Human Evolution

Grade 12
NATIONAL
EXAMINATION
GUIDELINES
(2021)
OUR PLACE IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM
 Hominids
(Great Ape and humans)

(quadrupedal) (bipedal)
Orangutan Ardipithecus
Gorilla
Australopethicus
Chimpanzee Homo
• Ardipethicus, Austalopethicus and the early
Homo-species are considered fossil ancestors
of modern humans (Homo sapiens)
Anatomical similarities between African apes and humans:
 No tail
 Sexual dimorphism – clear distinction between
male and female
 Molars and premolars with rounded cusps
CHARACTERISTICS THAT DISTINGUISH HUMANS FROM OTHER PRIMATES

 Bipedalism(foramen magnum, spine, pelvic girdle)

 Brain size
 Dentition(teeth)
 Prognathism
 Palate shape
 Cranial ridges
 Brow ridges
Trends in human evolution
 Ape-like beings are quadrupedal. Gorillas and
chimpanzees have a special manner of walking, i.e.
‘knuckle-walking’. Humans are bipedal and walk
upright. In order for humans to become bipedal
and walk upright, their skeletons had to change.
Differences between humans and ape-like beings

Quadrupedal movement Characteristics Bipedal movement Characteristics

Bent body posture Upright posture

Foramen magnum in a backward position Foramen magnum in a more forward position

Spine enters skull more horizontally  head Spine enters skull more vertically  head is balanced above the spine
parallel to spine
Arms are shorter than legs
Arms are longer than legs
Pelvic girdle is is wider and shorter
Pelvic girdle is longer and narrower
Big toes are convergent
Big toes are divergent
 ADVANTAGES OF
BIPEDALISM
 Increased awareness of the
environment / able to see further for
food / shelter / danger
 Freeing of the hands to use implements
/ carry objects/ weapons/ offspring
 Expose a smaller surface area to the
sun / UV-rays to reducing overheating
 It is easier to wade through water on
two legs
 It displays the male genitalia for mating
 Movement on two legs is more energy
efficient and faster
 WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

Tropical forest (movement in Savannah (movement on

trees) ground)
 WHAT IS THE
EVIDENCE?
•FOSSIL EVIDENCE
• Tells us of the physical appearance of hominids
• Supports bipedalism

•GENETIC EVIDENCE
• Provides evidence about common ancestors
• Can help us identify how closely related two species are

•CULTURAL EVIDENCE
• Evolution of complex brain processes
1. HOW DO WE KNOW A FOSSIL WAS BIPEDAL?

Foramen Magnum located

1 more forward
BIPEDALISM – FORAMEN MAGNUM
 1. HOW DO WE KNOW A FOSSIL WAS BIPEDAL?

Foramen Magnum located

1 more forward

2 A shorter & wider pelvis

 Quadrupedal movement
Bipedal movement
Pelvis is elongated with
Pelvis is shorter,
large ilia and runs parallel
broader/wider
to the spine
 Centralizes body
weight above the hips  Better support for spine
 Better stability for and body in quadrupedal
bipedal walking / movement
running
 1. HOW DO WE KNOW A FOSSIL WAS BIPEDAL?

Foramen Magnum located

1 more forward

S-shaped spine / more curved spine

2 A shorter & wider pelvis 3
Quadrupedal movement Bipedal movement

Spine is C-shaped
Spine is S-shaped
 Positions head parallel with
spine  Keeps head positioned

 Maintains body posture for above shoulders

knuckle walking  Better shock absorption

 Head, spine and hips all run  Better resilience

parallel to support powerful  Centres the torso weight

quadrupedal movement above the hips

 Allows flexible movement

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-27613-7_2
 1. HOW DO WE KNOW A FOSSIL WAS BIPEDAL?

Foramen Magnum located

1 more forward

S-shaped spine / more curved spine

2 A shorter & wider pelvis 3

Femurs are longer and more

4 angled towards the midline
(knees are closer together)
 Quadrupedal Bipedal movement
movement
 Femur is elongated
 Femur is shorter and more angled
and runs parallel to towards the midline /
the midline with slanted so that the
almost the same knees are closer
distance between together
knees and hips
 Supports the central
 Supports the body weight distribution
weight in above the hips
quadrupedal
locomotion  Allows bipedal
(knuckle-walking) locomotion to be more
efficient
 1. HOW DO WE KNOW A FOSSIL WAS BIPEDAL?

