Australopithecus Essays

has reviled that the maxim cranial capacity is approximately 495cm3 to 550cm3, Still keeping it within the range of the Australopithecus genre. This skull has defined nuchal cresting and, with the new find, a more dish like face. Making it seem closer to that of the Paranthropus genera. The skull also gives us incite to how

The Taung Child is the fossilised skull of a young Australopithecus africanus. When this 3 year child's skull was found in 1924, it was one of the first early human fossils to be found in South Africa. It was discovered by Raymond Dart through a local quarrymen. The Taung Child’s first molars had only just begun to rupture through the gum suggesting that the fossilized jaw belongs to a child. Upon closer inspection of the hominid’s dental development, crown formation, and root length suggest the

Article Review #3 The article “Ardipithecus ramidus: A New Kind of Ancestor: Ardipithecus Unveiled” written by Anna Gibbons, talks about how scientist learn many things about human evolution through artifacts of ancestors, DNA and bones. All of this helps reveals different things about our past and how we came to be. This article briefly mentions Lucy and it mainly focuses on the discovery of ardipithecus ramidus. In the short introductory paragraph, Gibbons mentions Lucy, a 3.2-million-year-old

When the first versions of ourselves appear between seven and six million years ago in the southern and eastern parts of Africa we brought a small era of human life into the world. When I say small I mean it compared to the universe. We only started to make and use simple tools 3.4 million years ago. Our early stages we were hunters and gatherers but then we planted crops because of the growing population. We only first develop International crop planting in 9000 B.C.E. in the Fertile Crescent.

The discovery of Australopithecus afarensis or “Lucy” is to this day one of the most influential discoveries in anthropology. Lucy was found on November 24th, 1974 at the site of Hader in the country of Ethiopia by Donald C.Johanson and Tom Gray ( Kimbel, W. H., PhD. (n.d.). Lucy's Story. Retrieved November 27, 2017, from https://iho.asu.edu/about/lucys-story#die’). This paper will look at the discovery of “Lucy” and focus on the importance and the impact it had on fossil species. Expanding on both

Australopithecus africanus is one of the possible direct ancestor of Paranthropus robustus. separating new species in to cladograms is a very difficult task, the case of Paranthropus robustus is no different. The two most common arguments as to what is the direct ancestor of P. robustus is A. aferensis or Australopithecus africanus. Both of these two species have notable similarities and differences with P. robustus, and the answer to who is the ancestor is not cut and dry. The Pre Cranial morphology

Up in the Rwandan mountain forests, renowned primatologist Dian Fossey studied and lived amongst the enigmatic silverback gorillas for as long as 14 years. A humble outpost was mounted in September 24, 1967. This remote outpost—also called the Karisoke Research Center—sat nestled between the volcanic Virunga Mountains. The study she would then conduct there was extensive: she diligently observed the mountain gorillas and wrote monthly reports. To gain the creatures’ trust, Fossey went to incredible

Donald Johnson had discovered an Australopithecus afarensis in Ethiopia during the year of 1974. Later to be named Lucy, this ape ended up being the, oldest potential ancestor for the hominid species, according to BBC. According to PBS, before her discovery, scientists had rationalized that the main trait that separated humans from apes was intelligence. This was based on the cranial capacity of the skull. Perhaps Lucy developed human-like features to hunt for food or possibly even to look over tall

One of the first known human ancestors to be recorded, Australopithecus afarensis, is the main focus of BBC’ Prehistoric Autopsy finale. The show attempts to recreate the structure of a particular set of remains named Lucy. Lucy’s skeleton bears many similar physical characteristics to modern-day humans. Lucy’s remains present the question of why our ancestors left the safety of the trees, the first evidence of bipedalism in primates, and the cost of evolving towards bipedalism on the body. Before

and I think this is the most important thing, was their brains. They became more and more intelligent over the years. Australopithecus' brain was about 1/3 the size of ours. That's small! They didn't eat much protein, which didn't help their brain grow. After Australopithecus comes Homo Habilis, who had a brain about 1/2 size of ours, because he ate much more meat than Australopithecus. It was still small because he didn't eat as much meat as later hominids, and he ate it raw. Homo Habilis had good

