Anthro2050 1st Edition Lecture 23 Outline of Last Lecture I Intro to the Human Fossil Record Outline of Current Lecture II Sites and Geology Continued III Humans and Apes Current Lecture Sites and Geology Continued South Africa First human fossil Australopithicus africanus found in S Africa fossils found in limestone caves during explosions looking for minerals these caves lie at the bottom of deep vertical shafts so any specimen found in them most likely fell or were thrown down these shafts where they hit the bottom and rolled until they stopped over the years layering up into talus cones inside the cave walls the fossils became solidified and hard as cement making removing the fossils from the wall in tact very difficult Example cave Sterkfontein Been worked since the 1930s Estimated over 500 specimens of A africanus One specimen nicknamed little foot was found here and is incredibly complete more so than the famous Lucy but has been stuck in the wall for 15 years since most attempts at removing it would damage or destroy large parts of it Europe oldest modern human found 35 40 thousand years old Cave Pestera cu Oase Romania the cave it was found in is huge and complex and the fossil was found by spelunkers as they favor caves like this one They found a lot of animal remains mostly cave bear that did not survive hibernations as well as human remains The size of the cave gives great possibility for more human remains to be found in the future These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Humans and Apes trying to understand the beginning and end points between the last common ancestor of humans and chimps and modern humans and chimps can help us learn more about our evolutionary history as well as that of our ape relatives Just like humans have our own evolutionary branch of past ancestors the australopiths and other Homo species chimps and all other modern animals do as well change over time is slow and goes piece by piece sometimes making it difficult to differentiate among various species if all we have are say jaw bones However there are many fossil specimens of humans and human ancestors that help define each species and the rest of the course will be spent looking at each one individually As this section is to differentiate between major differences in humans and apes and follow those changes through time by looking at human ancestors Skeletal physical features and changes major differences between humans and apes deals with the skull which is due to brain size and diet cranial capacity brain size common chimp 350 400ccs modern human 11001600ccs largest recorded a Neanderthal with a cranial capacity of around 1800ccs in apes the face more so the lower face sticks out but in humans it pushed back underneath the rest of the cranium Apes have post orbital constriction whereas humans do not likely due to larger cranial capacity foramen magnum apes and other quadrupeds have it directly in the back whereas bipeds such as humans have it oriented under the skull humans have a projecting nasal bone whereas apes do not apes have huge canines and a dental structure that leaves a gap in the jaw for the canines to sit so that they can close their mouths fully whereas humans have small canines and therefore no gap in the jaw
View Full Document
Unlocking...