9.4: Hominin Charts
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Dates |
7 mya to 6 mya |
Region(s) |
Chad |
Famous discoveries |
The initial discovery, made in 2001. |
Brain size |
360 cc average |
Dentition |
Smaller than in extant great apes, larger and pointier than in humans. Canines worn at the tips. |
Cranial features |
A short cranial base and a foramen magnum (hole in which the spinal cord enters the cranium) that is more humanlike in positioning, has been argued to indicate upright walking. |
Postcranial features |
Currently little published postcranial material. |
Culture |
N/A |
Other |
The extent to which this hominin was bipedal is currently heavily debated. If so, it would indicate an arboreal bipedal ancestor of hominins, not a knuckle-walker like chimpanzees. |
Dates |
6 mya to 5.7 mya |
Region(s) |
Tugen Hills (Kenya) |
Famous discoveries |
Original discovery in 2000. |
Brain size |
N/A |
Dentition |
Smaller cheek teeth (molars and premolars) than even more recent hominins (i.e., derived), thick enamel, and reduced, but apelike, canines. |
Cranial features |
Not many found |
Postcranial features |
Fragmentary leg, arm, and finger bones have been found. Indicates bipedal locomotion. |
Culture |
Potential toolmaking capability based on hand morphology, but nothing found directly. |
Other |
This is the earliest species that clearly indicates adaptations for bipedal locomotion. |
Dates |
4.4 mya |
Region(s) |
Middle Awash region and Gona (Ethiopia) |
Famous discoveries |
A partial female skeleton nicknamed “Ardi” (ARA-VP-6/500). |
Brain size |
300 cc to 350 cc |
Dentition |
Little differences between the canines of males and females (small sexual dimorphism). |
Cranial features |
Midfacial projection, slightly prognathic. Cheekbones less flared and robust than in later hominins. |
Postcranial features |
Ardi demonstrates a mosaic of ancestral and derived characteristics in the postcrania. For instance, an opposable big toe similar to chimpanzees (i.e., “primitive” or more ancestral), which could have aided in climbing trees effectively. However, the pelvis and hip show that she could walk upright (i.e., it is derived), supporting her hominin status. |
Culture |
None directly associated |
Other |
Over 110 specimens from Aramis |
Dates |
5.2 mya to 5.8 mya |
Region(s) |
Middle Awash (Ethiopia) |
Famous discoveries |
This species discovery in 1997 by Yohannes Haile-Selassie. |
Brain size |
N/A |
Dentition |
Larger hind dentition than in modern chimpanzees. Thick enamel and larger canines than in later hominins. |
Cranial features |
N/A |
Postcranial features |
A large hallux (big toe) bone indicates a bipedal “push off.” |
Culture |
N/A |
Other |
Faunal evidence indicates a mixed grassland/woodland environment. |
Australopithecines
Dates |
4.2 mya to 3.8 mya |
Region(s) |
Turkana region (Kenya), Middle Awash (Ethiopia) |
Famous discoveries |
A 2019 find from Ethiopia, named MRD. |
Brain size |
370 cc |
Dentition |
Relatively large canines compared with more recent Australopithecines. |
Cranial features |
Projecting cheekbones and primitive earholes. |
Postcranial features |
Lower limb bones (tibia and femur) indicate bipedality; arboreal features in upper limb bones (humerus) found. |
Culture |
N/A |
Other |
Almost 100 specimens, representing over 20 individuals, have been found to date. |
Dates |
2.9 mya to 3.9 mya |
Region(s) |
Afar Region, Omo, Maka, Fejej, and Belohdelie (Ethiopia); Laetoli (Tanzania); Koobi Fora (Kenya). |
Famous discoveries |
Lucy, Selam (Dikika Child), Laetoli Footprints. |
Brain size |
380 cc to 430 cc |
Dentition |
Reduced canines and molars relative to great apes, but larger than in modern humans. |
Cranial features |
Prognathic face, facial features indicate relatively strong chewing musculature (compared with Homo), but less extreme than in Paranthropus. |
Postcranial features |
