ANT-2230 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Homo Habilis, Diastema, Australopithecine
16 Aug 2016
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Document Summary
Australopithecus crania and teeth look apes, bipedalism is the only thing that sets australopithecus apart from other apes. Look different from apes in their post cranial skeletons: more similar to humans. More similar to apes (australopithecines: why we call them upright apes . Teeth: the shape of the dental arcade differs, more parallel/ u shaped in australopithecus, canines. Most catarrhine primates (old world) have projecting canines. Sex dimorphic: males have really big projecting canines, females have smaller projecting canines. Male-male competition, show teeth as a back off thing. Diastema: the place where the projecting canine rests: can tell if canines are projecting even if teeth are missing. Early australopithecines had projecting canines and a diastema but it wasn"t as projecting as other apes but more projecting than other australopithecines. 4mya with lucy, afarensis, and africanis: diet. Crania and teeth are defined by diet. Very hard diet of seeds, nuts, grasses. Things that are very hard/tough to chew.