Foramen Magnum located

1 more forward

S-shaped spine / more curved spine

2 A shorter & wider pelvis 3

Femurs are longer and more

4 angled towards the midline
5 (knees are closer together)

Convergent big toe, well

developed heelbone and foot arch
 Convergent big toe Divergent big toe

Large, strong heel bone

Small, weaker heel bone

Longer foot with stable arch Shorter foot with flatter arch

HUMAN APE
 SKULL DIFFERENCES
Sagittal crest absent
Less, pronounced eye brow
ridges

Less protruding jaws /

Larger cranium Non-prognathous

Foramen Magnum located

Smaller canines
more forward

Smaller jaws Well developed chin

 SKULL DIFFERENCES
Pronounced eye brow ridges
Sagittal crest present

Smaller cranium More protruding jaws /

Prognathous

Foramen Magnum located more

backwards
Large canines

Large jaws Poorly developed chin

 DENTITION – DIETARY CHANGES

Raw food diet (biting, tearing) Cooked food diet (grinding, chewing)
 DENTITION – DIETARY CHANGES

Large diastema Diastema No diastema Small canines

Large, prominent
canines

Smaller teeth
Large teeth

Incisors

Canines
TIME
Molars
 DENTITION – DIETARY CHANGES

Diastema
 PALATE SHAPE – DIETARY CHANGES

Rectangular / U-shaped Rounded / C-shaped

Incisors

Canines
TIME
Molars
PROGNATHISM – DIETARY CHANGES
 CRANIAL & BROW RIDGES – DIETARY CHANGES

Sagittal crest

Eye brow ridges

SAGITTAL CREST & EYEBROW RIDGES: WHY?
 WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS SHOW US?
• The diet changed from raw food to cooked food
• Ape-like ancestors ate a raw food diet with lots of plant material that
required more processing
• All the teeth, especially the canines were much larger
• Large, powerful jaws
• Large chewing muscles attached to the ridges to move the powerful jaws
• Early homo species used tools to cut meat and fire to cook it. Not so
much processing required
• Smaller teeth, including canines
• Smaller jaws
• Absence of ridges due to reduced size of facial and jaw muscles
 CRANIAL CAPACITY / SIZE OF THE CRANIUM
A larger brain allows:

- Better co-ordinated movement

- Greater amount of information to

be processed

- More complex activities develop

like art, discovery of fire,
aesthetic appreciation and
development of religion

- Development of language /
speech

https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/who-would-win-a-fight-between-a-neanderthal-and-huma
n.197458/page-2
Major phases in the hominid
evolution(from 6mya to
present)
Main hominin genera:
 Ardipethicus
 Austalopethicus
 Homo
Ardipethicus
 Lived between 5,8 - 4,4 mya
 Show ape-like and australopithecine

characteristics indicating that ardipethicus

could be a transitional form between apes
and australopethicus
AUSTRALOPITHECUS

 are regarded as the first bipedal primates.

 They have both ape-like and human-like characteristics
and they are sometimes called ape-men.
 The genus name Australopithecus literally means
‘southern ape’.

These world-famous footprints at Laetoli, Tanzania were

probably made by an australopithecine some 3.5 million
years ago confirming the bipedalism of Australopithecus.
 Australopithecus developed simultaneously with the
Homo genus and is therefore not regarded as a human
ancestor.
 Various Australopithecus fossils of different species
have already been found in Africa.
 The following five well-known Australopithecines are
discussed:
- Taung child
- Mrs Ples
- Lucy
- Little Foot
- Australopithecus sediba
 Australopithecus africanus (3–2 mya)
“Southern ape of Africa”
• Taung child was discovered by
Raymond Dart at Taung (NW of
Kimberly).
• Skull was that of a 3-4 yr old
child
• Position of foramen magnum
indicates bipedalism.
Dart with Taung child

• In 1947 a complete adult skull and various

bones were found in the Sterkfontein Caves in

Mrs Ples South Africa by Dr Robert Broom.

• Mrs Ples supported Dart’s theory.
Lucy - Australopithecus afarensis “Southern ape of Afar”

 Lucy is a fossilised female skeleton found in the

Afar valley in Ethiopia in 1974.
 The shape of the pelvis indicated that Lucy was
female
 The skeleton was about 1m long and showed
evidence ot bipedalism.
 The face had ape-like characteristics, ie. a low
forehead, flat nose, protruding lower jaw and large
canines.
 The arms were long and the legs short. The brain
capacity was similar to that of apes.
Little Foot (Australopithecus prometheus)

 In 1994 the ankle and foot bones

of an australopithecine fossil was
discovered in the Sterkfontein
Caves by the paleoanthropologist
Dr Ron Clarke.
 The fossil was named Little Foot.
The rest of the skeleton was
found in 1997. Ron Clark is still busy to excavate
“Little Foot” from his rocky “bed”.

