A short overview of bi-pedal mammals FROM LUCY TO US

Transcription

1 A short overview of bi-pedal mammals FROM LUCY TO US

2 A FEW THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEREVER FOSSIL EVIDENCE IS SCANT, ONE HAS CONJECTURE THIS CONJECTURE, HOWEVER, IS STILL BASED ON SCIENCE CONTROVERSY EXISTS B/C EVIDENCE CAN SUPPORT MORE THAN ONE PLAUSIBLE THEORY JUST B/C ALL THE FACTS ARE NOT KNOWN ABOUT A THEORY DOESN T MEAN IT IS WRONG. EX: WE CAN T EXPLAIN ALL ASPECTS OF PLATE TECTONIC THEORY, BUT WE KNOW IT S VALID.

3 A FEW THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND SCIENTISTS ARE HUMANS. THIS MEANS: EGOS GET IN THE WAY BIASES GET IN THE WAY (PEDAGOGY, SEXISM, NATIONALISM, RACISM, ETC) SCIENCE, LIKE MATHEMATICS, IS NOT A SMORGASBORD DISCIPLINE. IF SCIENTIFIC/NATURAL LAWS APPLY TO MAMMALS ON EARTH, THEY APPLY TO ALL OF THEM (THIS MEANS HUMANS TOO)

4 A FEW THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND HUMANS ARE A CURIOUS AND PROBLEM-SOLVING SPECIES. We either were instantly created out of dust and breath, out of black & white & blue and yellow clouds coming together, or maize dough, or evolved from simple life forms to walk upright with big brains. REFUSING TO USE THEM TO LOOK AT EDGY ISSUES AND SPECULATE ON THOSE ISSUES ULTIMATELY IS SELF-DEFEATING FOR THE HUMAN RACE

5 AUSTRALOPITICUS AFARENSIS EXISTENCE DATES: ~3.9---~3.0 MYA NICKNAMES: LUCY FAMOUS FINDS: PERSON/PLACE/TIME DON JOHANSON, HADAR, ETHIOPIA, 1974 (40 % of a skeleton) MARY LEAKEY, LAETOLI, TANZANIA, 1976 (50 HARDENED FOOTPRINTS)

6 AUSTRALOPITICUS AFARENSIS

7 AUSTRALOPITHICUS AFARENSIS Lucy Laetoli footprints

8 AUSTRALOPITICUS AFARENSIS BRAIN SIZE: ~420 CC. MAIN PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: BI-PEDAL SEXUALLY DIMORPHIC = 3 ½ FEET, 64 lbs = 5 FEET, 100 lbs CONTROVERSIES: SAME SPECIES OR DIFFERENT THAN AFRICANUS?

9 AUSTRALOPITICUS AFARENSIS LIFESTYLE/CHARACTERISTICS: ATE ROOTS, PLANTS, INSECTS, FRUIT NOT VERY SMART LIVED YEARS JUST GOT BY!

10 AUSTRALOPITICUS AFRICANUS EXISTENCE DATES: ~3.0---~2.5 MYA NICKNAMES: TAUNG CHILD FAMOUS FINDS: PERSON/PLACE/TIME RAYMOND DART, SOUTH AFRICA, 1925 (skull from a ~3 year old child)

11 AUSTRALOPITICUS AFRICANUS BRAIN SIZE: 450 CC. MAIN PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: BASICALLY THE SAME AS LUCY LIFESYLE/CHARACTERISTICS: BASICALLY THE SAME AS LUCY CONTROVERSIES: SAME AS AFARENSIS

12 DART, TAUNG CHILD, & CAVE SITE

13 A. AFRICANUS MRS. PLES FOUND IN STERFONTEIN SOUTH AFRICA

14 HOMO HABILIS THE 1 ST HUMAN SPECIES! EXISTENCE DATES: ~2.8---~1.5 MYA NICKNAMES: HANDY MAN FAMOUS FINDS: PERSON/PLACE/TIME LOUIS LEAKEY, OLDAVAI GORGE, TANZANIA, 1960 S ALSO NEAR LAKE TURKANA & STERFONTEIN, S. AFRICA

15 LEAKEYS AT WORK

16 HOMO HABILIS: PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS BRAIN SIZE: CC (ABOUT 20% BIGGER THAN AUSTRALOPITHICINES) BI-PEDAL SEXUALLY DIMORPHIC --4 FEET, 70 LBS --5.3, 114 LBS GOOD GRASP PRECISION LONG ARMS

