THE HOMINIDS

2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Australopithecus afarensis

2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Australopithecus afarensis
3.9 2.9 Ma
Climate changing. Antarctic ice cap
advance 5 Ma
Distribution: Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania
Cranial capacity: 380 450 cm3
Height: 1.07m
Bipedal (footprints 3.6 Ma old) /climber
U-shaped dental arcade but reduced
canines
Arboreal / terrestrial herbivore

2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Australopithecus africanus

2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Australopithecus africanus
3 2.25 Ma
Cooling of climate reduced rainfall
Further advance of Antarctic ice
Appearance of Arctic ice 2.4Ma
Development of scrubland and
savannah
Forest cover retreats

2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Australopithecus africanus
Distribution: Southern and Eastern Africa
Cranial capacity: 500 cm3
(Chimp = 400cm3)
Bipedal
20 35 kg
Rounder skull
Parabolic dental arcade
Longevity: 40 years maximum
Scavenger of bone marrow/brain cases
Used simple tools

2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Australopithecus (Paranthropus)
robustus

2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Australopithecus (Paranthropus)
robustus
2 1 Ma
Cooling of climate reduced rainfall
Development of scrubland and savannah
Forest retreats
Distribution: S. Africa
Diet: Roots and tough fibrous vegetable
matter
Cranial capacity: 500 cm3
(Chimp = 400cm3)
Bipedal
40 70 kg Sexual dimorphism
(males twice as bulky as females)
Large cheek teeth
Heavy muscular skull
2008 Paul Billiet ODWS
 Homo habilis - the handy man

2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Homo habilis
2.6 -1.4 Ma
E. Africa
Scavenging significant part of the
diet
Cranial capacity: 600 800 cm3
Height: 1.20 1.35m
Simple fashioned tools choppers
(Oldowan culture)

2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Homo erectus the upright man

2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Homo erectus
1.8 to 0.5 Ma
0.9 Ma beginning of the Pleistocene
ice age
Oscillations between cold and warm
periods
Spread out of Africa (1.6Ma)
throughout the old world
Scavenging to hunting
Use of a home base
2008 Paul Billiet ODWS
 Homo erectus
Cranial capacity: 850 1100 cm3
(H. sapiens = 1350 cm3)
Use of fire
Height 1.55 to 1.8m
Extended childhood
1st molar at 4.6 years old (H. sapiens =
5.9y)
Greater longevity 52 years
Speech? (Brain says: yes; spine says: no)
Improved tools: Hand axes
(Acheulian culture)

2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Homo neanderthalensis

2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Homo neanderthalensis
250 000 to 28 000 years ago
Europe, Middle East, into Central Asia
Evolved from H. erectus populations
perhaps via H. heidelbergensis, then
became extinct
Adapted to the ice-age conditions of
temperate zone
Large nose may have warmed cold air
The enigma of its extinction is not
explained

2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Homo neanderthalensis
Cranial capacity: 1400 cm3
(H. sapiens = 1350 cm3)
Brow ridge, long low skull
Height: 1.67m
Stocky build
Improved sophisticated tools
(Mousterian culture)
Sometimes buried their dead
Made simple jewellery
2008 Paul Billiet ODWS
 Homo sapiens

2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Homo sapiens
From 150 000 years ago to present
Originating in Southern Africa then went
worldwide
Reached Europe about 50 000 years ago
Cooling of the climate during the last
glacial period from about 50 000a led to
their predominance over other species
(e.g. H. neanderthalensis)
Omnivore
Alters environment
Domestication of species, farming
2008 Paul Billiet ODWS
 Homo sapiens
Cranial capacity: 1350 cm3
(range 1000 to 2000 cm3)
20% of the bodys energy consumption
for 5% of body mass
Speech
Art
Extensive tool kit including new materials
(bone, ivory, antler)
Symbolic thought
1st molar tooth 5.9 years old
Longevity 66 years
2008 Paul Billiet ODWS