Homo hablis
The next most recent ancestor of man is Homo habilis. The first ever fossil remains of Homo habilis were discovered in 1964 in Tanzania, East Africa by the Leakeys. Robert Jurmain wrote in his text book, Introduction to Physical Anthropology, "Louis Leakey suggested that there was a Plio-Pleistocene hominid with a significantly larger brain then found in Australiopithecus. They made this claim based on the findings at Olduvai Gorge." Leakey and his team gave a new species name to the fossil remains The fossils of Homo habilis are different then those of the Australopithecines by several physical characteristics such as a larger cranial cavity, smaller rear teeth, and skeletal bones which resemble modern humans.
Homo habilis means "handy man", Fossils uncovered in Tanzania date back about 1.8 to 2 million years. Stone tools were also found with the remains of H. habilis and the remains of some Australopithecines. Jurmain wrote "... Leakey argued that other remains found at Olduvai were the remains of a hablis meal!". From my notes taken in Physical Anthropology class, I wrote, there has been debate over the assertion by Leakey and it is noted that cultural and physical morphology must be considered when determining whether they were cannibalistic.. It is believed that the more advanced Homo habilis created and used tools.
Homo habilis is considered to be the earliest member of the human genus Homo, it represents the evolutionary transition between the Australopithecines and the later members of the species Homo erectus. Jurmain wrote in his textbood, "While A. africanus had a cranial capacity that averaged between 375 cu cm (22.9 cu in) and 485 cu cm (29.6 cu in), the Homo habilis brain averaged 750 cu cm (45.8 cu in)--compared to the modern human brain size of 1,300 to 1,350 cu cm (or 79.3 to 82.4 cu in)." As hominid's became more human, they developed the production of tools from materials such as stone. Stone tools are the more valuable artifacts because they are the ones that have survived to modern times. Others artifacts that were needed for the survival of habilis , were likely made from wood, bone, fiber, and hide. These materials have not survived like the stone tools. The tools of habilis have been found in larger numbers than its actual bones. This is because one individual could make hundred of stone tool in a life time.
...ts were labelled with the upper case letters which represented the material types and a numeric letter. The artifacts were placed in different boxes. The artifact analysis was then conducted and the characteristics such as tool type and material type of each artifact were recorded on the artifact catalog forms. The material samples of lithic tools, faunal remains, and ceramics remains were compare with existing artifacts to identify their material type. The Vernier scale was used for the measurements of each lithic tools.
A study performed by Martin Hausler and Peter Schmid of the University of Zurich, Switzerland, appeared in the October 1995 issue of Journal of Human Evolution, igniting controversy over the 1974 Australopithecus discoveries in Hadar, Ethiopia. The most famous of the Hadar specimens is the 3-million-year-old skeleton, “Lucy,” who was recovered by paleoanthropologist, Donald Johanson. In his article, Shreeve presents the methods and findings of Hausler and Schmid’s study as well as some counter arguments from other scientists in the field.
Afterward, he revealed to us within a half million years, Homo ergaster or Homo erectus started to become apparent in East Africa. Later on, modern humans- Homo Sapiens, arrived eventually. Furthermore, learning how humans lived earlier in comparison today is much more complex. Each culture, religious practices, appearance, characteristics, and norms are different from this present day. (Christian 14-15).
Humans are not the only species with the ability of making tools. Early on in her research, Jane Goodall observed an older male chimp, she called him David Greybeard. Through her observation of David, she witnessed two forms of the use of tools. The first was the use of grass as a tool to extract termites from their mounds. The second was the making of a tool by stripping the leaves off a twig, modifying it for the same purpose. When Louis Leakey heard this, he wrote her “Now we must redefine tool, redefine man, or except chimpanzees as humans” (Goodall, 2002). There is a definite correlation between man and chimps in this respect. Human culture involves learned behaviors through observation, imitation and practice, the use of tools with chimpanzees show the same ability for learned beh...
On November 24, 1974, an American Anthropologist by the name of Donald Johanson and his research team, made a ground-breaking discovery that caused a mass dispute in human evolution. Dr. Johanson documented in his book, Lucy The Beginning Of Mankind, the discoveries he and his team have come across. Dr. Johanson and his team discovered a skeleton of a hominid, dated between 3.9 to 3 million years old (164). The hominid, which they referred to as Lucy, was discovered while surveying Hadar, in the Dafar region of Ethiopia (164-166). Lucy’s discovery, a 41% complete human ancestor caused a controversial alteration in the human origins. Lucy was the oldest human ancestor. During the following year, Johanson’s team discovered fossilized remains
All of us have tools to make life easier. For example your cell phone is a tool that you use to communicate with. Paleolithic tools differed from Neolithic tools. The Paleolithic tool kit shown in document one was made for hunting.
