1. The Last Ape Standing

2. It is therefore probable that Africa was formerly inhabited by extinct apes closely allied to the gorilla and chimpanzee: and as these two species are now man’s nearest allies, it is somewhat more probable that our early progenitors lived on the African continent than elsewhere. -Darwin (1871) The Descent of Man

3. Mt-DNA Primate Tree

4. Our Living Sisters Pan Gorilla

5. Living Asian Apes
Gibbon (Hyalobates)
Orangutan (Pongo)

6. Apes in the Primates

7. Features that distinguish the Hominins from other living apes
Bipedal Locomotion
Figure 1 from Richmond, B. G., D. R. Begun, and D. S. Strait Origin of human bipedalism: The knuckle-walking hypothesis revisited. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology. 44:

9. Bipedalism Freed the hands and allowed more manipulative capabilities
Led to a higher thermoregulatory efficiency
Widened feeding potential
Reduced predation pressures
Was more energetically efficient mode of locomotion

10. Oldest evidence of bipedalism
70 footprints in volcanic ash dated to 3.6 MYA, Laetoli, Tanzania, discovered by a team led by Mary Leakey in 1978

11. Footprint experiment (Raichlen et al. 2010)
A. Normal gait in sand (H.sapiens) B. Bent-knee, bent-hip gait in sand (similar to walk of apes) C. Footprint from Laetoli, Tanzania

12. Features that distinguish the Hominins from other living apes
Neoteny
Nakedness
Large Brain Size
Reduced Dentition

13. The Neotenic Apes

14. Hair loss and lice
Summarized in Reed et al Pair of lice lost or parasites regained: the evolutionary history of anthropoid primate lice. BMC Biology 5:7.
doi: /

15. Phylogeny of some living primates and their lice
Also from Reed et al. (2007)

16. Tales of the Lice
Human head louse vs chimp louse (how long ago we diverged) ~6-7MYA
Human head louse vs human body louse (how long ago we began to wear clothes) ~50-100KYA
Human pubic louse vs gorilla body louse (how long ago we began to lose fur to patches of hair) ~3-4MYA

17. Large Brain
Potts 2011
Navarette et al. 2011

18. Image from Anthropological Curiosities.
Reduced dentition
 Image from Anthropological Curiosities.

19. Features that distinguish the Hominins from other apes
Vocal Communication
Lower larynx
Fox P2 gene

21. PBS NOVA

22. Data from NASA, USGS, NOAA
Miocene Epoch
MYA
Epoch of ape radiation (>100 species of apes in the latter part of the Miocene)
They ranged though Africa, Europe, and Asia
The end of the Miocene saw the separation between the African Apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas) and the Hominin Apes
Africa moved northward and formed the Mediterranean Sea, which dried out multiple times.
Data from NASA, USGS, NOAA

23. Radiation of the Apes in the Miocene

24. Ardipithecus Africa Brain ~300-350cc 120 (f) cm tall 50 (f) kg
~6.0 – 4.2 MYA

25. Data from NASA, USGS, NOAA
Pliocene Epoch
MYA
Epoch of bipedal ape radiation.
They ranged though Africa
Gracile and robust lines
Pliocene relatively warm
Data from NASA, USGS, NOAA

26. Human Phylogeny From Wood (2010)
Paranthropus
Homo
Australopithecus
Ardipithecus
Orrorin
Sahelanthropus

27. Hominin Series (A) Pan troglodytes, chimpanzee, modern
(B) Australopithecus africanus, 2.6 My
(C) Australopithecus africanus, 2.5 My
(D) Homo habilis, 1.9 My
(E) Homo habilis, 1.8 My
(F) Homo rudolfensis, 1.8 My
(G) Homo erectus, 1.75 My
(H) Homo ergaster (early H. erectus), 1.75 My
(I) Homo heidelbergensis, 300, ,000 y
(J) Homo neanderthalensis, 70,000 y
(K) Homo neanderthalensis, 60,000 y
(L) Homo neanderthalensis, 45,000 y
(M) Homo sapiens, 30,000 y
(N) Homo sapiens, modern

28. Australopithicines Range restricted to Africa, 1-4 MYA
Bipedal, but shoulders indicate well adapted to climbing
Body size: 1.0 to 1.5 M
Mass: kg
Brain about the size of a chimpanzee

29. Data from NASA, USGS, NOAA
Pleistocene Epoch
MYA
Appearance and radiation of Homo.
They ranged though Africa and emerged into the rest of the earth.
Global climates extremely unsettled and variable
Data from NASA, USGS, NOAA

30. Homo habilis Africa Brain ~500-800 cc 100 (f) – 135 (m) cm tall
32 (f) – 37 (m) kg
~ MYA

31. Olduwan stone tools in Ethiopia
MYA
Chipped pebbles and choppers, usually lava
Likely made by H. habilis

32. Homo erectus Africa, Eurasia ~Brain 750-1225 cc
145 (f) – 185 (m) cm tall
40 (f) – 68 (m) kg
~ MYA

33. Range of H. erectus Evidence for controlled use of fire
Acheulean tools ( MYA)

34. Smithsonian Institution
Homo heidelbergensis
Africa, Eurasia
Brain ~ cc
157 (f) (m) cm tall
51 (f) – 62 (m) kg
~ MYA
Smithsonian Institution

35. Homo neanderthalensis
Eurasia
Brain ~ cc
155 (f) – 164 (m) cm tall
54 (f) – 64 (m) kg
~ MYA
Neanderthal Museum

36. Range of the Neanderthals

37. Behaviors of H. neanderthalensis
Scavengers and up close spear hunting of large animals (see Figure)
Relatively complex stone tools (Mousterian, see Figure)
Tools from wood, bone, tusks, and antlers
Evidence of burials and ceremony
Possible verbal communication

38. The Denisovans
Known from genomic evidence (taken from teeth and finger bones)
Seem to be a subspecies or sister to Neanderthals
Some interbreeding with Homo sapiens

39. Homo floresiensis Asia (Indonesia) Brain ~380-417 cc ~106 (f?) cm tall
30 (f?) kg
~ MYA

40. Homo sapiens Africa to all land surfaces ~1350 cc (975-1499)
US ave: 162 (f) – (m) cm tall
US ave: 74 (f) – 86.4 (m) kg
~present-0.2 MYA

41. Homo sapiens
Appeared ~200,000 years ago with a suite of behaviors similar to neanderthals
Likely in small populations (~140) with a total number of 100,000
Bottleneck reduced to ~10,000 individuals

42. Theories regarding the origin of Homo sapiens
Recent Out of Africa
More consistent with the genetic data
Mitochondrial
Y-chromosome
Genetic variability
Consistent with language families
Neanderthals a different species
Multiregional Hypothesis
Explains racial differences by isolation and periodic mixing between populations
Connects H. erectus directly to H. sapiens
Neanderthal a step in the evolution of modern humans

44. Genetic variation in Homo sapiens

45. Classic archaeologically-accessible evidence of behavioral modernity includes:
finely-made tools
fishing
evidence of long-distance exchange or barter among groups
systematic use of pigment (such as ochre) and jewelry for decoration or self-ornamentation
figurative art (cave paintings, petroglyphs, figurine)
game playing and music
foods being cooked and seasoned instead of being consumed in the raw
burial
Calvin A Brief History of Mind; Stringer Origin of our Species

46. Homo sapiens, the generalist
Rick Potts of the Smithsonian Institution

47. Why are we the last ape standing?
We were lucky
We outcompeted the other bipedal apes
We killed the other bipedal apes