food, which means either meat or high quality plant foods (tubers), or both.22Both of these nutritional sources require material culture to acquire.Without accessible cryptocrystalline rocks…There but for fortune…23“Cephalopelvic Disproportion”• High mortality rate during birthing in modern humans• Conflict between narrow hips for bipedal efficiency and broad hips for easy birthing.24A modern human skeleton of a mother who died in childbirth25Pelvis from a very small female (most likely Homo erectus) with “capacious” birth canal-- 1.5 myr from Gona, EthiopiaMom had enough room to give birth to precocial offspring with relatively mature brains, like an apes. No “CephalopelvicDisproportion”!26Precocial Modjokerto Baby, Indonesia• 1.5 years old at death, based on maturation of the cranial bones • Given brain size- had fast growth of brain after birth-not born in altricial state = grew up fast like a chimpanzee rather than a modern human.“GO EAST, YOUNG MAN” (well, “hominin”…): Homo erectus in the low latitudes in the Early Pleistocene, in the middle latitudes by Middle Pleistocene27Eugene Du Bois and Pithecanthropus erectus(upright ape-man)Java Man (1891)28Trinil 2 (Java): the first one, so “The Type Specimen” of Homo erectusdiscovered in 1891 by Eugene Duboisdates to around 1.0 -0.7 myrSagittal keelAngulated occipitalLong low vaultBig brow ridges29Sinanthropus pekinensis(Chinese man from Peking)• Discovered in 1929 at Zhoukoudian, China• Focus of human origins switches from Europe to Asia• This and 8 other skulls lost during WWII30Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Jesuit priest, philosopher, & paleontologistZhoukoudien XllHomo erectus from China – Zhoukoudien780,000-300,000 yaangular torusnuchal torus31Sinanthropus pekinensis (1929)Pithecanthropus erectus (1894)priorityPithecanthropus (1894)Homo(Linneaus 1758)H. erectus32H. erectus morphology• Date range: 2.0 mya to 30,000 years• 750-1250 c.c. brain size• Thick cranial vault (red arrow)• Subnasal prognathism• Short, wide face• Projecting nose•No chin• Sharply angled occipital• Angular torus (blue line)• Sagital keel (yellow arrow)• Nuchal torus• Supraorbital torus• Supraorbital sulcus33H. erectus morphology• Teeth intermediate in size between Australopithecus and modern humans• Large, spatulate incisors• Robust pelvis & femur• Maximum cranial breadth near the base of the skull3435Homo erectus issues: Mating Systems?36OH 12 and OH 9Cortical Bone thickness and muscular strength and activity: Homo erectus had thick bones 37How many species in H. erectus?38Why split them into 2 species?• Very specific Asian morphotype that is different from the African H. erectus• Should not just group fossils in a species based on brain size•Asian  H. erectus• African  H. ergaster39Olduvai Hominin 9(Africa)Asian H. erectus4041Bouri, Middle Awash, East Africa1 myr, Brain size: 995 cm3BOU-VP-2/66)Why keep as a single species?• Many more similarities


View Full Document

U of M ANTH 1001 - Homo Erectus

Documents in this Course
Midterm 2

Midterm 2

11 pages

PLA 12

PLA 12

2 pages

PLA 11

PLA 11

2 pages

PLA 10

PLA 10

2 pages

PLA 08

PLA 08

2 pages

PLA 07

PLA 07

2 pages

PLA 05

PLA 05

2 pages

PLA 01

PLA 01

2 pages

Load more
Download Homo Erectus
Our administrator received your request to download this document. We will send you the file to your email shortly.
Loading Unlocking...
Login

Join to view Homo Erectus and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or
We will never post anything without your permission.
Don't have an account?
Sign Up

Join to view Homo Erectus 2 2 and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or

By creating an account you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use

Already a member?