TEST 3 NOTES Terms Lumpers paleoanthropologist who wants to combine fossils into the fewest of species possible recognize similarities Splitters they want to split the of species into as many as possible emphasize the differences and increase the of fossil species that are named Gracile a species that has small muscle attachments The areas where muscle attaches Robust large muscle attachment areas Sharp projections at attachment points and they tends to be smooth and rounded are bigger or thicker bone o Does not necessarily talking about height they are built differently Spoiler referring to a fossil that is found that kinds of ruins the current view challenges that traditional understanding of the fossil record Post Orbital Constriction POC orbital refers to eye orbits and post is behind Refers to the narrowing of the skull immediately behind the eye orbits A high amount is associated with smaller brains modern human skulls do not have constriction Supra Orbital Torus SOT an enlarged area of bone above the eye orbits Modern humans do not have apes do brow ridge Prognathism Orthognathism Anterior projection of the maxilla a vertical maxilla or a nearly vertical maxilla more human trait Sagittal Crest an enlarged area of bone that is located on the top of the skull and it runs anterior to posterior front to back Primitive characteristic adult male gorillas a muscle attachment site Nuchal Crest an enlarged ridge of bone in the back of the skull Where neck muscles attach Paleoanthropology Most early fossils Hominin are found ONLY IN AFRICA EAST AFRICA geology impacts the preservation and dating methods Rift valleys two continental plates budding together volcanic activity earthquakes etc o Good environment for fossil preservation o Impacts dating methods because potassium argon can be used to find an absolute numerical date SOUTH AFRICA o Lime stone formation and below ground caverns Quarrying activities o Embedded in Breccia hard cement like substance composed of sand debris lime stone etc Preservation is good but difficult to extract o Biostratigraphy mostly used More relative dating methods not precise Miocene Fossils Sahelanthropus tchadensis 7 6mya KNOW THIS DATE o Oldest fossil that MAY BE associated with Hominins it is definitely a hominid o Found in central Africa o Primative cranium Ape like traits small brain POC sagittal crest nuchal crest large SOT but also has a relative flat maxilla small canine teeth and position of foramen magnum most likely bipedal Miocene Pliocene Fossils Ardipithecus ramidus Ardi o Have at least 9 different individuals represented in this species but Ardi was the most significant 40 complete representation on the species o Mix of ancestral and derived traits ancestral small 3 5 feet tall small brain relatively gracile more smooth nuchal region and almost no sagittal crest in between pelvis shape opposable big toe elongated arms o Derived no adaptions for knuckle walking not a true brachiator Definitely a hominid Somewhat bipedal Doesn t look like chimp Pliocene Fossils Kenyanthropus Platyops 3 5 3 2 mya Spoiler Date plus the more derived features than other paleospecies making it a better candidate for human ancestor more hominin like Kenya Found in Kenya anthropus ape man Platyops flatness in face Australopithecus Southern Ape 3 9 3 mya Afarensis o Geography East African species in Afar region Ethiopia Kenya Tanzania well represented species of 120 o Cranial traits small brain post orbital constriction small to moderate size of the sagittal crest nuchal crest and super orbital tori fairly prognathic shape of maxilla forward anteriorly U shaped and parallel sided dentition with large molars and canines o Post cranial Short 3 5 4 feet hips are in between flattened and rounded long femoral neck and wide Bicondylar angle bipedal traits but no opposable toes and have ridges on wrist adaption for knuckle walking long arms compared to legs and can brachiate o Lucy AL 288 1 1 completeness makes it important well represented individual 2 Has the adaption for bipedalism pelvis and Femur Know these fact and genus species of all fossils sites o Selam DIK 1 1 1 Single individual well represented 2 3 4 year old child shows a growth and development of traits o Laetoli site Located in E Africa Tanzania found footprint in hardened volcanic ash 1 Confirms idea that bipeds were walking that long ago 2 Spoiler Attributed as an Afarensis site because they were the only bipeds walking around at the time but could also be a Kenyanthropus Platyops Africanus 3 2 mya Endocast preserved cast of the inside of a skull preserves size and shape of what brain would look like Geography S African paleospecies well represented species Cranial small brain POC small moderate sagittal crest and moderate nuchal crest SOT prognathic U shaped dentition and difference in teeth size Post cranial short 4 feet adaptation for bipedalism long arms relative to legs Similar to Afarensis but more derived and bigger size height bigger molars relative to canine size and difference in date and geography Taung Makes good comparison to Selam found at site Taung 1 3 4 year old child Africanus preserves evidence of expanded brain anterior position of Magnum show bipedal nature Know comparison to Selam E S Africa Africanus Afarensis older recent complete skeleton face endocast Garhi Surprise Aethiopicus Geography East Africa shares characteristics of other Australopithecus Spoiler Not supposed to be tool users but stone tools and butchered animal bones were found in the same area where Garhi s are found Geography East African species Cranial Traits small brain pronounced POC pronounced sagittal and nuchal crest huge nuchal crest widely face and wide flaring cheek bones high degree of prognathism U shaped palette gigantic teeth and molars Black Skull W 17000 Skull is dark robust features E African species Know genus and species A Boisei Zinj named after founder o Geography East Africa Cranial small brain POC more similar to ethiopicus because large attatchment sites SOT wider flaring cheek bones pragmatic huge moars megadont very robust cranimum Post Cranial short bipedal A Robustus Robust Southern Ape o Geography South Africa o Cranial similar to Boisei large sagittal nuchal crest o Post Cranial bipedal short not as robust o Comparison larger crest teeth size dentition Paranthropus Comparison larger crest teeth size dentition Time variation debated how fossils should be classified Gracile group with