1. Human Evolution

2. Evolution of Primates
Charles Darwin suggested that humans, gorillas and chimpanzees evolved from a common ancestor
Primates- mammal group that includes prosimians, monkeys, apes, and humans

3. Characteristics of Primates
Grasping hands and feet
Cling to mother
Climb trees
Grab food
Forward placement of eyes
Depth perception
Helped when swinging through tree

4. First Primates Oldest fossils is a prosimian (38 million years old)
Night active (nocturnal)
Modern prosimians
Lorises
Lemurs
Tarsiers
Tarsier
Lorises
Lemur

5. Evolution of Special Traits
36 million years ago, some primates became diurnal (day active)
Evolution of daytime vision
Cone cells in the eye developed
Detects color
Larger brain

6. Monkeys First primates to have opposable thumbs
Ability to manipulate things

7. Apes Shared common ancestor with monkeys
Apes first appeared 30 million years ago
Larger, more developed brain than monkeys
No tails
DNA differs only 1.6 percent from humans

8. Evolution of Upright Walking
Early primates walked on all fours
Some developed the skill of walking on two legs
Hominids- group that walked upright

9. Oldest Hominid Fossil 4.4 million years old Ape-like
Called Ardipithecus

10. Hominids Australopithecus Earliest known ancestor
Bipedal (walk on two legs)
Large brain
3.5 feet tall and 40 pounds

11. Australopithecus
Australopithecus Africanus (2 million years ago) “manlike ape”
Australopithecus boisei (almost 2 million years ago) large teeth and jaw
Australopithecus afarensis (3 million years ago) “Lucy”

12. Genus Homo Homo Habilis Oldest Member of Geneus
Evolved from austropithecines about 2 million years ago
Used tools (habilis means handy)
About 4 feet tall
Lived in Africa

13. First Hominid Out of Africa
Homo erectus
Called Java man, found on island of Java
Leg bone and skull size indicates it walked upright and had a large brain
Used fire
Lived in tribes
Hunted and cooked
Disappeared 200,000 years ago

14. Homo Sapiens Sapien means “wise” First known paintings Two theories
Homo erectus groups inter bred and formed new species
Started in Africa and migrated replacing homo erectus
In Europe about 130,000 years ago

15. Homo Sapiens in Europe First fossils are of Neanderthals
Homo Neanderthalensis
Massive skulls
Protruding face
Heavy, bony ridge over brow
Large brain (larger than today’s human)
Would have evolved into a separate species
70,000 years ago very common

16. Neanderthals Took care of injured Buried the dead
Placed food, flowers, and other objects at grave site
Belief in life after death
Abstract thinking

17. Modern Homo Sapiens 34,000 years ago Replaced the Neanderthal Hunted
Complex social organization
Used language
12,000 years ago came to N. America
Change the environment to suit our needs not the other way around