Australopithecus afarensis who existed 3.5 million years ago and a 4.4 million year old skeleton of an Ardipithecus ramidus are the closest science has come to discovering the human lineage. Shattered Ancestry an article written by Katherine Harmon discusses the remains of two hominids found within Ethiopia. These skeletal remains have created a huge controversy within the topic of evolution questioning many assumptions that have been made referencing the human lineage. The skeleton of the Australopithecus afarensis was named Lucy and was discovered in 1974. The evidence of her walking upright on her two feet essentially guaranteed her a spot in the human lineage line. Lucy was a chimplike ape that was said to walk upright making scientists believe the human ancestry was simple. The complete skeleton found in Ethiopia of an Ardipithecus ramidus named Ardi completely changed all assumptions made from scientists about the complexity of the human lineage. These remains have encouraged researches that the human line is not the only lineage to have evolved but the chimpanzee line has undergone drastic changes as well. There are many traits that researchers have always directly linked to the human lineage however since these discoveries occurred researchers are reconsidering. The recent discoveries that have shattered what has always suggested what linked a species to the human lineage have changed the certainty of whether it is possible to confidently identify the human’s last common ancestor. Majority of scientist had forgotten that there would have been many hominid species living together at one time. New theories have been suggested since scientists revealed that the foot of a hominid found called the Burtele site was found ju...
As archeological discoveries of bone fragments and fossils continue to support the existence of homo-sapiens
Myers, provider of source material for Edie Heydt's notes from "Human Origins," fall 1997, Alfred. Much of the material in the notes is paraphrased, and the original information sources are unknown.
The species A. afarensis is one of the better known australopithecines, with regards to the number of samples attributed to the species. From speculations about their close relatives, the gorilla and chimpanzee, A. afarensis’ probable social structure can be presumed. The species was named by Johanson and Taieb in 1973. This discovery of a skeleton lead to a heated debate over the validity of the species. The species eventually was accepted by most researchers as a new species of australopithecine and a likely candidate for a human ancestor.
Bindon, Jim 2004 Fossil Hominids. ANT 270 Notes. http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/bindon/ant270/lectures/ hominids1.pdf Delson, Eric 1981
B. There is not clear evidence that homo habilis have hunted big game. Homo habilis was certainly a scavenger and possibly a hunter. They most likely were primarily vegetarians who occasionally ate meat that was mostly scavenged from the leftovers of kills abandoned by lion and other large predators. They also may have hunted small game. Early humans were primarily wild plant food collectors and occasional scavengers of meat. During the time of Homo erectus, scavenging and small game hunting became much more important.
In conclusion, the Homo Sapien is the most complex creature and it gets most of its features from past ancestors. The Homo Sapien gets its walking upright ability from the Australopithecus Genus. We get our large molars from the the Paranthropus Genus. We also get our cultural and artwork abilities from the Homo Erectus group. We learned our craftsman skills from the Homo Habilis group. Overall the Homo Sapien’s group is very diverse with all the evolving it has done from the beginning of time and passed on from generation to generation these skills, and these skills are still used until this day, we would never be as advanced as we are today if it weren't for the past of the human race.
1.9 million years ago, Homo Habilis of East Africa had evolved into an entirely new species known as Homo erectus. Homo erectus directly translates to "Upright man" and for good reason. One of largest anatomical advancements of Homo erectus was their arm and leg bones which were very similar in shape and proportions to that of modern day humans. "Their legs would have made Homo erectus efficient long distance runners like modern humans."(Dennis). Along with their longer more developed legs, Homo erectus's leg were also hairless which allowed them to evaporate sweat and thus be more efficient at not overheating. This advantage allowed Homo erectus to chase down four legged mammals to the point of heat exhaustion and thus drastically increase the efficiency their hunting tactics. Another change in the legs of Homo erectus was their slightly more narrow pelvises. This forced the size of a child’s head to be smaller at birth and undergo most of its development during childhood. (Dennis)
The evidence for human evolution begins with the australopithecines. All the australopithecines were bipedal and therefore possible hominines. In details of their teeth, jaws, and brain size, however, they modify enough among themselves to be divided into five species: Australopithecus anamensis, A. afarensis, A. africanus, A. robustus, and A. boisei. Genus Homo are also divided in five different spices: Homo erectus, H. habilis, H. sapiens, and H. sapiens sapiens.