 Little Foot’s skull bones and teeth are so unusual that Clarke
and his colleagues have categorized her as a distinct species.
They chose not to give this species a new name, but instead
designate it as Australopithecus prometheus.
 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-42250530
The Sterkfontein Caves is known as the Cradle of
Humankind because scientists believe that this
region could be the place of human origin.
 Australopithecus sediba
 In 2008 two fossils, those of a young woman and boy, were discovered
in the Cradle of Humankind in the Malapa area by Professor Lee Berger
and his 9 year old son, Matthew.
 Matthew Berger found the fossil of the young boy, which was named
Karabo.
 Professor Berger and his colleagues believe that Australopithecus
sediba could probably be the ancestor of the modern human.

Lee Berger with his son

 Lucy
Ardipethicus Ramidus

Sediba (Malapa)

Taung child Mrs Ples

Little Foot

Compiled by Carlyn Oppelt

49
HOMO SPECIES
 Appeared in Africa about 2,2 million years ago.
 The main differences between the genus Australopithecus and the
genus Homo include the following:
- The brain of Homo was much larger and better developed.
- Homo could make and use tools, make fire and started to develop
language.
- The skull of Homo was more human-like with less prominent brow

ridges, a flatter face, smaller teeth and a more rounded jawbone.

 The following Homo species are discussed:

• Homo habilis
• Homo erectus
• Homo neanderthalensis
• Homo sapiens
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF HOMO
 Bipedal
 Foramen magnum directly above
vertebral column
 Pelvis – short and wide
 Legs longer than arms (longer
femurs-stride)
 Non-opposable big toe (toes
straight)
 Larger brain (600 – 1400 cm3
 No protruding canines, no
diastema
 Prominent chin and flat face

51
Homo habilis- “Handyman”
lived in Africa together with
other Australopithecus species
First to use stone tools
discovered in 1960 by Leakeys
in Tanzania

Artist’s representation of a Homo

habilis band as it might have
existed two million years ago.
Homo erectus – “Upright man”
were probably the first to migrate
from Africa, via Europe and Asia.
the most complete Homo erectus
fossil is 1,5 million years old and was
found in Kenya near Lake Turkana. It
is known as the Turkana boy.
other well-known Homo erectus
fossils that have been found include
the Peking man, discovered in China
and the Java man fossil skull found in
Java. Indonesia

Photograph of Nariokotome boy, an

early Homo erectus found near Lake
Turkana, Kenya.
Homo neanderthalensis
 discovered in the Neander
Valley (Tal) near Dusseldorf,
1856
 although their brains were
large, language was not well
developed and there was little
technological development.

The skull of the classic Neandertal

found in 1908 at La Chapelle-aux-
Saints.
Genetic evidence
◦ The sperm cell only provides the NUCLEUS during
fertilization

◦ Therefore ALL OTHER ORGANELLES are inherited

from the OVUM

◦ Mitochondria have their own DNA (mtDNA)

◦ mtDNA can mutate to produce MARKERS/differences

◦ We look at the NUMBER OF MARKERS in the mtDNA

sequences of two species/individuals

◦ FEW DIFFERENCES mean that the two species shared

a common ancestor RECENTLY

◦ MORE DIFFERENCES mean that the two species

shared a common ancestor LONG AGO
Cultural evidence: tools
 Evidences such as tools is used to show
advancement in human development
‘OUT OF AFRICA’ HYPOTHESIS
(Replacement hypothesis)

 According to the ‘Out of Africa’ hypothesis,

all modern humans/Homo sapiens originated
in Africa and migrated to other parts of the
world.
 Evidence for this includes

1. Fossil evidence
2. Genetic evidence
How the location and the age of Homo fossils are used
as evidence for the 'Out of Africa' hypothesis.

