Anthro2050 1st Edition Lecture 28 Outline of Last Lecture I Gracile Australopithecines Continued II Robust Australopithecines Outline of Current Lecture I Early Homo II Homo erectus Current Lecture Early Homo around 2 5 million years ago a lot started happening in hominid evolution and there was an explosion of speciation 1 6 to 2 3 million years ago Homo habilis the first species found to exhibit tool usage East Africa Oldowan stone tools first hominid tool usage it is tool usage that separates the genus Homo from other hominids H habilis a more shallow face under the orbits and a larger brain with the beginnings of a forehead animal remains with cut marks on the bones clearly made by tools and not teeth suggesting either early hunting or more likely savaging from other predator s kills Either way the eating of meat begins a rapid diet change as well as a rapid change in brain size Homo erectus first hominid to leave Africa many stayed in Africa but also expanded onwards ending up in Europe the Middle East and as far as South Asia ex Georgia China and India huge jump in cranial capacity 750 1067cc due to larger brains the cranium starts expanding which creates the potential for babies to have trouble squeezing their heads through the pelvis at birth Also this meant babies would need to be born earlier before their heads got too big to go through the pelvis at all since children were being born more immature this required greater parental investment Also bigger brains require more energy and since brains develop rapidly in early years this placed pressure on parents to be able to provide the caloric needs for the children giant brow ridges present sagittal keel not related to a sagittal crest which is a slight thickening of the skull in a 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 particular place H erectus had several of these in various places and while there are several theories on what they were for we do not know for sure there is the beginnings of a projected nose long legs relative to arms famous specimen example Turkana Boy 1 6 million years old found in Kenya is the most complete H erectus skeleton we have found Pelvis was more narrow than modern humans but still wider than apes It is still unclear if the pelvis was big enough in women to fit a baby through with the larger brain sizes but research suggests that they did have problems with the bigger brains causing babies to have difficulties getting through tool usage Acheulean tools about 1 5 million years ago More complex tools that required advances planning and foresight to make Vary in size with multiple uses taller around modern human height range evidence suggests fire usage yet it is unclear if it was purposeful or opportunistic ie directing flames of already existing fires
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