17 HOMO HABILIS: LIFESTYLE & CHARACTERISTICS NOMADIC SCAVENGERS WHO ATE: ROOTS, VEGETATION, FRUIT, MEAT, BONE MARROW (V. IMP!) MADE & USED STONE TOOLS, KNEW ROCK PROPERTIES (OLDOWAN TOOL KIT) MAY HAVE USED FIRE, DIDN T KNOW HOW TO MAKE IT PROBABLY DID NOT BUILD SHELTERS

18 *BASIC FLAKING *ONE SIDE ONLY TO GET SHARP EDGE OLDOWAN TOOL KIT

19 HOMO HABILIS: CONTROVERSIES WERE THEY THE 1 ST TO USE STONE TOOLS? DID HABILIS EVOLVE INTO ERECTUS?

20 HOMO ERECTUS EXISTENCE DATES: 1.8 MYA-30,000 YA NICKNAMES: JAVA MAN (INDONESIA) PEKING MAN (CHINA) H. ERGASTER W/IN AFRICA

21 HOMO ERECTUS FAMOUS FINDS: PERSON/PLACE/TIME E. DUBOIS 1891 JAVA ANDERSON/BLACK 1927 PEKING R. LEAKEY 1984 TURKANA AFRICA

22 HOMO ERECTUS BRAIN SIZE: CC PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: 5 ½ - 6 FEET ROBUST, 100+ LBS, SLENDER BUILD SEXUALLY DIMORPHIC TURKANA BOY

23 HOMO ERECTUS: LIFESTYLE HUNTER-GATHERERS LIVE IN LARGE GROUPS 100+ DEFINITELY MADE FIRE MADE SHELTERS HAD EARLY (v. PRIMITIVE) FORM OF LANGUAGE 1 ST PLANNED STONE TOOL (HAND AX) (ACHEULIAN TOOL KIT) MAINLY RIGHT HANDED

24 1 st OUT OF AFRICA ZHOUKOUDIAN CAVE: 250,000 YEARS OF CONTINUOUS USE (100,000 ARTIFACTS) Some of the animal bones found in the cave HOMO ERECTUS: SPECIAL STUFF

25 HOMO ERECTUS: CONTROVERSIES WHY DID ERECTUS LEAVE AFRICA? DID THEY MAKE BOATS? WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM? DID COOKING LEAD TO FEMALE COMPETITION OR SOCIAL/BEHAVIORAL CHANGE IN HUMAN LIFESTYLES?

26 HOMO HEIDELBERGENSIS EXISTENCE DATES: 750, ,000 YA NICKNAMES: NONE (1 ST EUROPEANS) FAMOUS FINDS: 1907 A WORKMAN IN THE SANDPITS AT HEIDELBERG, GERMANY BRAIN SIZE: CC PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: LIKE NEANDERTAL LIFESTYLE: HUNTER/GATHERERS; LIVED IN CAVES, ACHEULIAN TOOL KIT

27 HOMO HEIDELBERGENSIS SPECIAL STUFF: BOXGROVE ENGLAND FOUND 100 S OF UNUSED HAND AXES BIG MYSTERY ALSO LIVED IN AFRICA CONTROVERSIES: IN EUROPE: IS THIS THE DIRECT ANCESTOR OF NEANDERTAL? IN AFRICA: IS THIS THE DIRECT ANCESTOR OF US? IS H. antecessor A SEPARATE SPECIES? MAY PRACTICED CANNABALISM, BUT WHY?

28 HOMO NEANDERTALENSIS: 300,000-27,000 YA NICKNAMES: CAVE MAN FAMOUS FINDS: 1856 NEANDER VALLEY; MIDEAST AT: TABUN CAVE, ISRAEL & SHANIDAR CAVE, IRAQ

29 HOMO NEANDERTALENSIS BRAIN SIZE: CC MAIN PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: STOCKY & MUSCULAR; SHORT LIMBS LARGE FACE, HUGE NOSE POWER STRENGTH : SHORT BURSTS OF SPEED AND POWER CONCENTRATED IN SMALL AREA

