This webite focuses on Human Evolution, or the Evolution of man. It looks at our past and our history from an Anthropological (anthropology) point of view. We evolved from apes through many different stages including the hominid Species "Hominid" refers to members of the human family, Hominidae, which consist of all species from the point where the human line splits from apes towards present day humans. Habitual bipedal locomotion (movement on two legs), an upright position, and a large brain that has lead to: tool use, language, and culture characterize hominids. The hominid evolutionary line begins with: Ardipithecus ramidus This species is the oldest known hominid. A few fragmentary skull remains were found in Ethiopia, Africa. Due to the lack of fossil material found, scientists do not know much about this species. The importance of this hominid is that scientists believe it to be forest dwelling, which counter-argues the theory that hominids became bipedal because they moved to a savanna environment. Australopithecus This genus of hominid, scientists believe, is the link between Ardipithecus ramidus and the Homo genus. Their gracile skulls and the transformation from ape-like features to modern human features characterize this particular group. Australopithecus anamensis. It was found by Meave Leakey in East Africa. Australopithecus afarensis. It was found in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Kenya. The most famous fossil evidence is The Laeotoli Footprints found by Mary Leakey. These footprints were evidence of bipedalism. They had defining characteristics such as a strong heel strike, splayed toes, and a slight arch."Lucy" is the most well known fossil in the world today. Donald Johanson found her in Afar, Ethiopia in 1978. Lucy is the center of many debates. When this fossil was found, it was amongst a group of other A. afarensis. After studying all of the individuals, Johanson believes that this species is sexually dimorphic. Sexual dimorphism is the difference in size between males and females. In this case, the males seem to be more robust, are prognathic, and have bigger canines.Australopithecus bahrelghazali Not much is known about A. bahrelghazali. Its jaw and teeth were similar to A. afarensis but it had a "modern" chin. The important feature of this species is that it was found in Chad, Africa, an area where virtually no hominid fossils have been found. Australopithecus africanus. It was found in South Africa. There are three famous fossils: "Taung Baby" was found by Raymond Dart in 1924. It was the first hominid found. This was a significant find because it was the first evidence that our origins began in Africa. "Little Foot" was found in Sterkfontein, South Africa by Ron Clark. Clark found this fossil stashed in a box and reassembled it.  "Mrs. Ples" was found by Robert Broom. She was conclusive evidence that our origins did indeed begin in Africa. It should also be noted that Mrs. Ples is really Mr. Ples. Australopithecus garhi existed 2.5 million years ago. Tim White and Berhame Asfaw found it in Bouri, East Ethiopia. Characteristics: cranial capacity of 450ml.canines and premolars like Homo genus huge molars no diastema prognathic ape-like arms and legs. The importance of this hominid is that it was found with many tools and an array of slaughtered animals. Tool use has been the defining criteria that separated the Homo genus from the Australopithecines. Australopithecus This genus of hominid, scientists believe, is the link between Ardipithecus ramidus and the Homo genus. Their gracile skulls and the transformation from ape-like features to modern human features characterize this particular group. Australopithecus anamensis This species existed from 4.2 - 3.9 million years ago. It was found by Meave Leakey in East Africa and was named in August of 1995. Australopithecus afarensis A. afarensis existed from 4-3 million years ago. It was found in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Kenya. The most famous fossil evidence is1) The Laeotoli Footprints found by Mary Leakey. These footprints were evidence of bipedalism. They had defining characteristics such as a strong heel strike, splayed toes, and a slight arch."Lucy" is the most well known fossil in the world today. Donald Johanson found her in Afar, Ethiopia in 1978. Lucy is the center of many debates. When this fossil was found, it was amongst a group of other A. afarensis. After studying all of the individuals, Johanson believes that this species is sexually dimorphic. Sexual dimorphism is the difference in size between males and females. In this case, the males seem to be more robust, are prognathic, and have bigger canines.Australopithecus bahrelghazaliThis hominid existed from 3.5 to 3 million years ago. Not much is known about A. bahrelghazali. Its jaw and teeth were similar to A. afarensis but it had a "modern" chin. The important feature of this species is that it was found in Chad, Africa, an area where virtually no hominid fossils have been found. Australopithecus africanus  "Taung Baby" was found by Raymond Dart in 1924. It was the first hominid found. This was a significant find because it was the first evidence that our origins began in Africa."Little Foot" was found in Sterkfontein, South Africa by Ron Clark. Clark found this fossil stashed in a box and reassembled it."Mrs. Ples" was found by Robert Broom. She was conclusive evidence that our origins did indeed begin in Africa. It should also be noted that Mrs. Ples is really Mr. Ples. Australopithecus garhi  A. garhi existed 2.5 million years ago. Tim White and Berhame Asfaw found it in Bouri, East Ethiopia.The importance of this