9: Early Hominins

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Kerryn Warren, Lindsay Hunter, Navashni Naidoo, & Silindokuhle Mavuso

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Learning Objectives

Understand what is meant by “derived” and “ancestral” traits and why this is relevant for understanding early hominin evolution.
Understand changing paleoclimates and paleoenvironments as potential factors influencing early hominin adaptations.
Describe the anatomical changes associated with bipedalism and dentition in early hominins, as well as their implications..
Describe early hominin genera and species, including their currently understood dates and geographic expanses.
Describe the earliest stone tool techno-complexes and their impact on the transition from early hominins to our genus.

Thumbnail: An artistic reconstruction of Australopithecus africanus by John Gurche. Credit: Australopithecus africanus. Reconstruction based on STS 5 by John Gurche by the Smithsonian [exhibit: “Reconstructed Faces: What Does It Mean to Be Human?] is copyrighted and used for educational and noncommercial purposes as outlined by the Smithsonian.

This chapter is a revision from “ Chapter 9: Early Hominins ” by Kerryn Warren, K. Lindsay Hunter, Navashni Naidoo, Silindokuhle Mavuso, Kimberleigh Tommy, Rosa Moll, and Nomawethu Hlazo . In Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology, first edition , edited by Beth Shook, Katie Nelson, Kelsie Aguilera, and Lara Braff, which is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 .