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Australopithecus (/ ˌ ɒ s t r ə l ə ˈ p ɪ θ ɪ k ə s,-l oʊ-/, OS-trə-lə-PITH-i-kəs, -loh-; [1] or (/ ɒ s ˌ t r ə l ə p ɪ ˈ θ iː k ə s /, os-TRA-lə-pi-THEE-kəs [2] from Latin australis 'southern' and Ancient Greek πίθηκος (pithekos) 'ape' [3]) is a genus of early hominins that existed in Africa during the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene.
The encephalization quotient of some cetaceans is therefore higher than that of most primates, including the nearest relatives of humans, such as Australopithecus. [8] This list follows partly from Walter Carl Hartwig's 2002 book The Fossil Primate Record [9] and John G. Fleagle's 2013 book Primate Adaptation and Evolution (3rd edition). [10]
Australopithecus garhi was using stone tools at about 2.5 Ma. Homo habilis is the oldest species given the designation Homo, by Leakey et al. in 1964. H. habilis is intermediate between Australopithecus afarensis and H. erectus, and there have been suggestions to re-classify it within genus Australopithecus, as Australopithecus habilis.
Members of Australopithecus are sometimes referred to as the "gracile australopithecines", while Paranthropus are called the "robust australopithecines". [ 10 ] [ 11 ] The australopithecines occurred in the Late Miocene sub-epoch and were bipedal , and they were dentally similar to humans, but with a brain size not much larger than that of ...
The most striking feature of evolution of the pelvis in primates is the widening and the shortening of the blade called the ilium. Because of the stresses involved in bipedal locomotion, the muscles of the thigh move the thigh forward and backward, providing the power for bi-pedal and quadrupedal locomotion.
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human evolution. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-46786-5. (Note: this book contains very useful, information dense chapters on primate evolution in general, and human evolution in particular, including fossil history). Leakey, Richard & Lewin, Roger. Origins Reconsidered: In Search of What Makes us Human ...
Australopithecus prometheus, otherwise known as Little Foot has recently been dated at 3.67 million years old through a new dating technique, making the genus Australopithecus as old as afarensis. [32] Given the opposable big toe found on Little Foot, it seems that the specimen was a good climber.
"Evolution" in 1889 edition of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. An illustration, with the caption "Evolution", showing two sequences of four images, each illustrating a gradual transformation of an animal into a human, appeared in the 1889 edition [15] of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.