It has been decades since paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson discovered the first fossilized bone of Australopithecus afarensis. Donald and his team had been surveying a remote area in Ethiopia when the discovery was made. Donald later unearthed vertebra, skull fragments, and a jaw bone further giving validity to a new hominid he would later name Lucy. It wouldn’t be for a few years, but the discovery would be labeled as the “missing link” between humans and a direct ancestor. The scientific community

The world of anthropology is ever changing and each new discovery can discredit multiple other discoveries. Laetoli, Tanzania has been one site that has discovered and rediscovered multiple species of hominins, but the greatest discovery there was an ancient footprint trail left by our hominin ancestors. There have been other footprint trails discovered in other parts of the world, but none as old as the Laetoli trail. The Laetoli footprints are important because it lets us look into the species

The “Starchild skull”, a skull that is said to be that of a male child, is a skull that is supposed to have been discovered in the 1930s in Mexico. The child’s skull is larger than the average human adult, but it is comprised of the typical bones of the skull, accompanied by all the features such as muscle attachments found in humans. However, it reveals substantial deformities. The back of the skull is flattened and there is understood to be no anterior sinuses. However, because of its apparent

Australopithecus existed in between 2-3.5 million years ago in the region of _____ which is also located in Africa. Australopithecus had a cranial capacity of 428-625 along with a domed forehead,strong cheekbones and, a more human like skull and jaw. After Australopithecus came Paranthropus boisei.Paranthropus boisei had lived within the time period of 1.3-2.5 in Tanzania which is located

1. How could Australopithecus have benefited from walking on two legs? (Explain at least two benefits) The two benefits of bipedalism are flexibility and having more energy efficiency. Flexibility is a key benefit of bipedalism, because it allowed Australopithecus to take advantage of more/different environment rather than one. According to the book (p.8) “The rain forest abounded with fruits and nuts, but on the other hand the woodlands offered grasses and seeds.” Flexibility was key to obtaining

1. Darwin’s theory of Natural selection Charles Darwin and Wallace were two British Naturalists. These two Naturalists were vastly inspired by the scientific revolution. Darwin and Wallace encountered a believable mechanism for evolutionary change through careful observation of different species. Darwin also discovered the variation among species by observing their interaction with the environment. This believable mechanism for evolutionary change known as the Natural Selection theory transformed

The accomplishments of Charles Darwin have made contributions to three fields: evolutionary biology; the philosophy of science; and the modern zeitgeist. Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace each developed an explanation of why variations occur and basic mechanism of evolution. This mechanism is known as natural selection. Even though both Darwin and Wallace each developed explanation for natural selection; Charles Darwin gave a more thorough explanation and documented each theory to his book

We measured the skulls of the fossil hominins: Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Neanderthal. We measured the length, height, width and orbit height of their skulls to calculate the estimated brain size and estimated body mass. Hypothesis 1. For Life History, humans will reproduce earlier than the primates and apes because of their body mass. Apes and primates will reproduce at a younger age than the fossil hominins: Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Neanderthal

ago. The bones were found to have been heated to a range of temperatures consistent with campfires. The presence of these burnt bones is the earliest direct evidence for use of fire by hominids in the fossil record. Although abundant remains of Australopithecus robustus and Homo erectus are found in Swartkrans, there is no evidence of fire, suggesting that the discovery of fire was made in the interval before A. robustus became extinct. 3. Paranthropus robustus Genus name: Paranthropus robustus Age:

First of Our Kind, Kate Wong explains why the fossils found by paleoanthropologist Lee Berger could challenge current notions about human evolution. Geologists dated the fossils to be 1.9 million-years-old which makes this species younger than Australopithecus africanus and contemporary with Homo habilis. This, along with the mix of Homo and Australopithecine traits, led Berger to the theorize that this species was a descendant of A. africanus because of its location, and ancestor to Homo ergaster