 |
3.0-2.9 Million
Years Ago
|
|
| The Australopithecus
africanus held many similarities to Australopithecus
afarensis, but evolved to have some differences as well.
One of the best-known skulls discovered was found by Raymond Dart
in 1925. The skull is often called the Taung Child for Dart found
it in Taung South Africa(1). The brain was a little larger than
previous remains, but still not thought to be capable of speech(2).
The majority of the brain was preserved by natural limestone which
formed an endocast and enabled paleontologists to study it(3).
The teeth were also different from the previous species. The canine
teeth were smaller as the molars grew to be slightly larger. These
characteristics combined with the wear found on the recovered
teeth lead scientists and anthropologists to believe that the
Australopithecus africanus ate mostly foliage and fruit(4).
The teeth
and jaw formation are still far from the modern human's bone
structure, but they are more similar to the modern human than
the chimps at this point(5). The body structure still remained
small and only slightly built(1). |
Taung child
|
References:
1. Park, Michael A., 1999, Biological Anthrolpology:
Second Edition, Mayfield Publishing Company, Mountain View California,
412 p.
2. Foley, Jim, July 31, 2001, Hominid Species,
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/species.html
(November 29, 2001)
3. Pilbeam, David, 1972, The Ascent of Man: An Introduction
to Human Evolution, The Macmillan Company, New York, 207 p.207
4. Public Broadcasting Station, 1998, Human Evolution,
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/evolution/
(November 30, 2001)
5. The University of California Museum of Paleontology,
Berkeley, and the Regents of the University of California, 2001, Primates,
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/eutheria/primates.html
(November 25, 2001
