Fossils and Fossilization Fossilization a process The replacement of organic material with inorganic material Can take thousands of years Taphonomy Isn t always great or complete The study of the processes that occur after death including the process of fossilization Taphos grave Ex Taung South Africa actual site in Buxton edge of Kalahari desert o 1924 limestone quarry o Hit large pockets of red sandstone Where fossils were found o Fossils brought to Raymond Dart University of Witwatersand Johannesburg Professor of Anatomy specialize in the brain Identified a fossil as endocast Fossil of a brain Foramen Magnum under not behind Bipedal animal Found full skull Child 3 4 yrs Australopithecus africanus Taung Child Breccia Broken Rock o Found a skull front Dolomite ancient limestone porus Tufa forms caves that can be dug thru o Given a dead baboon o Put it in Tufa cave o Taphanomic experiment 4 years 25 bones left over millions of years larger brain body size Lipriani Photo 1927 o egg shell genie fowl o jaw Taphonomy cont Parapapio broomi Reconstructing the community of the fossils Don t get all of the community fossils o Only the death assemblage o From the assemblage only some things get deposited o Only few fossils Community Death Assemblage Deposition Fossilization excavation publication Scientific Hypothesis Development Evolutionary Theory and the Scientific Method Must propose testable hypothesis o EX Some unicorns are purple not testable o Ex All unicorns are purple testable Can be disproven The Killer Ape Hypothesis by Raymond Dart Robert Ardrey A africanus o Hypothesis Early hominins were violent brutal o Sub hypothesis early hominins use bones as tools o Sub sub hypothesis Hominin bone toll use is the only explanation for the fossil bone assemblage Hyenas chew and break bones too look like o Explanation tools o Evidence DISPROVEN Context is as important as the fossil Darwin s Prescient Insight Hypothesis Evidence o Taung child o NOT disproven o Human ancestors originated in Africa