Human evolution
Abay Namen
Department of SOC/ANT
Nazarbayev University, Spring
2025
? Evolution as Progress
6 Ma
Present
2
What are
humans?
Domestication Fire
Medicine
Language
Art Tool use
Trade/Economy Personal ornamentation
What are some things that uniquely define us as
human?
Spirituality Death rituals
Intelligence
Mega structures
Music Culture
Morality
• Uniquely human??
• Art
• Language
• Culture
• Tool use
• Medicine
• Death rituals
• Intelligence
• Uniquely human??
• Art
• Language
• Culture
• Tool use
• Medicine
• Death rituals
• Intelligence
• Uniquely human??
• Art
• Language
• Culture
• Tool use
• Medicine
• Death rituals
• Intelligence
• Uniquely human??
• Art
• Language
• Culture
• Tool use
• Medicine
• Death rituals
• Intelligence
• Uniquely human??
• Art
• Language
• Culture
• Tool use
• Medicine
• Death rituals
• Intelligence
• Uniquely human??
• Art
• Language
• Culture
• Tool use
• Medicine
• Death rituals
• Intelligence
• Uniquely human??
• Art
• Language
• Culture
• Tool use
• Medicine
• Death rituals
• Intelligence
Independently, brain size is not a useful
measurement
• Uniquely human??
• Art
• Language
• Culture
• Tool use
• Medicine
• Death rituals
• Intelligence
• When making cross-species comparisons you must
consider body size when evaluating how large the
brain is
• Larger mammals will have larger brains
• This may not hold across animal classes (e.g.
dinosaurs still had really small brains)
• Uniquely human?? • Uniquely human
• Art • Domestication
• Language • Fire
• Culture • Personal
• Tool use ornamentation
• Medicine • Morality
• Death rituals • Music
• Intelligence • Spirituality
• Mega structures
• Trade/Economy
Humans are primates
• Our closest relatives are
chimpanzees
• We began diverging from the
chimpanzee lineage around 8 mya
▪ What makes us human? Ideas:
▪ biology: bipedalism, brain increase/gut decrease
▪ behavior: eating proteins, using tools, fire (THINK
WHY)
▪ Bipedalism maybe before 6 Ma? (<LCA)
▪ Earliest tools / cutmarks: 3.3 or 2.6 Ma?
▪ Earliest fire: evidence contested
▪ Hunting/scavenging debate
African beginnings…
African human origins
• What is happening in Africa by the time humans leave for
the first time?
• Which species of humans are on the landscape?
• What sorts of tools are they using?
• What other behaviors are they participating in?
17
Hominin evolution
H. sapiens DenisovansH. heidelbergensis
0 H. floresiensis
H. neanderthalensis
H. naledi
H. antecessor H. erectus P. boisei
1 P. robustus
2 Au. sediba Au. garhi
In Africa H. habilis H. rudolfensis Au. africanus
P. aethiopicus
Ledi Geraru Homo
3
K. platyops Au. afarensis
4
Au. anamensis Ar. ramidus
Anatomically modern Homo
5
Pre-Modern Homo Ar. kadabba
6 Transitional hominins
Orrorin
Archaic hominins
7 Megadont archaic hominins Sahelanthropus
Possible archaic hominins
8 18
Millions of years ago Modified from Wood and Lonergan, 2008
Early possible hominin locations
Sahelanthropus tchadensis
- 7-6 million years ago (Ma)
Orrorin tugenensis
- 6.1-5.8 Ma
Ardipithecus ramidus and Ar.
kedabba
- 4.4-3.9 Ma and 5.8-5.2 Ma
Australopithecus anamensis
- 4.2-3.9 Ma
- Archaic hominin
19
Early possible hominins
Sahelanthropu tchadensis ,Brunet et al., 2002 Orrorin tugenensis, Senut et al. 2001
Ardipithecus ramidus, White et al. 2009
Ardipithecus kedabba, Haile-Salassie 2001 20
Australopithecus anamensis
Australopithecines
• Archaic hominins (4.2 Ma - ~2 Ma)
• Australopithecus and Paranthropus
• Different only in dietary adaptations
• Australopithecus Adapted to frugivory
• Paranthropus Adapted to harder foods (nuts, tubers,
etc.)
• Gracile • Robust
A. anamensis P. aethiopicus
A. afarensis P. boisei
A. africanus P. robustus
A. sediba
A. garhi
A. bahrelghazali
A. deyiremeda 21
Australopithecine
distribution
• East Africa
– A. afarensis
– A. anamensis
– A. garhi
– A. deyiremeda
– P. boisei
– P. aethiopicus
– Kenyanthropus platyops
• South Africa
– A. africanus
– A. sediba
– P. robustus
• Central Africa
– “A. bahrelghazali” 22
Australopithecine
locomotion
Feature Human Chimp Australopith Arboreal/bipedal?
Cranium Foramen magnum Centered Posterior More central Bipedal
Scapula Glenoid fossa orientation Lateral Cranial Cranial Arboreal
Humerus Bicipital groove Shallow Deep Intermediate Arboreal?
Phalanx curvature Straight Curved Curved Arboreal
Hand
Muscle attachments Weak Strong Intermediate Arboreal?
