Neanderthals

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The origin of humankind has been on the thoughts and minds of scientists for centuries. During the 1800’s, scientists believed that humanity had originated somewhere either in Europe or Asia around 200,000 years ago; the reasoning for their conclusions were based on the archeological discoveries of Neanderthals in Europe and Java Man in Indonesia. In the late 19th century, Charles Darwin proposed that humans actually originated in Africa because chimpanzees and gorillas, the closest living relatives to humans, are found there, but not that many people warmed up to that impression. In was not until the early 20th century where Raymond Dart discovered fossils in South Africa that helped further Darwin’s hypothesis and increased the excavation …show more content…
Another team, led by Brigitte Senut and Martin Pickford discovered it in the Tugen Hills of central Kenya. Tests estimate the new genus and species to be around six million years old. The fossils collected suggest that Orrorin tugenensis are closer to humans than to Australopithecus, while also having ape-like features; its cheek teeth are comparatively smaller than Australopithecus’ (http://books.google.com/books?id=vhoRdbTrjc8C&pg=PA1527&dq=Orrorin#v=onepage&q=Orrorin&f=true page 1527). The anterior teeth of Orrorin are closer to apes than hominids, but the “relatively great depth of [its] corpus mandibularis… is an archaic feature among hominids” (http://cogweb.ucla.edu/ep/Orrorin.html). Both Orrorin and modern humans are microdont animals, where they have “small cheek teeth [along with a] large body size”, whereas Australopithecus was a megadont genus, where they would have larger teeth in comparison (http://books.google.com/books?id=PrJ1lmjMakoC&pg=PA112&lpg=PA112&dq=microdont+orrorin&source=bl&ots=DnSgMi4zjL&sig=fYHzNOtQtGPlSdYVWqAzqpOgHxI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=w3h_VKulMdSmyAS2_4CIDA&ved=0CDEQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=microdont%20orrorin&f=true ). Unlike Sahelanthropus tchadensis, the researchers also discovered a femur for the species, providing evidence that it was bipedal when on the ground, but was also capable of climbing on …show more content…
In 1965, a team led by Bryan Patterson discovered the first fossils of the species in northern Kenya, but could not make sure which species it was due to a lack of additional fossils. It was not until the mid-1990s when Meave Leakey found more remains in the same area. At first, the initial fossils were classified with the Australopithecus afarensis species, but with this new information, it became clear that these remnants are of a different species than previously thought. The new species is said to be approximately 4 million years old, ranging from 4.2-3.9 million years ago. The Australopithecus anamensis seems to have several traits that are attributed from both humans and apes; its canines are larger and more ape-like that its successor’s, along with its wrist bone, rows of teeth, ear holes, and increase in hair, while it was bipedal based off of the upper tibia being thick “to support the extra weight caused by walking upright” and a top knob of the tibia being concave as it stabilizes the joints needed for bipedal balancing. Like apes, the diet of Australopithecus anamensis ideally consisted of hard nuts and fruits. They also adapted to climb onto tress for said sustenance and to escape from predators.
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