hominid is that it was found with many tools and an array of slaughtered animals. Tool use has been the defining criteria that separated the Homo genus from the Australopithecines. Paranthropus Paranthtropus are a group of hominids that existed at the same time as the Australopithecines and some species of the Homo genus. It is believed that the Paranthropus species evolved on their own and had no part in the evolution of the Homo genus. Some Paranthropus features are robust skulls and huge flat molars used for grinding. Paranthropus aethiopicus (the black skull)  This species existed from 2.8 - 2.2 million years ago. It was found in Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Africa. Paranthropus robustus This species existed from 2.2-1.5 million years ago. The first fossil was found by a schoolboy in Kromdraai, Africa. The Homo genus is separated from the earlier hominids because of the emergence of tool use, language, and culture. The genus begins about 2.3 million years ago. The characteristics of these species are bigger brain (above 1000ml), the forehead rises straight up, the skull becomes rounder, the teeth are reduced, arms are shorter and legs are longer, and the skeleton becomes more delicate. Homo habilis / Homo rudolfensis These species existed 2.3-1.6 million years ago. They were found in Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, and China. These hominids are considered the first tool users. They used tools that were chips of rock called Oldowan tools. Scientist have debated over whether H. habilis and H. rudolfensis should be separated or not. H. rudolfensis was found in Koobi Fora, Kenya and lived 1.6 million years ago. Its characteristics are a cranial capacity of 750 ml, postorbital constriction, and no brow ridge. Although the characteristics of H. rudolfensis differ slightly from the characteristics stated above scientist still hesitate to separate them, because there is so much variation within H. habilis that they do not know where to draw the line. Homo erectus / Homo ergaster H. erectus existed 1.8-27,000 years ago and H. ergaster existed 1.8-1.5 million years ago. The separation between the two species is that H. erectus was found in Asia and H. ergaster was found in Africa. Other than that the two share the same characteristics. This species was found with a different type of tool called Achuelian tools. These tools were more advanced than the Oldowan tools. Both sides of the rock were worked on to make the tool sharp and it gave the tool a tear drop shape. These tools were used for many tasks such as chopping, scraping, and cutting. There is some evidence that this species may have used fire. One of the major fossils found is a skull cap found in Java, Indonesia. In 1891 Eugene Dubois found this fossil at a time when people wanted to believe that our origins did not begin in Africa. Therefore they were hoping to find that our origins started in Java. Another major fossil found was the Turkana Boy. This fossil is one of the most complete Homo skeletons found. The specimen was found in West Turkana Lake in Africa. Some important features about it is that it was stronger than Anatomically Modern Homo sapiens and that he had a narrow spinal cord, which may have inhibited speech.  Archaic Homo sapiens These species first appeared around 800,000 years ago. "Archaic" describes a diverse group of hominids between H. erectus and "modern " humans. The brain size is larger than H. erectus, but smaller than most "modern" humans. The skull is also more round than H. erectus. The skeleton and teeth are less robust than H. erectus, but more so than "modern " humans. These species still have large brow ridges and receding foreheads and chins. There is no clear dividing line between these species. Homo antecessor This species existed 800,000 years ago and was found in Spain. Homo heidelbergensi This hominid existed 500,000-100,000 years ago. It has been found in Europe, Africa, India, and China. This species was found in association with a new type of Achuelian tool. The tools were made with what is called the Levallois technique. The hominid worked on the rock from the middle out on both sides. Homo neanderthalensis  This species existed 130,000 to 25,000 years ago. Some scientists propose to push back the date to as far as 225,000 years ago. This species has been found in Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East. H. neanderthalensis was found with a more advanced set of Achuelian tools called Mousterian tools. These tools are considered more advanced because more work was put into detailing them with animal bones and horns. Mousterian tools were the first tools to be hafted, that is to have handles. There were 63 different types of these tools.Currently, anthropologists are debating over whether H. neanderthalensis is an animal or a sophisticate. Some anthropologists believe that H. neanderthalensis are sophisticates because of the following characteristics: Those anthropologists that claim that H. neanderthalensis are animals do so for the following reasons: They do not recognize the evidence for art, music, shelters, clothing, or caring for the dead They believe that the objects found in the burial sites were there by chance The anthropologists agree that the species had more advanced tools, but they did not know how to use them, resulting in many injuries. Both groups of anthropologists have valid arguments, readers will have to draw their own conclusions. Anatomically Modern Homo sapiens (AMHS) This species existed 200,000 years ago- present. They were/are found in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, North America, and South America.