Background and goals
The conditions in which bipedal locomotion emerged are still unresolved. However they are all closely dependent on environment reconstructions. This project will contribute to the scientific community's understanding of the environments of the earliest Australopithecine.
Australopithecus anamensis is the earliest species of the genus and the first indisputably bipedal hominid. According to paleoecological analyses (isotopes, fauna, soils, etc) (2,3), these hominids were generalists who lived in mosaic environments , e.g. a mix of habitat types. However, the specifics of the exploitation of the environments by the hominids need to be further explored.Understanding the conditions of local environments is essential for understanding changes that occur on a global scale, such as with climate change. The same principle applies to ancient environments: the local can have an impact on the global. The concept of realized niche describes a niche that is actually occupied by a species in a particular site (4), as opposed to the full range of environmental conditions a species has the capacity to occupy. An animal might restrict its niche as a result of interspecific competition for instance. The aim of this project is to explore the niche breath and heterogeneity of Au. Anamensis.
Situated in both Kenya and Ethiopia, the Omo-Turkana basin it is of major importance in paleoanthropology, because it encompasses some of the most prolific hominid-bearing geological formations, such as the Koobi Fora and Shungura Formations (1). overall research plan involves the comparison of three different fossil collections from the Turkana Basin that are approximately 4 million years old (Ma): those of Mursi (Ethiopia), Allia Bay ...
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...Evolution, 49 (2) : 206-229. And references therein.
(3) Kingston, JD, 2007. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 134 (S45): 20-58. And references therein.
(4) Malanson, GP, Westman, WE & Y-L Yan, 1992. Ecological Modelling, 64 (4): 261-277.
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(7) Dumouchel, L, 2013. Étude taphonomique des assemblages de la formation géologique Mursi et du membre A de la formation Shungura, Éthiopie. MSc Anthropology, Université de Montréal.
(8) Ward, CV et al., 2010. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B., 365 (1556): 3333-3344.
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(10) Behrensmeyer, AK & Reed KE, 2013. The Paleobiology of Australopithecus: 41-60. Springer.
A study performed by Martin Hausler and Peter Schmid of the University of Zurich, Switzerland, appeared in the October 1995 issue of Journal of Human Evolution, igniting controversy over the 1974 Australopithecus discoveries in Hadar, Ethiopia. The most famous of the Hadar specimens is the 3-million-year-old skeleton, “Lucy,” who was recovered by paleoanthropologist, Donald Johanson. In his article, Shreeve presents the methods and findings of Hausler and Schmid’s study as well as some counter arguments from other scientists in the field.
“Late Miocene hominids from the Middle Awash Ethiopia,” Yohannes Haile-Selassie, Nature 412, 178-181 (12 July 2001) C. Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
Allen, John S., and Susan C. Anton. "Chapter 13 The Emergence, Dispersal, and Bioarchaeology of H. sapiens." Pearson Custom Anthropology. By Craig Stanford. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2013. 200+. Print.
These fossils are having a major impact on the scientific world’s view of human evolution and scientists may even have to rethink some present ideas about it. Because the skull of Toumai has characteristics that are very similar to those found in the Homo family, some scientists are beginning to question whether or not Australopithecus, an early member of the hominid family from about four to one million years ago and they are characterized by their fully upright posture and their small brain size, is even part of the evolution record of humans from apes. Bernard Wood, of George Washington University in Washington DC, argues that if Australopithecus has more ape-like features than the features found on an older
Robbins Burling, David F. Armstrong, Ben G. Blount, Catherine A. Callaghan, Mary Lecron Foster, Barbara J. King, Sue Taylor Parker, Osamu Sakura, William C. Stokoe, Ron Wallace, Joel Wallman, A. Whiten, Sherman Wilcox and Thomas Wynn. Current Anthropology, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Feb., 1993), pp. 25-53
Kim Oakberg Allegretto. "The Moatfield ossuary: isotopic dietary analysis of an Iroquoian community, using dental tissue." Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 22. (2003): 245-261. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. .
In 1958, their population was approximately 40,000. The pursuant gatherers of Mbuti people are separated into several subgroups. They lived within their individual region, where they have their own languages and engage in their hunting practices. Each Mbuti subgroup uses a language of a nearest person and they do not have a text method. Their sizes are usually small and average; they also have naturally brown skin and churlish hairs. Mbuti persons exist in bands of 15 to 60. They live in hot, sticky and plentiful precipitation forest which is sprinkled with lakes and rivers. It also has a wealthy variety of flowers and animals. The Mbuti have exte...
Stanford, Craig B., John S. Allen, and Susan C. Antón. Exploring Biological Anthropology: The Essentials. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010. 17. Print.
Ember, Carol R., Melvin Ember, and Peter N. Peregrine. Anthropology. Thirteenth ed. Boston, MA: Prentice Hall, 2011. Print.
Austalopithicus meaning “southern ape” was the first specimen to be found. The Austalopithicus was found in African and was know to have lived from 4.2 to around 1.0 million years ago (Standford 251). They had a small body like an ape that would get approximately 64 to around 100 pounds. They had a big jaw with a U-shaped mouth of small teeth. The brain size of a Australopithicus was small and would get approximately 340 to 500 cc, which is in the same range as gorillas and chimpanzees brain sizes. The top of their skull was of a bony ridge. They were able to walk on their two feet and had a small pelvis. The Australopithecus were found with stone tools, which made them the first stone tool makers.
Schultz, Emily A. & Lavenda, Robert H. 2005, Cultural Anthropology, 6th edn, Oxford University Press, New York, Chapter 3: Fieldwork.
According to Stringer and Andrews, the Out-of-Africa Model suggests that there is a fairly recent common ancestor that shares many of the anatomical characteristics displayed by modern Homo Sapiens (1263). This version is more parsimonious with regard to the fact that it ...
Jurmaln, R., Kilgore, L., & Trevathan, W. (2011). Essentials of physical anthropology. (9th ed., p. 5). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
This essay discusses the evolution of amphibians. Amphibians are classified into three orders (anura, caudata and apoda) and are in the superclass tetrapoda (Kolesova, et el, 2007). The Apoda is comprised of organisms with no legs, and these organisms normally live in barrows. Tretrapods are comprised of vertebrates with four limbs; and examples of tetrapods are reptiles and amphibians (Kolesova, et el, 2007). Tetrapods were the earliest vertebrates to be able to walk on land and that was during the Devonian period about 360-370 million years ago (Kolesova, et el, 2007). Before the existence of amphibians almost all vertebrates lived in water (Kolesova, et el, 2007).
Boas, F. (1930). Anthropology. In, Seligman, E. R. A. ed., Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences. Macmillan: New York.