Page 199 - The Dinosaur Book and Other Wonders of the Prehistoric World (DK-Smithsonian)

Early humans modern humans, the
Very similar to

neanderthals were
sturdy people adapted
for life in the cold
climate of ice-age
Europe.

Only the skull of this
North African ancestor
has been found, so we
cannot be sure whether Early humans
it walked upright or not.

Homo habilis Homo neanderthalensis

Sahelanthropus

Living from 4–2
million years ago,
australopithecines
walked upright and Homo habilis was the
had a mixed diet of earliest member of our
fruit, roots, and meat. own genus, Homo. Its
name means “handy
man”—it used its hands
to make stone tools.

BIGGER BRAINS

The key difference between humans and other apes is intelligence. Our ancestors were
walking upright for a while before their brains started getting bigger. As their brains
grew, their jaws became smaller. The average brain size of the very early Homo ergaster
was 52 cubic in (850 cubic cm), increasing in Homo heidelbergensis to 75 cubic in
Australopithecus 1.8 MYA–600,000 YA 600,000 YA–250,000 YA 150,000 YA–PRESENT
(1,225 cubic cm), and finally 82 cubic in (1,350 cubic cm) in modern Homo sapiens.

The earliest ancestors of humans were very Homo ergaster Homo heidelbergensis Homo sapiens
clearly walking upright: its fossil footprints, similar
like Dryopithecus. Sahelanthropus may have to our own, have been found in East Africa. Over
been one of the first apes to walk upright. It lived time, there were many Australopithecus species,
in Africa 7 million years ago and had a brain no followed by several Homo species. The first
larger than that of other apes. By about modern humans, Homo sapiens, evolved in
3.6 million years ago, Australopithecus was Africa at least 200,000 years ago. 197

US_196-197_Primates_and_early_humans.indd 197 10/04/18 3:35 PM