Clear evidence for bipedalism from lower limb postcranial bones. Laetoli Footprints indicate humanlike walking. Dikika Child bones indicate retained primitive arboreal traits in the postcrania. |
Culture |
None directly; but close in age and proximity to controversial cut marks at Dikika and early tools in Lomekwi. |
Other |
Au. afarensis is one of the oldest and most well-known australopithecine species and consists of a large number of fossil remains. |
Dates |
3.6 mya |
Region(s) |
Chad |
Famous discoveries |
“Abel,” the holotype. |
Brain size |
N/A |
Dentition |
N/A |
Cranial features |
N/A |
Postcranial features |
N/A |
Culture |
N/A |
Other |
Arguably within range of variation of Au. afarensis |
Dates |
3.5 mya to 3.3 mya |
Region(s) |
Woranso-Mille (Afar region, Ethiopia) |
Famous discoveries |
First fossil mandible bones were discovered in 2011 in the Afar region of Ethiopia by Yohannes Haile-Selassie. |
Brain size |
N/A |
Dentition |
Smaller teeth with thicker enamel than seen in Au. afarensis, with a potentially hardier diet. |
Cranial features |
Larger mandible and more projecting cheekbones than in Au. afarensis. |
Postcranial features |
N/A |
Culture |
N/A |
Other |
Contested species designation; arguably a member of Au. afarensis. |
Hominin |
Australopithecus garhi |
Dates |
2.5 mya |
Region(s) |
Middle Awash (Ethiopia) |
Famous discoveries |
N/A |
Brain size |
450 cc |
Dentition |
Larger hind dentition than seen in other gracile Australopithecines. |
Cranial features |
N/A |
Postcranial features |
A femur of a fragmentary partial skeleton, argued to belong to Au. garhi, indicates this species may be longer-limbed than Au. afarensis, although still able to move arboreally. |
Culture |
Crude/primitive stone tools resembling Oldowan (described later) have been found in association with Au. garhi. |
Other |
This species is not well documented or understood and is based on only a few fossil specimens. |
Dates |
3.5 mya to 3.2 mya |
Region(s) |
Lake Turkana (Kenya) |
Famous discoveries |
KNM–WT 40000 |
Brain size |
Difficult to determine, but appears within the range of Australopithecus afarensis. |
Dentition |
Small molars/dentition (Homo-like characteristic) |
Cranial features |
Flatter (i.e., orthognathic) face |
Postcranial features |
N/A |
Culture |
Some have associated the earliest tool finds from Lomekwi, Kenya, temporally (3.3 mya) and in close geographic proximity to this species/specimen. |
Other |
Taxonomic placing of this species is quite divided. The discoverers have argued that this species is ancestral to Homo, in particular to Homo ruldolfensis. |
Dates |
3.3 mya to 2.1 mya |
Region(s) |
Sterkfontein, Taung, Makapansgat, Gladysvale (South Africa) |
Famous discoveries |
Taung Child, “Mrs. Ples,” Little Foot (?). |
Brain size |
400 cc to 500 cc |
Dentition |
Smaller teeth (derived) relative to Au. afarensis. Small canines with no diastema. |
Cranial features |
A rounder skull compared with Au. afarensis in East Africa. A sloping face (primitive). |
Postcranial features |
Similar postcranial evidence for bipedal locomotion (derived pelvis) with retained arboreal locomotion (e.g., curved phalanges—fingers), as seen in Au. afarensis. |
Culture |
None with direct evidence. |
Other |
A 2015 study noted that the trabecular bone morphology of the hand was consistent with forceful tool manufacture and use, suggesting potential early tool abilities. |
Dates |
1.97 mya |
Region(s) |
Malapa Fossil Site (South Africa) |
Famous discoveries |
Karabo (MH1) |
Brain size |
420 cc to 450 cc |
Dentition |
Small dentition with Australopithecine cusp-spacing. |
Cranial features |
Small brain size (Australopithecus-like), but gracile mandible (Homo-like). |
Postcranial features |
Scientists have interpreted this mixture of traits (such as a robust ankle but evidence for an arch in the foot) as a transitional phase between a body previously adapted to arborealism (tree climbing, particularly in evidence from the bones of the wrist) to one that adapted to bipedal ground walking. |
