ANT203H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Paranthropus Aethiopicus, Orrorin, Lee Rogers Berger
Document Summary
Pre-australopithecines; earliest hominins (7-4. 2mya: sahelanthropus tchanesis, orrorin tugenensis, ardipithecus kaddaba, ar. Australopithecines (4. 2-1mya: australopithecus anamensis, au. afarensis, au. deriyemeda, au. bahrelghazali, kenyanthrpus platyops. Post-3mya australopithecines: paranthropus aethiopicus, p. boisei, p. robustus, paranthropus are highly derived and it is thought their specialized diet led them to extinction, thought to be a side branch of human evolution. Group contains candidates for ancestor of homo. Characteristics in relation to homo: larger teeth, large prognathic face, small brains. Raymond dart discovered the first specimen in 1924: taung child. Found at multiple south african sites taung, sterkfontein, makapansgat. Skeletally were less ape-like than earlier australopithecines but were still relatively small. Start to have human-like dental formation relatively large incisors with small canines. Relative brain size is 25% larger than apes. Many famous specimens: taung child, mrs. ples. Discovered by matthew berger, son of lee berger in 2008. Found bone of teenage karabo and adult partial skeletons.
