Lab 10: Exploring Fossil Hominins in Biological Anthropology

First and last name: __________________ ANT 203: Biological Anthropology Laboratory Exercise 10: Homo Part I /80 marks total, worth 5% This laboratory exercise is in three parts. You need to print this laboratory exercise document, bring it to your scheduled lab section, and complete the exercises and questions using the space provided during your lab period, then hand in the completed worksheet to your TA at the end of your lab period. All labs are due and should be submitted in hard copy at the end of the scheduled lab session. Late lab assignments will not be accepted, with no exceptions. Of the 12 scheduled labs, 8 lab assignments will be graded. Students will not know which labs will be graded until the end of each lab session. Fossil hominins: The purpose of this lab is to introduce you to fossil hominins and to provide experiential understanding of their features. This lab features fossil specimens of Australopithecus africanus , Australopithecus afarensis, Paranthropus boisei, Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis , Homo erectus , and Homo sapiens. Part 1, Australopithecines and Homo , /32 marks Compare the fossil remains of Australopithecus africanus , Australopithecus afarensis, Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis , and Homo sapiens . /12 marks Compare Australopithecus africanus to Homo habilis and fill in the following chart: Specimen 1: Australopithecus africanus Specimen 2: Homo habilis Cranial capacity: larger, smaller Craniofacial robustness (i.e. face size): smaller, larger Overall tooth size: smaller, larger

ANT 203 Lab 10, page 2, Name __________________ “Homo” rudolfensis is thought to be included in Homo habilis by some researchers, and thought to be two separate species by other researchers. Compare H. habilis to H. rudolfensis and fill in the following chart: Specimen 2: Homo habilis Specimen 3: Homo rudolfensis Cranial capacity: smaller, larger Overall tooth size: smaller, larger Facial shape looking side to side: flatter, more curved 1. Summarize two differences between Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis . /2 marks 2. Do you think there are enough differences between specimens 2 and 3 to necessitate a new species? What other explanations (besides separate species) are possible? /2 marks

ANT 203 Lab 10, page 3, Name __________________ Examine and compare the cranial morphology of Australopithecus afarensis, Homo habilis, and Homo sapiens crania. Use the terms in parentheses to fill out the table. /12 marks Specimen 2: Homo habilis Specimen 4: Australopithecus afarensis Specimen 5: Homo sapiens Cranial capacity: small, medium, or large Brow ridges: small, medium, large, or none Extent of prognathism: low, medium, high, none Shape of dental arcade: U- shaped or parabolic Geographic location Southern and East Africa East Africa worldwide 3. Should Homo habilis be included in the genus Homo ? List one characteristic that is more derived, and one that is more ancestral. /4 marks

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ANT 203 Lab 10, page 4, Name __________________ Part 2: Homo habilis, /28 marks The genus Homo first appears in the fossil record in east and south Africa in the middle Pliocene, about 2.4 – 2.3 million years ago. The first specimens known were discovered by L.S.B. Leakey’s son Jonathan and named Homo habilis (“handy man”) by L.S.B. Leakey in 1964. These specimens were placed in the genus Homo because they had a larger brain and they were associated with stone tools . Some H. habilis lived at approximately the same time and at the same sites as some robust australopithecines (i.e. Paranthropus boisei ) . Look at the three specimens to fill in the following chart: /18 marks Specimen 1: Australopithecus afarensis Specimen 2: Homo habilis Specimen 3: Paranthropus boisei Degree of prognathism: most prognathic, middle, least prognathic Sagittal crest: yes or no Molar size: largest, medium, smallest Premolar size: largest, medium, smallest Brain size compared to molar size: big brain-big molars, medium brain-big molars, small brain-big molars

ANT 203 Lab 10, page 5, Name __________________ Dental arcade shape: U-shaped or parabolic 4. Compare the braincase size and shape of Homo habilis with that of Australopithecus afarensis and a robust australopithecine ( P. boisei ) . Describe two ways not listed in the table in which H. habilis is similar to the other specimens, and two ways in which H. habilis is different. /4 marks 5. What is the significance of having a sagittal crest, and what does a sagittal crest indicate about the lifestyle of a species? /2 marks 6. When considering the relationship between brain size and tooth size, how can these differences be explained? (i.e. think about the relationship between brain size and food processing) How are bigger molars related to food processing? What do bigger brains allow for with respect to food processing? What can you conclude about the species above in terms of food processing given the size of their molars and brain? /4 marks

ANT 203 Lab 10, page 6, Name __________________ Part 3: Homo erectus , /20 marks Homo erectus is the oldest hominin species known that had human-like body proportions, unlike Homo habilis which retained australopithecine limb proportions. This may reflect that H. erectus and all later hominins had a form of bipedalism much more like our own than that of the australopithecines. In the other main areas of hominin evolution, there is a continuation of the trend towards smaller teeth, and less prognathism. Brain size and complexity steadily increase throughout the Pleistocene, as does the manipulative ability of the hands. Along with this there is an increase in the sophistication of the tools associated with these hominins. H. erectus is the last human species that seems to be associated with a particular tool industry: the Acheulean. Later humans are associated with complex and diverse local industries that do not necessarily correlate with morphology. Homo erectus is the first hominin species known to have spread out of Africa. African Homo erectus can be dated back to between 1.6 and 1.9 million years ago. The first H. erectus fossils outside of Africa may be as old as 1.8 or 1.9 million years. H. erectus is known from sites on Java that may be as much as 1.6 – 1.8 million years old, or may be considerably younger. In Southwestern Eurasia, H. erectus may be as old as 1.4 – 1.5 Ma, based upon tools from Israel, and a mandible from Georgia. In China, they are known from about 1 Ma. This species appears to have persisted in Asia until 400,000 years ago and possibly as recently as 200,000 years ago. There is some debate as to whether H. erectus existed in Europe: certain fossils have alternatively been identified as either very late H. erectus or very early Homo sapiens . Homo erectus is associated with Acheulean tools in the same way that Homo habilis is associated with Oldowan tools. The cranial vault of H. erectus is characterized by the presence of various bony thickenings. A thickening in the midline on the superior surface of the vault between the parietal bones is termed a sagittal keel . Thickening transversely along the occipital bone is termed a nuchal/occipital torus , and bony thickening above the orbits is termed a supraorbital torus . If there is a groove posterior to a supraorbital groove, then this groove is termed a supraorbital sulcus . Examine the specimen and complete the following chart. /14 marks Specimen 1: Homo habilis Specimen 2: Homo erectus Cranial capacity: larger, smaller Location of greatest cranial width when viewing cranium from the back (occipital view): widest towards top, middle, or low down on skull

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ANT 203 Lab 10, page 7, Name __________________ Supraorbital torus size and skull robustness: more robust, less robust Size of molars: larger, smaller Brain size to molar size ratio: big brain and big molars or big brain and small molars Presence of chin on mandible: yes or no Nasal region: projection of nasal bones: more projecting, less projecting 7. What do the difference in teeth and dental arcade tell us about the differences in diet between the Homo species? / 2 marks 8. What could the differences in nasal region tell us about the differences in where the species lived? / 2 marks 9 . What other attributes of H. erectus (e.g. behavioural, geographic) distinguish it from H. habilis ? / 2 marks

ANT 203 Lab 10

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