Biology II Notes

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Biology II Notes

Hominid
Family Tree

Note: The evolutionary theory of human developement is perhaps one of the most volatile of the science world. Every few years, new ideas and fossil evidence surfaces and causes changes in theories. You can ask 5 leading paleoanthropologists of today to diagram the human family tree, and you'd probably get 5 different versions.

Here (below) is a simplified version of one of the more commonly accepted views of the hominid family tree in the 80s and 90s. Recent work has altered this view (see other versions below).

This diagram to the right shows another possible 'family tree' for humans. Even though it appeared in an article as recently as 1998, most scholars removed a. africanus from the direct lineage of modern humans years before and some scholars place H. heidelbergensis as the "Pre-Human" ancestor.

Below is yet another version of our 'family tree.' Noticed that this one says A. africanus may have been included in our direct line.

Australopithecenes & Hominids

Three predominant theories by prominent people in the field are illustrated below (from Becoming Human).

Johanson tree
D. Johanson model

Tattersall tree
I. Tattersall model

Wood tree
B. Wood model

As new fossils are found and new ideas developed, it will probably continue to change. There are more variations of the hominid family tree. A recent article even suggests that chimpanzees be placed within the Homo genus. Perhaps the best, most up-to-date theory can be found by the Smithsonian Institution (below).

Species	Date Found	Where Found	Dated At	Fossils Found	Notes	Specimens (Type specimen)
Sahelanthropus tchadensis	2001	Chad	6-7 myo	nearly complete cranium, lower jaw fragments & teeth	350cc brain size	TM 266-01-060-1

Orrorin tugenensis	2001	Kenya	6 myo	arm & thigh bone fragments, cranium fragment, lower jaws & teeth		BAR 1000'00

Ardipithecus ramidus	1994	Ethiopia	4.4-5.8 myo	skull fragments, teeth; a 45% complete skeleton has been recently found		17 individuals at ARA-VP-6/1 & ARA-VP-7/2

Australopithecus anamensis	1965	Kenya	3.9-4.2 myo	tibia fragment, skull fragments, jawbones, & teeth	the 12 fossils had been found in 1988; named 1994	KP 271, KP 29281, KP 29285
Australopithecus afarensis	1973	Ethiopia, Tanzania	3-3.9 myo	fragments from throughout the skeleton	375-550cc brain size; Lucy is a 40% complete skeleton; the Laetoli footprints may be from A. afarensis	AL 129-1, AL 288-1 (Lucy), AL 333 Site (First Family); AL 444-2
Kenyanthropus platyops	1999	Kenya	3.5 myo	skull fragments, teeth		KNM WT 40000
Australopithecus africanus	1924	South Africa	2-3 myo	skull fragments, teeth, vertebrae, pelvis, rib & femur fragments	420-500cc brain size	"Taung child", TM 1512. Sts 5 (Mrs Ples), Sts 14, Stw 573 ? (Little Foot)
Australopithecus garhi	1997	Ethiopia	2.5 myo	skull fragments, teeth		BOU-VP-12/130
Australopithecus aethiopicus	1985	Kenya	2.3-2.6 myo	almost complete skull	410cc brain size; 1 major specimen (the Black Skull); some classify as a Paranthropus	Omo 18, KNM-WT17000 (A. walkeri)
Australopithecus robustus	1938	South Africa	1.5-2 myo	skull fragments, teeth, a few skeletal fragments	530cc brain size;some classify as a Paranthropus	TM 1517, SK 48, DNH 7 (Eurydice), DNH 8 (Orpheus)
Australopithecus boisei	1959	Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia	1.1-2.1 myo	skull fragments, teeth	530cc brain size; some classify as a Paranthropus	OH 5 (Nutcracker man), KNM-ER 406, KNM-ER 732, KGA10-525

Homo habilis	1960	Tanzania	1.5-2.4 myo	skull fragments, teeth	650cc brain size; a partial skeleton was recently found	OH 7 (Jonny's child), OH 8, OH 13 (Cindy), OH 16 (George), OH 24 (Twiggy), OH 62 (Dik-dik hominid), OH 65; ***
Homo rudolfensis						KNM-ER 1470
Homo georgicus	2002	Georgia	1.8 myo	skull fragments, teeth	600cc brain size	D2700, D2280, D2282
Homo erectus	1891	Africa, Asia, Europe	300,000-1.8 myo	skull fragments, teeth, skeletal bones	1000cc brain size	Trinil 2 (Java Man), Peking Man Site, Sangiran 2, OH 9 (Chellean Man), OH 12 (Pinhead), Sangiran 17, KNM-ER 3733?, KNM-WT 15000?
Homo ergaster					some say the H.erectus fossils in Africa should be H.ergaster	KNM-ER 3733?, KNM-WT 15000? (Turkana boy), KNM-ER 992
Homo antecessor	1977	Spain	800,000 kyo	facial fragments	10-11 yr old child	ATD6-69
Homo heidelbergensis	1907	Europe	500,000-? kyo	fairly complete skeletons	1200cc brain size	Mauer 1 (Heidelberg Man), Arago XXI (Tautavel Man)
Homo neanderthalensis	1856	Europe, Middle East	30,000-230,000 kyo	fairly complete skeletons	1450cc brain size	Feldhofer, Spy 1 and 2, Krapina Site, La-Chapelle-aux-Saints, Shanidar Site, Saint-Cesaire,
Homo sapiens (archaic)			???-150,000 kyo	fairly complete skeletons	1350cc brain size	Rhodesian Man, Petralona 1, Atapuerca 5
Homo sapiens (modern)	1868	Europe	present-30,000 kyo	complete skeletons	1350cc brain size	Cro-Magnon Site, many more

kyo = thousand years ago; myo = million years old

*** Several fossils may be H. habilis or H. rudolfensis or ???; these include: KNM-ER 1470 (Kenya), KNM-ER 1805 (Mystery Skull; Kenya), KNM-ER 1813 (Kenya), Stw 53 (S.Africa)

Other species may include: A. bahrelghazali ? (KT 12/H1); A. crassidens (SK 6), A. praegens (KNM-T1 13150), Homo louisleakeyi (OH 9), Homo microcranous (KNM-ER 1813)

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