Australopithecus africanus
Discovery
Prof. Raymond Dark (1924), a South African anthropologist discovered the skull of a 5-6-year-old baby, about 5 million years old near the Tuang river in Africa. This baby fossil is termed Australopithecus africanus ( African ape-man or Tuang baby),
The 3.8 million-year-old fossils of a new species Australopithecus Africanus was first discovered by Mary Leakey from the volcanic ash of Lateral and later on Donald Johanson and Timothy D white established a new species.
Zojanthropus (the old vain toolmaker) was discovered by Mary Leakey and LBS Leakey (1959) from Tanzania (East Africa) which has been named Australopithecus boisei by Leakey.
A. Africanus (African ape-man or southern ape-man or Tuang baby), A. boisei (Olduvai tool man), A. Afarensis (Lucy), Aramids, A. aethiopicus, and A. robustus are six known species of Australopithecus.
Characteristics
Its height was 1.5 m and both human and ape's characters.
It was a fully bipedal hominid.
It lived from 4-1.5 million years ago in caves during the Pleistocene period.
It has an erect posture and an omnivorous diet.
Its cranial capacity volume (brain size) was 500-700 cc,i.e. equivalent to a modern gorilla.
Brown ridges projected over the eyes and lack chin.
A distinct lumbar curve was present in the vertebral column.
Its thigh and hips were adapted for erect standing, walking, and running.
Its arms were somewhat less mobile than ours and pelvis were broad.
Its ankle bone was intermediate between human and ape.
It had protruding jaws and a modern man like teeth.
Its face was prognathous with larger jaws and teeth than modern man.
Australopithecus africanus gave rise to Homo habilis approximately 2 million years ago, also a separate line gave rise to Australopithecus robustus and Australopithecus boisei.
Homo habilis
Discovery
Louis SB Leaky and his wife Mary Leakey (1961) obtained the fossils of homo habilis Pleistocene rocks of Olduvai Gorge in East Africa.
Richrd Leakey (1972) also obtain fossils of Homo habilis from the east side of Lake Turkana in Kenya.
Characteristics
Homo habilis is called the first toolmaker because he had developed the most primitive stone tools.
Homo habilis man was about 1.2-1.5 m tall.
Its cranial capacity was 700-800 cc, which lived in Africa about 2 million years ago.
Homo habilis was carnivorous and begun hunting for meat.
Homo habilis lived in small communities or groups in caves.
Perhaps they show the sexual division of labor and communication with visual signals and simple audible sounds.
Homo erectus
Discovery
Fossils of Homo erectus were obtained from diverse sites from Olduvai Gorge in Africa java, Algeria, Germany, Hungary, and china.
Fossils were 800000 to 30000 years ago.
Homo erectus is considered the direct ancestor of modern man. It evolved from evolution.
Characteristics
They were the oldest known early human to have modern human-like body proportions.
There were the first human species to have a fleshy nose. they had a flat skull with prominent ridges over the brow.
They had short arms and long legs. The long legs depict that they are better suited for long-distance migration
They were the first ones to walk upright and stood erect thus, named so. They are also known as Homo register.
Pithecanthropus erectus
Discovery
In 1891 Eugene Dubois obtained fossils (some teeth, skull cap, and femur bone) from Pleistocene deposits (500000-1500000 year ago) in Central java (an island of Indonesia).
It was named Pithecanthropus erectus (ap man that can walk erect) by Eugene Dubois and Homo erectus by Mayer (1950)
Characteristics
Java man was more than 1.65-1.75 m tall weight about 70 kg.
Its legs were long and erect, but its body slightly bent during movement.
The face of the Java man was prognathous, Whereas the forehead was low and slanting.
Its Java was large and heavy, but quite similar to those of modern man, except large canine of the lower jaw.
Its nose was flattened and chin inconspicuous along with thick and protruding lips.
Java man was omnivorous and cannibal.
Java man was the first prehistoric man, who began the use of fire for cooking, defense, and hunting.
Its crinal cavity was 940mcc, which is about intergraded between Australopithecus (600-700 cc) and modern man (1400-1600 cc).
Sinanthrops
Discovery
The fossil (skulls, jaws, and postcranial bone fragments) of parking man were discovered by W C PAI (1924) from the limestone caves of Choukoutien near Peking (Peking is the former name of china"s capital Beijing).
WC PAI named java man Sinanthropus, whereas Davision Black (1927) named it Sinanthropus Pekinensis, and Mayer (1950) called it HOMO Erectus Pekinesis.
These fossils of Peking man was about six lakh year old.
Characteristics
Peking man was1.55-1.60 m tall, i.e. slightly shorter, lighter, and weaker than java, man.
The cranial cavity of Peaking man was 850-1200 cc than is more than java man.
The peaking ape-man was omnivorous and cannibal.
clear evidence has been obtained from Hungary and China in support of the use of fire by peaking man. These were hunters and food gatherers.
Like java man, Peaking man also lived in caves in small groups or tribes or communities.
The peaking man was first to bigger with the uses of clothes ( made from animal skins), rudimentary languages, and tools made with woodman's bones.
Morphology was similar to a java man with heavy bony eyebrow ridges, a low slanting forehead, chinless face.
