Man vs. Wild

Australopithecus Afarensis

 * Time Period & Location
 * 3.9 - 3.0 years ago
 * Primarily found in East Africa
 * Fossil Discoveries
 * 1974: Donald Johanson in 1974 in Ethiopia (found 40% of her)
 * 1995: Scientists find fossils in Chad
 * Appearance
 * Short: 4 feet tall
 * Jutting jaw, prominent brow bones, flared cheekbones
 * Brain larger than an ape but smaller than a human
 * Long arms and humanlike legs
 * Capabilities and skills
 * Bipedal
 * Lived in small social groups
 * No tools/spoken language
 * Ate easily, chewed fruits.

Homo habilis

 * Time Period & Location
 * 2.5 - 1.5 years ago
 * Found in Africa (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania)
 * Fossil Discoveries
 * 1931: Louis Leaky found stone tools at Olduvai Gorge (as the Homo habilis are the first hominid to use stone/bone tools!)
 * 1959 and later on: The same scientists find more bones
 * Appearance
 * Face like earlier hominid
 * Larger brain, smaller back teeth
 * Apelike arms
 * Around 5 feet tall and 5 pounds.
 * Capabilities and skills
 * Made stone and bone tools to cut & chop meat, bone, wood, & grass
 * Scavengers for meat
 * Ate bone marrow, fruits, collected plants
 * Lived in social groups; no known complex language

Homo erectus

 * Time Period & Location
 * 1.8 - 200,000 years ago
 * Asia, Africa, and possibly Europe
 * Fossil Discoveries
 * 1890s - Eugene Dubois discovered bones in Java
 * 1920s - Fossils discovered in Peking, China
 * 1980s - Remains found in Kenya
 * Appearance
 * Large brain
 * Smooth, round forehead
 * Single brown ridge
 * Protruding jaw
 * Larger back teeth
 * No chin
 * Tall and thin
 * Fully upright stance
 * Capabilities and skills
 * Controlled fire
 * Lived in huts made of branches
 * Variety of foods
 * Possibly spoken language
 * Made flint hand axes

Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis

 * Time Period & Location
 * 400,000 - 30,000 years ago
 * Europe, Western Asia, Near East
 * Fossil Discoveries
 * 1856: Partial skeleton found in Neander Valley, Germany
 * 1880s: Skeletons and tools found
 * 1908 - 1911: Skeletons found in France
 * Appearance
 * Large brain
 * Bulge at back of skull
 * Bong brows
 * Jutting face
 * Heavy jaw
 * Receding
 * Stocky and short limbed
 * Thick, heavy bones
 * Powerful muscles
 * Capabilities and skills
 * Flint made into knives, points, blades, & scrapers.
 * Hunt large animals in groups
 * Cared for old, sick, wounded
 * Possible ritual barials
 * Lived in tepees
 * Stored food
 * Possessed simple language

Homo Sapiens Sapiens

 * Time Period and Location
 * 100,000 to now!
 * All over the world
 * Fossil Discoveries
 * 1860s- Human burials discovered in France
 * Fossil bones called Cro-Magnon
 * Other fossils found throughout the world
 * Appearances
 * Large brains
 * High, rounded skull
 * Small teeth
 * Steep forehead
 * Receded brow ridge
 * Prominent chin
 * Relatively slender bones
 * Capabilities and skills
 * Made tools
 * Live in social groups
 * Semi-permanent structures that are taken as habitats
 * Art cravings (Lascaux, France)
 * Advance language.

Subpages

 * Man vs. Wild
 * Man vs. Wild/Vocab


 * Man vs. Wild/Paleolithic vs. Neolithic
 * Man vs. Wild/Paleolithic vs. Neolithic/Let's Be Civilized!