Welcome to Anthropology 350

Principles of Paleoanthropology
Fred H. Smith
SCH 332
8-5792
11-12 TTR or by appointment
<[email protected]>
 Teaching Assistant - Lab Schedule - Rules
• Arika Ward: [email protected]
• Lab Hours : T 6-8 pm; W 6-8 pm
• Or anytime the lab is not in use – see Dr. Smith or secretaries
in department office (SCH 332)
• Honor system – handle material carefully, put everything back
where you found it, don’t bring others into lab without
permission, don’t take anything out of the lab, keep the lab
neat.
• Don’t brag to everyone that you know where all the cool
bones are!
Smith’s Summary Class Evaluation
 Paleoanthropology
• study of human evolution – several disciplines
• paleolithic archaeology – earliest evidence of human
cultural behavior
• molecular biology – genetics
• comparative anatomy – morphology
• paleoenvironments
• primate behavior
• chronology
• but the key discipline is…
 Human Paleontology
Scientific study of the fossil record pertinent to
the origin and evolution of humans (hominins) -
and the processes and principles that apply to
that study
 Three Epochs of Geological Time
• Miocene (23.5 – 5.2
million years ago – mya):
(1) origin and radiation of
apes – “Age of Apes”; (2) Dryopithecus
possible earliest hominins
– Sahelanthropus ~7mya
Orrorin ~ 6mya

Sahelanthropus
Ororrin
 Three Epochs of Geological Time
• Pliocene (5.2 – 1.75
mya): (1) origin and
radiation of Koobi Fora
Australopithecus and
related forms; (2) origin Hadar

of the genus Homo

Sterkfontein

Hadar
 Three Epochs of Geological Time
Olduvai Gorge

• Pleistocene (1.75 –
0.012 mya [12,000]):
(1) terminal Petralona
australopithecines; (2) La Ferrassie
radiation of Homo; (3)
origin of modern
people

Koobi Fora
Qafzeh
Herto
 New Data
Partial skeleton of
Ardipithecus ramidus
from Aramis, Ethiopia
4.4 mya (million years
ago)
Further bridges the
morphologies of
Miocene apes and the ARA VP-6/500
australopiths
 New Data
• Malapa, South Africa
• 1.9 mya site – 2 partial
skeletons – more to be
excavated
• new species –
Australopithecus sebida
• claimed to be transitional
to Homo
 New Data
Gona Pelvis - Ethiopia

• Busidima Formation
• Site: 0.9-1.4 mya
• Pelvic inlet (birth canal) bigger
than “Lucy” or the Nariokotome
Erectine male
• Very broad bi-iliac breadth –
different from Nariokotome
• Questions tropical trunk form
indicated by Nariokotome
 New Data
• North Sea Neandertal
• Further indications that
Neandertals lived
farther north than
previously thought
 New Data
• Neandertal genome
• Specific analyses show
Neandertals: 1. had very
small population size; 2.
were lightly pigmented with
presence of light hair; 3.
likely had modern language
capabilities.
• Neandertals contributed at
least 1-4% of modern
western Eurasian gene pool
 Paleoanthropology

• Chronology – Cartmill & Smith pp. 4-13:

Review: relative vs. “absolute” dating;
radiopotassium and fission track dating
• Paleolithic Archaeology – later
• Comparative biology (anatomy, molecular
biology) among living (extant) organisms
 Traditional Ape Taxonomy
Superfamily Hominoidea (hominoids)

Families Hylobatidae
(lesser apes – gibbons, siamangs)

Pongidae
(great apes – orangutan, gorilla,
chimpanzee, bonobo)

Hominidae
(hominids – humans)
Dendrogram – Traditional Ape Taxonomy
(Comparative Anatomy)
Superfamily Families Genus (Genera)
Hominidae
Homo
Hominoidea

