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Earth History GEOL 2110
The Pleistocene Epoch The Dawn of Humans and the
Effects of Climate on Civilizations
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Major Concepts• Climatic changes produced distinctive flora and fauna that was
adapted to cold weather• Among flora were the expansion of grasslands, tundra, boreal
spruce forests, and hardwood forests• Among the fauna, cold adapted mammals such as mastodons,
mammoths, wooly rhinos, giant bison, ground sloths, and saber-toothed cats flourished.
• The first hominids appeared about 7 Ma; the genus homo, bipeds with big brains, appeared around 1.8 Ma just as glaciation took off.
• The first modern humans (homo sapiens) appeared about 90,000 ybp in East Africa and expanded to Asia and Europe by 40,000 ybp. Expansion to the Americas occurred round 12,000 as the Laurentide Ice sheet began to retreat
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Effect of Glaciation on Flora
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Effect of Glaciation on Flora
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Buried Forest at Two Creeks, WI
12,000
10,500
Fossil Boreal Spruce Forest
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Effect on Fauna40,000 ybp La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles
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Effect on FaunaMammals at the La Brea Tar Pits
HerbivoresColumbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi)American mastodon (Mammut americanum)Harlan's ground sloth (Paramylodon harlani)Jefferson's ground sloth (Megalonyx jeffersonii)Shasta ground sloth (Nothrotheriops shastensis)Giant bison (Bison latifrons)Ancient bison (Bison antiquus)American camel (Camelops hesterus)Stilt-legged llama (Hemiauchenia macrocephala)Western horse (Equus "occidentalis")Mexican horse (Equus conversidens)Peccary (Platygonus compressus)Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana)Dwarf pronghorn (Capromeryx minor)California tapir (Tapirus californicus)Elk (wapiti) (Cervus canadensis)Deer (Odocoileus sp.)
CarnivoresShort-faced bear (Arctodus simus)Brown bear (Ursus arctos)Black bear (Ursus americanus)Scimitar cat (Homotherium serum)Sabre-toothed cat (Smilodon fatalis)American lion (Panthera leo atrox)Jaguar (Panthera onca augusta)American cheetah (Miracinonyx inexpectatus)Cougar (Puma concolor)Bobcat (Lynx rufus)Dire wolf (Canis dirus)Gray wolf (Canis lupus)Coyote (Canis latrans)WeaselOmnivoresHuman (La Brea Woman)RaccoonSkunkBrown bear
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Fig. 16.29Evolution of Primates
Tetonius, an early primate of the Early (warm) Eocene,Western North America
Similar to present day lemurs of Madagascar
Cooling through the Cenozoic limited their range to Africa
Fossils are rare due to their upland existence
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Africa -Home of Human Evolution
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Aegyptopithecus, Early apeOligocene (~ 30 Ma), Egypt
Sivapithecus , Ancestor to Orangutans & Humans Miocene (8 Ma), Pakistan
Mid-Cenozoic Apes develop Hominoid attributes
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Molecular evidenceBiological Similarities between Humans and Apes
• chromosome structure - mostly identical• amino acid sequences for hemoglobin (all 287) are identical in
chimpanzee and humans (we differ from gorilla in only two amino acids, and from orangutan in only four)
• comparison of all genetic material reveals that humans differ from chimpanzees in only 1.6% of their DNA (gorillas differ by 2.3% from chimpanzees)
• genetic data also suggests that the separation from the gorilla lineage occurred about 10 million years ago and the human lineage split from that leading to chimpanzees about 7 million years ago
• genetically humans are a lineage in the anthropoid class - we are closely related to great apes
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Anatomical Differences with Apestwo major differences make humans unique• balanced bipedal posture
– head is balanced on the spinal column– rib cage is more barrel shaped– backbone is re-curved and the pelvic structure is rotated– our legs are twice as massive compared to our bodies as gorillas
and our arms only 2/3 as massive– our hind limbs (legs) are proportionately longer and altered to
permit striding gait• large brain to body weight ratio
– unlike in apes and other mammals, the human brain continues to grow for a year after birth
– our huge mental capacity allowed for the development of language and a unique culture
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Evolution of HumansHomonids split from Ape relatives 6-7 Ma
Lucy
4 Species of HomonidsLiving Side-by-Side
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•Between 6 and 3 Ma the record is patchy, but:• Ardipithecus from about 5.8 - 4.4 Ma• Australopithecus (including Lucy):• big molar teeth and jaw structure• hips intermediate between chimps
and humans
Genus Australopithecus Appears 4.2 Ma
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Australopithecus afarensisLucy
About 3.5 My old
Lucy
20 yrs old3.5’ tall
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Laetoli footprints (3.5 million years old)
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•Paranthropus (large toothed)• co-existed with genus Homo • go extinct around 1.3 Ma with a number of other
African mammals
Australopithecus Genus Splits at 2.7 M into Homo and Papanthropus lineages
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Homo erectus appears about 1.6 Ma, with strong resemblance to modern humans • limbs designed for long-distance running• Disperses out of Africa around 1.0 Ma to
Dmanisi, Georgia• Takes on the behavior of large carnivores• Disperses as far as China and Indonesia• Like apes, grew up early and died young• Developed the hand axe• First use of fire around 700,000 years ago
Homo habilis (“The Handy Man”) fossils about 1.75Ma• stone tool artifacts attributed to
Homo appear around 2.6 Ma• larger brain, about 700 to 1000 cc in
capacity
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• Humans are the only species that cook their food
• Homo erectus emerged about two million years ago as a result of this unique trait.
• Cooking had profound evolutionary effect because it increased food efficiency which allowed human ancestors to spend less time foraging, chewing, and digesting.
• H. erectus developed via a smaller, more efficient digestive tract which freed up energy to enable larger brain growth.
• Cooking and control of fire generally affected species development by providing warmth and helping to fend off predators which helped human ancestors adapt to a ground-based lifestyle.
• Humans are highly evolved for eating cooked food and cannot maintain reproductive fitness with raw food
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Dmanisi
‘Ubeidiya, Israel 1.4 my
Mojokerto 1.8 my ?
Sangiran 1.66 my ?
Nihewan, China 1.6 my
Spain1.2 my
Italy 0.8 my
Homo ErectusDisperses Out of Africa
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Tools since 2.6 MaPerhaps marking the first appearance of Genus Homo
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Homo Erectus ~1.7 Ma (onset of continental glaciation)migrate to Java and China
Neanderthals disperse throughout Africa and Europe500,000 to 30,000 years ago
Homo Sapiens greatly expanded in numbers and migrated out of Africa around 75,000 years ago
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Migration into the Americas
Bering Land Bridge Canadian Corridor Panama Land Bridge
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Climate effects on Humanity since the glaciers left
Lush environment in the Nile and Tigris River Valleys
Large Mammals go extinct due to overhunting and warming of climate
Drought and famine hit the Mediterranean
Greenland settled
Famine & disease in Europe, Greenland abandoned
Potato Famine
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North Shore Field Trip
Sunday, May 4, 2014
DEPART at 8:00AM