30 COMPARISON OF NEANDERTAL (L) WITH SAPIENS (R)

31 HOMO NEANDERTALENSIS: LIFESTYLE MAINLY HUNTED: 85-90% OF DIET = MEAT DEER, WOOLLY RHINO, MAMMOTH, BISON, HORSE DROVE PREY OVER CLIFFS KILLED UP CLOSE & PERSONAL (THEIR BONES PROVE THIS) MOUSTERIAN & LEVALLOIS TOOL KIT(CHANGES TO CHATELLPERRONIAN AFTER THEY MEET US)

32 HOMO NEANDERTALENSIS

33 HOMO NEANDERTALENSIS Variety of tools Tools changed after they met us Smart enough to copy

34 BURIED DEAD W/ FLOWERS & STONE TOOLS HAD MUSIC (STORK LEGS) BASIC JEWELRY NO ART (but then again...) MADE FIRE WITH FLINT AND STEEL HOMO NEANDERTALENSIS: SPECIAL STUFF

35 HOMO NEANDERTALENSIS: CONTROVERSIES HOW DID THEY DIE OUT? DID THEY MAKE CAVE ART? WHAT USED TO BE A CONTROVERSY ISN T ANYMORE THEY DEFINITELY MIXED WITH US SOME HOMO SAPIENS HAVE UP TO 5% NEANDERTAL DNA IN THEM

36 HOMO SAPIENS: US EXISTENCE DATES: 175,000 YA PRESENT (PROBABLY 200,000 YA) NICKNAMES: THINKING MAN; CRO-MAGNON (IN EUROPE) FAMOUS FINDS: CRO-MAGNON, FRANCE; KLASIES RIVER MOUTH, SOUTH AFRICA; TABUN CAVE, ISRAEL; AUSTRALIA

37 HOMO SAPIENS: PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS BRAIN SIZE: CC LOOKS just LIKE US, B/C IT IS US

38 HOMO SAPIENS: LIFESTYLE/CULTURE HUNTED & GATHERED PLANTED CROPS ~ 9,000 B.C. DOMESTICATED ANIMALS W/IN A FEW THOUSAND YEARS OF THAT(wolves ~30,000)

39 HOMO SAPIENS: LIFESTYLE/CULTURE CREATED CAVE ART & PAINTINGS: LASCAUX, CHAUVET, ALTIMIRA (IN FRANCE & SPAIN) MUSIC SCULPTURE

40 HOMO SAPIENS: LIFESTYLE/CULTURE MEASURED TIME BURIED DEAD 1 ST PLANNED ARCHITECTURE

41 HOMO SAPIENS: SPECIAL STUFF SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE (& regular language far superior to Neandertal biggest difference & probably reason for their decline) PRESSURE FLAKED TOOLS ATLATLS, BOWS & ARROWS, BOOMERANG, HARPOON, NEEDLES: SEWED CLOTHES AIR/H20 TIGHT DIFFERENT SEXUALITY

42 HOMO SAPIENS: CONTROVERSIES Multi-Regional Model: Erectus left Africa around 1 million YA and went east to a variety of habitats and regions. Eventually though adaptive change, behavioral contact, and lots and lots and lots of gene flow, they evolved into h. Sapiens Out Of Africa Model: Erectus left Africa aound 1 million YA and h. Sapiens left around 100,000 YA to a variety of regions. Either through outcompeting or killing off Erectus & Neandertal, h. Sapiens became the sole human species eventually.

43 HOMO SAPIENS: CONTROVERSIES HOW DID WE COME TO BE? Were we created on the 6 th day or evolved over 6 million years? WHAT WERE OUR INTERACTIONS W/ NEANDERTAL LIKE? WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF CAVE ART? MULTI-REGIONAL MODEL OR OUT OF AFRICA MODEL? HOW DID WE MAKE THE LEAP FROM 15,000 YA TO 5,000 YA?

44 15,000 YA 3,000 YA A blink of an eye in time separates these 2 buildings

45 same intent, vastly different technology

46 1200 AD 1990 s AD...

47 SUMER: CUNEIFORM TABLET SILICONE VALLEY: APPLE TABLET a few thousand years of distance...

48 LAETOLI: 3.6 MYA MOON: 1969

49 HOMO SAPIENS: the future Ice ages come. Ice ages go. existence on this planet has never been easy for ANY life form that has lived on it. nothing is guaranteed. remember the only two things humans control: attitude. effort. Use all your gifts wisely while here, for they came at a huge species cost (we stand on the shoulders of giants, on our way to becoming giants...)