Anthro Lecture 9 2.17

Laetoli Footprints Worldbuilding ideas
Including A. afarensis, there are at least 7-9 Australopithecine species that we currently know about
- A. boisei, "The Nutcracker Man"
  - A. boisei was much more robust than A. afarensis. Their strong jaws and jaw muscles enabled them to crush and grind a variety of nuts, roots, seeds, and meat
- In 1924, Raymond Dart discovers the skull of an adolescent A. africanus, which he named the "Taung Child," after the region in South Africa where it was found. Its discovery in Africa means we must have evolved there, but his find wasn't universally accepted at the time.
  - Piltdown skeleton was found in England, was used to counter the argument that humans evolved in Africa
    - Forgery: top part of skull of Homo Sapiens, bottom part of skull orangutan
- Did Australopithecines make tools? Maybe
- A. garhi lived around 2.5 mya
  - Apparent toolmaking & meat-eating propensities, some think could have given rise to Homo family tree, but...
  - Only a handful of skull and other bone fragments define this species
Homo habilis lived between 2.5 and 1.5 mya
- Though debated by some, H. habilis is believed to be the earliest species in the genus Homo
- It appears that big brains developed as a response to Africa's changing climate
- Homo habilis definitely made stone tools, called "Oldowan Tools"
  - Homo habilis carried worked stone flakes and pebbles over considerable distances, indicating that members of this species were retaining tools for future use rather than just utilitizing convenient stones like chimpanzees
  - Uses of Oldowan Tools
    - Process animals
    - scrape
    - cut meat
    - maybe shape/saw wood
    - Cut soft plants
  - In Olduvai Gorge in east Africa, discoveries of animal bones w/marks from stone tools and marks from predator teeth suggest that Australopithecines and early members of the genus Homo were probably scavengers
- Development of language
  - In sum, the structures of the throat and ears that enable humans to make and understand a wide range of sounds were present among later members of the genus Homo (e.g. Neanderthals & us) but not in the Australopithecine species
  - The Advantages of Language
    - Coordination with others
    - Teaching
    - Better and more complex social relationships
    - Expression of thoughts
    - Easier to negotiate, and not be aggressive to other groups, or be friendly