Shape Broad Narrow Broad Bipedal
Pelvis
Iliac blade orientation Sagittal Coronal Sagittal Bipedal
Head size/neck Large Small Small Arboreal
Patellar surface expansion Present Absent Absent Bipedal
Femur
Valgus knee Present Absent Absent Bipedal
Femoral condyle symmetry Expanded Asymmetric Expanded Bipedal
Foot Arches Double Single Double Bipedal
Humero-femoral index ~74 ~100 ~85 Intermediate
23
Early Homo
• Ledi-Geraru, Ethiopia
• 2.8 Ma
• Shares some primitive traits
with Australopithecus
• Shares many derived traits
with Homo habilis and Homo
rudolfensis
• Assigned to Early Homo
24
Homo habilis Homo rudolfensis
OH 7
OH 65
KNM-ER 62000
OH 24
OH 62
KNM ER 42703
KNM ER 1805
OH 13
KNM ER 3723 KNM ER 1590
What about their body?
• Some key elements tell us
something
• Foot is more derived than
Australopithecus
• Upper limb characteristics still
indicates some arboreality
• Expanded apical tufts led to the
name “handy man”
26
Homo erectus
• Immense geographic and temporal time span
– Africa and Eurasia: ~2 Ma – ~50 Ka
• Committed biped
• Bigger brains (550-1250 cc)
– Earlier specimens smaller than later specimens
• More derived features
– Morphologically similar to modern humans in some
ways – modern human body plan
• Modern humans are likely a branch off the H. erectus line
• Reduced sexual dimorphism
• Old individuals
– Last two hint at different social structures/social
behaviors
27
Hominin evolution
H. sapiens Denisovans H. heidelbergensis
0 H. floresiensis East African Species
H. neanderthalensis
H. antecessor H. naledi H. erectus P. boisei
1 P. robustus
2 Au. sediba
Contemporary species Au. garhi
H. habilis H. rudolfensis Au. africanus P. aethiopicus
Ledi Geraru Homo
3
K. platyops Au. afarensis
4
Au. anamensis Ar. ramidus
Anatomically modern Homo
5
Pre-Modern Homo Ar. kadabba
6 Transitional hominins
Orrorin
Archaic hominins
7 Megadont archaic hominins Sahelanthropus
Possible archaic hominins
8 28
Millions of years ago Modified from Wood and Lonergan, 2008
African human origins
• What is happening in Africa by the time humans leave
for the first time?
• Which species of humans are on the landscape?
• What sorts of tools are they using?
• What other behaviors are they participating in?
29
Hominin tool use
• For what purposes are hominins
using tools?
• Replacing biological features
30
Hominin tool use
• For what purposes are hominins using
tools?
• Evidence?
• Surface modifications!
• Use wear/Residue analysis
31
Hominin tool use
• For what purposes are hominins using
tools?
• Evidence?
• Bone breakage analysis
32
Hominin tool use
• For what purposes are hominins using
tools?
• Evidence?
• Polish and rounded edges of bone tools
33
Hominin tool use
• For what purposes are hominins using
tools?
• Evidence?
• Manuports (Projectiles?)
• Spears
34
Hominin evolution
H. sapiens Denisovans H. heidelbergensis
0 H. floresiensis
H. neanderthalensis
H. antecessor H. naledi H. erectus P. boisei
1 P. robustus
Acheulean
2 Au. sediba Au. garhi
Oldowan H. habilis H. rudolfensis Au. africanus P. aethiopicus
Ledi Geraru Homo
3
Lomekwian
K. platyops Au. afarensis
Tool industries
4
Au. anamensis Ar. ramidus
Anatomically modern Homo
5
Pre-Modern Homo Ar. kadabba
6 Transitional hominins
Orrorin
Archaic hominins
7 Megadont archaic hominins Sahelanthropus
Possible archaic hominins
8 35
Millions of years ago Modified from Wood and Lonergan, 2008
African human origins
• What is happening in Africa by the time humans leave
for the first time?
• Which species of humans are on the landscape?
• What sorts of tools are they using?
• What other behaviors are they participating in?
• Diet, social behaviors, subsistence?
36
Out of Africa
Eocene (56-34
Ma)
• The first expansion of hominins
out of Africa
• Several different hypotheses for
how, when, who
• Most scientists support a
migration of early Homo erectus
into Asia shortly after 2 Ma.
• Based on archaeological evidence
(Dmanisi, Georgia; Nihewan Basin,
China; Multiple sites in Java,
Indonesia)
Prevailing hypothesis
• Early Homo evolved in East Africa, Homo
erectus left Africa around 2 Ma, then
spread into the Caucasus and East Asia
Out of Africa I: Hypotheses
• Technological change: evolution of the
Acheulean tradition out of the Oldowan?
• Generalized Range Expansion of African
Faunas -hominins following other animals?
• Brain Size Increase?
• Body Size Increase?
• Mating system shifts to pair‐bonding &
monogamy?
• Changes in reciprocity – Older individuals
means more knowledge base and increased
cooperation?
• Increased diet breadth–More meat eating?
• Committed and efficient bipedalism? 42
Out of Africa I: Hypotheses
• A combination of these three factors likely explains the
out of Africa scenario
• Changes in reciprocity – Older individuals means more
knowledge base and increased cooperation
• Increased diet breadth–More meat eating
• Committed and efficient bipedalism
• However…
• Some paleoanthropologists see problems with the current
hypotheses
43
Who were the
Neanderthals?
La Gibralt
Ferrassie 1 ar
Mezmaiskaya
Child
Shanidar
1
Hirnvolumi
na
~1350
cm3
~1400
cm3
Tattersall (1999), The Last Neanderthal.
• Large size of paranasal
sinuses interpreted as
adaptations to extreme
cold
• 2D data reveal a degree of
craniofacial
pneumatization that is
both commensurate with
the size of cranium and
comparable with
temperate climate H.
sapiens Rae et al, 2011,
JHE
Weightlift
er
Neandert H. sapiens
hal sapiens
Neandert H. sapiens sapiens
hal
Bergmann’s and Allen’s
Rule
Fat is
importan
t!!