Human Evolution Biology Notes

Primates Ancient mammal ancestors of prosimians, monkeys, apes, and humans –Grasping hands and feet –Forward eye placement, allows for depth perception

The First Primates Prosimians –Active at night –Live in trees, are endangered because of habitat destruction

Specialization of Primates Diurnal- became active during the day –Daytime adaptation: color vision, led to more complex brain structure Opposable Thumb –Allows for use of tools

Monkeys & Apes Are they the same? How are they similar? How are they different?

Monkeys & Apes are NOT the Same!!! Monkey (New & Old World monkeys –Primate ancestors from Africa –Smaller brains –Have tails Ape –Evolved in Africa –Larger, more developed brains than monkeys –NO tails

The Primate Family Tree

Hominids Bipedal Primates, able to walk upright on two legs Diverged from the group that gave rise to Chimpanzees

The Earliest Hominid Australopithecus –Bipedal – lbs, feet tall –Brain larger than a chimpanzee but less than 1/3 the size of yours –The oldest known Australopithecus fossils are 4.2 million years old, found in Kenya in 1995

The Rise of Humans Our Genus (one category larger than species) is Homo The first Homo species appear 2 million years ago

Homo habilis Homo= Man, habilis=handy 2 million years ago Larger brain, taller than Australopithecus Went extinct 1.5 million years ago

Homo erectus Appeared 1.5 million years ago, replaced habilis 5ft tall, brain almost twice as large as habilis Lived in tribes, hunted large animals & cooked Migrated through Europe and Asia

Homo sapien - Neanderthal Replaced erectus 200,000 years ago Appeared in Africa first, then spread Large and bony, brain size larger than us Buried dead, created art, evidence of abstract thinking

Homo sapien - Modern Human Appeared in Africa 34,000 years ago Replaced Neanderthal in Europe & Asia, spread to the Americas Capable of complex thought- social organization, language, tool making