Human Family Tree

Split with chimps & bonobos (MRCA) about 7M years ago

For most of human evolution, different species of hominid lived side by side

Human evolution was not a straight line – there were many side branches and dead ends

Our species is very young (about 150,000 yrs. old)

Human evolution is a fact, not a theory

Five Key Points

Australopithecus

• Appeared in Africa c. 4 million y.a. and lasted for over 2 million years!• Bipedal (walked on two feet)• Started losing body hair• Brain no bigger than a chimp (about 1/3 size of our brain)• Lucy – 3.5M years ago, 25 yr. old. Female, found in Ethiopia

Homo habilis

• Appeared in Africa c. 2.5 million y.a. and lasted until c. 1.5 million y.a.• First tool maker (“handy man”)• Overlapped with Australopithecus• Larger brain, smaller face than Australopithecus• Beginning of Paleolithic Age

Homo erectus

• Appeared in Africa c. 1.8 million y.a. and lasted until c. 100,000 yrs. ago

• Learned how to control fire and cook food• Lived in hunter-gathering bands• Spread around the world, including in Asia (Peking Man, Java Man)

Homo neanderthalensis

• Also called Neanderthal Man – bones first found in Neander Valley• Lived in Europe from about 400,000 until only 30,000 years ago• Brain size similar to ours but thicker body structure and big brows• Buried their dead – and sometimes included grave goods• Wiped out by modern human? Or out-competed? Or inter-bred?

Homo sapiens

• Modern human – sapiens means “wise”• Appeared in Africa about 200,000 years ago – a young species!• Found in Middle East and Asia by 60,000 years ago• Found in Europe by 40,000 years ago (Cro-Magnons)• Advanced tools – cave art

Overlapping Species

• Many side

branches.

• All extinct except

us.

• Which is a parent

and which a

cousin?

Very VERY Long Time Span

• How many generations of your family do you know?• How many do you think there are if you go back to Australopithecus??• Assume one generation = 20 years

World Migration

…partly thanks to ice age “land bridges”

What is Culture?

Technology

More specialized

Homo hablis

Homo erectus

Cro-Magnon

Art

Knowledge, Beliefs and Behavior

Cave Art