john hawks weblog

paleoanthropology, genetics and evolution

Makapansgat

  • Meet Australopithecus africanus

    Mon, 2011-10-31 23:30 -- John Hawks
    Synopsis: 
    Laboratory giving some time with fossil casts of A. africanus.

    This station has several casts of remains attributed to the species, Australopithecus africanus. This was the first australopithecine species discovered, and for many years was the earliest known species of hominids. In another station you can see the morphology of the pelvis of A. africanus. In this station, you'll see some crania and mandibles.

    The fossils come from two sites in South Africa: Sterkfontein, which dates to around 2.6 million years ago, and Makapansgat, which is a bit older, around 2.8 million years old.

    What to do: Take some time to become familiar with the fossils.

    • Several of them have teeth. Are they all adult or are some juveniles?
    • Seriate the dentitions in order from largest to smallest. What do you make of the differences in molar dimensions?
    • Look at the skulls from behind. How would you describe the shape of the outline of the skull from this view?
    Study terms: 
    Australopithecus africanus
    Sterkfontein
    Makapansgat
    Taung
    Tags: 
    Anthropology 105
    laboratory
    explainer
    A. africanus

  • Aging juvenile fossil hominins

    Tue, 2011-10-25 00:27 -- John Hawks
    Synopsis: 
    Laboratory exercise giving the opportunity to examine the development of juvenile hominin jaws.

    The fossil record is not made up only of adults. We have abundant skeletal evidence from juvenile individuals of a broad range of ages. At this station you will find model mandibles and maxillae from human children of a range of ages. These provide a comparison for the casts at the station, each of which represents a fossil hominin specimen from Africa, between 3.6 million and 1.5 million years ago.

    The mandibles represent several different species. They include:

    1. OH 7, from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. This is the type specimen of Homo habilis, around 1.75 million years old.
    2. MLD 2, from Makapansgat, South Africa. This is an early specimen of Australopithecus africanus, around 2.7 million years old.
    3. LH 2, from Laetoli, Tanzania. An early specimen of Australopithecus afarensis, it is around 3.6 million years old.
    4. SK 47, from Swartkrans, South Africa. This is a juvenile specimen of Australopithecus robustus, around 1.5 million years old.

      5. A selection of other mandibles, including some adult mandibles of the same species, is also available. Examine these in comparison with the modern dental models. Which teeth are present in the fossil specimens? What teeth are in the process of eruption? What do they tell you about the ages of the individuals?

    Study terms: 
    eruption
    occlusion
    Laetoli
    Koobi Fora
    Swartkrans
    Homo habilis
    Australopithecus afarensis
    Australopithecus africanus
    Makapansgat
    Tags: 
    A. afarensis
    A. africanus
    Australopithecus
    Homo
    development
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Neandertals

For years, I've worked on their bones. Now I'm working on their genes. Read more about the science studying these ancient people.

Denisova

From a finger bone of an ancient human came the record of a completely unexpected population. My lab is working on the science of the Denisova genome.

Acceleration

The advent of agriculture caused natural selection to speed up greatly in humans. We're uncovering some of the ways that populations have rapidly changed during the last 10,000 years.

Malapa

Just outside Johannesburg, the Malapa site is producing some of the most exciting finds in human evolution. This site is the headquarters of the Malapa Soft Tissue Project.