ANP 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus, Olduvai Gorge
Document Summary
Robust species- morphologically (larger teeth, bones, muscles) via specializing in diets of seeds and nuts. Gracile species- behaviorally via wider dietary diversity- they probably gave rise to the genus homo. *in the pliocene, the climate shifted cooler & drier. *this made food increasingly seasonal, tough and difficult to find. *two forms of australopithecines seem to have adapted differently: *first discovered by louis leakey at olduvai gorge, but specimens found in east and south. *postcranial similarities to a. africanus, but cranially different: *h. habilis lived when grasslands were spreading (increasing habitat diversity) *skull and tooth morphology suggest dietary variability in homo habilis. *tools became fundamental to survival, unlike for australopithecines. *stone tools important for obtaining food resources as well as for processing foods evidence. Today, it is widely accepted that habilis as the first hominid species purposefully made and used stone tools. H. habilis were probably scavengers rather than hunters, assessed from faunal.