Culture |
None of direct association, but some have argued that a modern hand morphology (shorter fingers and a longer thumb) means that adaptations to tool manufacture and use may be present in this species. |
Other |
It was first discovered through a clavicle bone in 2008 by nine-year-old Matthew Berger, son of paleoanthropologist Lee Berger. |
Dates |
3.7 mya (debated) |
Region(s) |
Sterkfontein (South Africa) |
Famous discoveries |
“Little Foot” (StW 573) |
Brain size |
408 cc (Little Foot estimate) |
Dentition |
Heavy anterior dental wear patterns, relatively large anterior dentition and smaller hind dentition, similar to Au. afarensis. |
Cranial features |
Relatively larger brain size, robust zygomatic arch, and a flatter midface. |
Postcranial features |
The initial discovery of four ankle bones indicated bipedality. |
Culture |
N/A |
Other |
Highly debated new species designation. |
Dates |
2.7 mya to 2.3 mya |
Region(s) |
West Turkana (Kenya), Laetoli (Tanzania), Omo River Basin (Ethiopia) |
Famous discoveries |
The ‘Black Skull” (KNM–WT 17000) |
Brain Size |
410 cc |
Dentition |
P. aethiopicus has the shared derived traits of large flat premolars and molars, although few teeth have been found. |
Cranial features |
Large flaring zygomatic arches for accommodating large chewing muscles (the temporalis muscle), a sagittal crest for increased muscle attachment of the chewing muscles to the skull, and a robust mandible and supraorbital torus (brow ridge). |
Postcranial features |
A proximal tibia indicates bipedality, and similar size to Au. afarensis. |
Culture |
N/A |
Other |
The “Black Skull” is so called because of the mineral manganese that stained it black during fossilization. |
Dates |
2.4 mya to 1.4 mya |
Region(s) |
Koobi Fora, West Turkana, and Chesowanja (Kenya), Malema-Chiwondo (Malawi), Olduvai Gorge and Peninj (Tanzania), and Omo River basin and Konso (Ethiopia) |
Famous discoveries |
“Zinj,” or sometimes “Nutcracker Man” (OH5), in 1959 by Mary Leakey. The Peninj mandible from Tanzania, found in 1964 by Kimoya Kimeu. |
Brain size |
500 cc to 550 cc |
Dentition |
Very large, flat posterior dentition (largest of all hominins currently known). Much smaller anterior dentition. Very thick dental enamel. |
Cranial features |
Indications of very large chewing muscles (e.g., flaring zygomatic arches and a large sagittal crest). |
Postcranial features |
Evidence for high variability and sexual dimorphism, with estimates of males at 1.37 meters tall and females at 1.24 meters. |
Culture |
Richard Leakey and Bernard Wood have both suggested that P. boisei could have made and used stone tools. Tools dated to 2.5 mya in Ethiopia have been argued to possibly belong to this species. |
Other |
Despite the cranial features of P. boisei indicating a tough diet of tubers, nuts, and seeds, isotopes indicate a diet high in C4 foods (e.g., grasses, such as sedges). This differs from what is seen in P. robustus. |
Dates |
2.3 mya to 1 mya |
Region(s) |
Kromdraai B, Swartkrans, Gondolin, Drimolen, and Coopers Cave (South Africa) |
Famous discoveries |
SK48 (original skull) |
Brain size |
410 cc to 530 cc |
Dentition |
Large posterior teeth with thick enamel, consistent with other Robust Australopithecines. Enamel hypoplasia is also common in this species, possibly because of instability in the development of large, thick enameled dentition. |
Cranial features |
P. robustus features are neither as “hyper-robust” as P. boisei or as primitive as P. aethiopicus, but have been described as less derived more general features that are shared with both East African species, e.g., the sagittal crest and zygomatic flaring. |
Postcranial features |
Reconstructions indicate sexual dimorphism. |
Culture |
N/A |
Other |
Several of these fossils are fragmentary in nature, distorted, and not well preserved, because they have been recovered from quarry breccia using explosives. |