Name: KEY
Period:
Date:
World History – Mrs. Schenck
http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/humanfossils/species/human-family-tree
EARLY HUMANS COMPARE AND CONTRAST CHART
Early Human/
Nickname
Where they
lived/ When
Physical Appearance
know the order they lived – not the dates
Habitat/Diet
Significant Human Traits
Very apelike, hairy
Ardipithecus
ramidus
“Ardi”
Where: Eastern
Africa
When: 4.4 million
years ago
Where: Eastern
Africa
Australopithecus
afarensis
“Lucy’s species”
When: between
about 3.85 and
2.95 million years
ago
Height:
Females: average 3 ft 11 inches
Weight:
Females: average 110 lbs
apelike face (a flat nose, a strongly
projecting lower jaw)
small brain (about 1/3 the size of a
modern human brain)
long, strong arms with curved fingers for
climbing trees
Height:
Males: average 4 ft 11 in; Females:
average 3 ft 5 in
Wooded environment
Omnivores: ate plants, meat,
and fruit
Big toe and pelvis show she moved
in trees AND on possibly on two legs
(bipedalism)
woodlands, grasslands, and
other diverse environments
lived both in trees and on the
ground
mainly a plant-based diet of
leaves, fruit, seeds, roots,
nuts, and insects
small canine teeth like all other early
humans
body that stood on two legs and
regularly walked upright
Weight:
Males: average 92 lbs; Females: average
64 lbs
Homo habilis
“handy man”
Where: Eastern
and Southern
Africa
When: 2.4 million
to 1.4 million
years ago
still ape-like features, including long arms
Height:
average 3 ft 4 in - 4 ft 5 in
Weight:
average 70 lbs
capable of eating a broad
range of foods, including some
tougher foods like leaves,
woody plants, and some
animal tissues
slightly larger brain and smaller face
and teeth than Australopithecus
walked on two feet
scientists thought they were first
stone tool makers - however, may
have been another species living in
same place at same time that
Early Human/
Nickname
Homo erectus
“Upright Man”
Where they lived/
When
Where:
Northern, Eastern,
and Southern
Africa; Western
and East Asia
When: between
1.89 million and
143,000 years ago
Physical Appearance
modern human-like
body
longer legs and shorter
arms
larger brain
Height: ranges from 4
ft 9 in - 6 ft 1 in
Weight: ranges from
88 - 150 lbs
large middle part of the
face, angled cheek
bones, and huge nose
Homo
neanderthalensis
“Neanderthal”
(do not
pronounce
the “h”)
Where: Europe
and southwestern
to central Asia
When: 200,000 28,000 years ago
bodies were shorter and
stockier – adapted for
colder climates
modern human brain size
Height: Males: average
5’ 5’’; Females: average
5’ 1’
Weight: Males: average
143 lbs; Females:
average 119 lbs
Habitat/Diet
Homo sapiens
“Modern
Humans”
very large brains
When: 200,000
years ago to
present
flat and near vertical
forehead
smaller jaws and teeth
Tools
Fire
earliest handaxes,
first major
innovation in
stone tool
technology
earliest
evidence of
hearths
(campfires)
used for
cooking food,
social
interaction,
warmth, and
keep away large
predators
sophisticated
tools (for hunting,
needles for
sewing)
controlled fire
Specialized and
refined tools like
fishhooks and
harpoons, bows
and arrows, spear
throwers and
sewing needles
Sophisticated
control over fire
lived completely on
the ground now
tall bodies and large
brains required a lot
of energy , so the
need to eat meat and
other types of protein
walk/run long distances
cared for old and weak
individuals
honey and
underground tubers
lived in shelters
specialized seasonal
hunters, eating
animals available at
the time (i.e. reindeer
in the winter and red
deer in the summer)
our closest extinct
human relative
made and wore
clothing
made symbolic or
ornamental objects
(religion?)
deliberately buried
if lived near the ocean their dead and marked
they ate sea creatures their graves with
too (fish, clams, etc.)
offerings, such as
flowers (religion?)
First hunted and
gathered their food
Where: worldwide
Significant Human
Traits
12,000 years ago first
farmers grew their
own food and
domesticated animals
Population increase due
to more food
Social networks
Trade
Farms led people to
Art, music, government,
settle down in villages and religion
-> towns -> cities