Source: T.S. McCarthy (2009)

OLDEST FOSSILS of Homo habilis and H. erectus are found ONLY in Africa;
the YOUNGER fossils were found in Africa AND other parts of the world –
It implies….the EARLIEST Homo species evolved in Africa and migrated out
of Africa
Fossils as evidence for the “Out
of Africa hypothesis”
 Fossils of Australopithecus were found ONLY in Africa
 The fossils of Homo habilis were ONLY found in Africa
 The OLDEST fossils of Homo erectus were found in Africa
 The OLDEST fossils of Homo sapiens were found in Africa
 This suggests that the ancestors of Homo sapiens originated
in Africa
Genetic evidence
◦ The sperm cell only provides the NUCLEUS during
fertilization

◦ Therefore ALL OTHER ORGANELLES are inherited

from the OVUM

◦ Mitochondria have their own DNA (mtDNA)

◦ mtDNA can mutate to produce MARKERS/differences

◦ We look at the NUMBER OF MARKERS in the mtDNA

sequences of two species/individuals

◦ FEW DIFFERENCES mean that the two species shared

a common ancestor RECENTLY

◦ MORE DIFFERENCES mean that the two species

shared a common ancestor LONG AGO
CONTRIBUTIONS OF AFRICAN FOSSILS TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN
EVOLUTION

There are two main regions in Africa

where most hominins have been found
 The Great Rift Valley in East Africa
 The Cradle of Humankind in South

Africa
 THE GREAT RIFT VALLEY IN EAST AFRICA

 extends for almost 6000 km from Syria to Mozambique with a large

section running through Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.
 rich in fossils
 various lakes attracted animals and hominins
 the steep sides of the valley eroded quickly and filled the valley with
sediment, which created favourable conditions for fossil formation.
 the rise and fall of the water levels in the lakes as well as the seasonal
flooding of rivers contributed to the burying and preservation of bones.
 Several active volcanoes in the region released volcanic ash making the
dating of fossils possible
Compiled by Carlyn Oppelt 63
 B
B
A
A
Compiled by Carlyn Oppelt 64
 SITE 4

Compiled by Carlyn Oppelt 65

Mind the Gap Life Sciences Study Guide pg. 78
Mind the Gap Life Sciences Study Guide pg. 78
1. The diagram below is a possible representation of human evolution .
1. 1. What is this type of diagram called?
Phylogenetic tree
(1)

2. According to the diagram, which organism, Paranthropus boisei or Homo habilis, appeared first
on Earth? (1)
Homo habilis
3. Name FOUR species whose
existence on Earth overlapped
with that of Homo erectus. (4)
Paranthropus robustus,
Paranthropus boisei,
Homo sapiens,
Homo habilis
4. Which organism was the direct
ancestor of Homo habilis? (1)

Australopithecus afarensis 
1. 5. List THREE characteristics that are shared by all the organisms in the diagram. (3)
ANY THREE
Olfactory brain centres reduced
Eyes in front/ Binocular vision / stereoscopic vision
Freely rotating arms
Rotation around the wrists
Rotation around the elbow joints
Bare fingertips/nails instead of
claws
Opposable thumbs
Bipedal/ upright posture/foramen
magnum in a more forward position
Long upper arms
Large brain/ skull compared to
their body mass
Five digits per limb/pentadactyl
limb
1. 6. How long did Australopithecus africanus exist on Earth? (1)

1 to 1,2 million years

2. The diagrams below represent the skulls of two organisms, a modern human and
a gorilla. Each arrow indicates the position of the foramen magnum.
Study the diagrams, which are drawn to scale, and answer the questions
that follow.
2. 1. Identify each of the organisms that are represented by A and B,
respectively?
A –(2)Gorilla 
B – Human 
2. 2. Tabulate FOUR observable differences between the skulls of
organisms A and B
(9)
Gorilla (A) Modern human (B)
Larger teeth/canines Smaller teeth/canines
Brow ridges pronounced Brow ridges less pronounced
More protruding jaws/prognathous Less protruding jaws/non-prognathous
Smaller cranium size Larger cranium size
Poorly developed chin Well-developed chin
Sloping face Flat face
2. 3. Which organism is bipedal for most of its adult life?
B
(1)

4. Explain TWO possible advantages of bipedalism for the organism referred to in QUESTION
1.2.3. (4)

Allows total awareness of the environment in sensing danger/looking

for food
Enables hands to be free to use implements/carry objects or
offspring
Exposes a large surface area for
thermo-regulation/lose body heat
Small surface area exposed to
the sun, thus reducing
over-heating
3. Explain how each of the following skeletal structures have
contributed to bipedalism in humans:

(a) Pelvic Girdle

Pelvic girdle is short and wide/broad - to support the upper body

(b) Spine

Spine is more curved/S shaped - to absorb shock/allow flexible movement/support