Pan
Pongidae
Gorilla
(Great Apes)
Pongo
Hylobatidae
(Lesser Apes) Hylobates
 Molecular Biology (Genetics)
• Example: beta-globin gene
cluster (handout)
• African great apes = distinct
cluster.
• Orangutans?
• Pan (chimps & bonobos)
closer to humans than to
gorillas
• Traditional taxonomy of
apes is not correct
 Molecular Ape Taxonomy
Superfamily Hominoidea (hominoids)

Families Hylobatidae (lesser apes)

Hominidae (hominids)
all great apes

Subfamilies Ponginae Genus: Pongo

orangutans
Gorillinae Genus: Gorilla
gorillas
Homininae Genus: Pan
chimpanzees, bonobos
Genus: Homo
 Molecular Ape Taxonomy
Subfamily: Homininae

Tribes: Panini Genus: Pan

Hominini Genus: Homo

(hominins)
 Dendrogram – Molecular Ape Taxonomy
Superfamily Families Subfamilies Tribes Genera

Ponginae
Pongo
Hominidae
Gorillinae
Gorilla
Panini
Homininae Pan

Hominini
Homo

Hylobatidae
Hylobates

Cartmill & Smith p. 90

Use of Molecular and Anatomical Data on
Extant Organisms
Establish hypotheses (hypothesis)
Test hypotheses by the fossil record
Establishing and testing hypotheses = basis of
science
 Paleontology
• study of fossils
• Ernst Mayr – science that deals with the life of
past geological periods
• FHS – science concerned with:
-- reconstruction of lineages,
-- understanding the nature of
relationships within & among lineages,
-- based on the fossil record (primarily)
 Paleontology
Lineage – line of descent (ancestor-descendant relation-
ships
Pan troglodytes Homo sapiens
1. Reconstruction of lineages

2. Understanding the nature of relationships

within & among lineages

3. Based primarily on the fossil record

PO
 Paleontology
Lineage – line of descent (ancestor-descendant
relation-
ships Pan troglodytes Homo sapiens

Documentation vs. Explanation

Limitations: Practical & Theoretical

PO
 Practical Limitations
1. Incomplete biological data – skeletal
elements & what can be derived from them
2. Fragmentation, incompleteness & distortion
of fossils: Example 1 – Australopithecus
bahrelghazali. 3-3.5 mya – Chad. Is it a
different species or A. afarensis ?

Anterior mandible with symphysis

 Practical Limitations
1. Incomplete biological data – skeletal
elements & what can be derived from them
2. Fragmentation, incompleteness & distortion
of fossils: Example 2 – Sahelanthropus
tchadensis: ~ 7 mya – Chad. Single cranium.

Reconstructed (right) and unreconstructed

Sahelanthropus tchadensis
 Practical Limitations
3. Inadequate sample
sizes. Example 1 –
Kenyanthropus platyops
– Lomekwi, Kenya – 3.5
mya.

KNM-WT 40000
 Practical Limitations
3. Inadequate sample
sizes. Example 2 –
Gorillas
Gorilla gorilla
 Practical Limitations
4. Inadequate chronology
5. Inadequate knowledge of paleoecology
6. Gaps in fossil record
-- temporal gaps – Example: African
hominoid fossil record between 12 & 4 mya
-- geographical gaps – Example: distribution
of australopithecines
Australopithecine Distribution
 Theoretical Limitations
Paleontology = historical science
Reconstruct complex events that occurred in the
past.
• Can’t go back in time and observe events
• Can’t duplicate events experimentally
“Physics envy”
 Theoretical Limitations
Indirect evidence:
• Comparative anatomy
• Comparative molecular biology
• Fossil record
• Ancient DNA
 Theoretical Limitations
Indirect evidence:
• Comparative anatomy
• Comparative molecular biology
• Fossil record
• Ancient DNA Less Indirect
 SCIENCE
Based on two principles:
• Falsification – Karl Popper. Must be able to
construct testable hypotheses
• Replication – experimentation vs.
observation.
Example: Role of Australopithecus afarensis
(East Africa – 4.2 – 2.8 mya)