AN237 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Australopithecus, Raymond Dart, Bipedalism
Document Summary
Darwin - africa as the birthplace of humanity - why: other animals closely realted to us were found here. Piltdown hoax - 1912- 1953: cranium and mandible, ppl thought it was the an early human ancestor. Taung baby - raymond dart, 1925 australopithecus: position of foreman magnum was centre/bottom which indicates bipedalism. Lumpers and splitters: since then (1950s) lots of new material, lots of new taxa, speciose vs. less speciose, names not necessarily permanent, box 9. 1 of the text in textbook. Our earliest ancestors: 4-7ma-lca, chimp like; but bipedal. Ape + hominin characteristics protohominins: very few panini or gorillanini fossils, slow or fast speciation, se box 9. 2 the two lines may have been interbreeding for a million years. What was it like in east africa at that time: mosaic habitat in east africa at this time (spatial) Different habitats in 1 region: climate changing (temporal, savannah hypothesis. Switch from arboreal to savannah: forest hypothesis.
