Ardipithecus Ramidus Relationship

Throughout the term, reading the book, “Through a Window” by Jane Goodall has been quite intriguing for me, in that it has inspired me with new ideas and perceptions about how our own species has evolved over time. I have really enjoyed seeing the many similarities that hominids share with other primate species, especially chimpanzees. Goodall’s research only further proves that we are not only extremely biologically similar to chimpanzees in our DNA, but have many behavioral similarities as well. The film, “Monkey in the Mirror” also shows support for our likeness in intellectuality. These documented findings on chimpanzee and human resemblances provides the strong evidence needed to conclude the fact that humans do indeed share a common ancestor with great apes.

We share almost 99 percent of our genetic material with chimpanzees. Yet we have several traits that are very different. Two legged walking, or bipedalism seems to be one of the earliest of the major hominine characteristics to have evolved. To

The changes in morphology that resulted from selection for bipedalism included a readjustment of the pelvis and changes in the major locomotive muscle attachments. Habitual bipedalism necessitated a reduction in the gap between the sacroiliac joint and acetabulum, with a reduced sagittal breadth. Though the pelvis of early hominids differs from that of modern humans, but still had the traits necessary for habitual bipedalism. The Australopithecine pelvis is more similar to humans than to chimpanzees (Lovejoy, 1988): The blade of the illium is longer and wider in chimpanzees than in Australopithecus or Homo. This obvious difference is due to the functions of the pelvis in each species’ body, like being a weight bearing bone versus. Australopithecus afarensis, particularly Lucy, had a mosaic of anatomical traits featuring both human and apelike features. The short pelvis and broad iliac blades which curve around the side forming the area of gluteal muscle attachment confirmed that Au. afarensis was at least a habitual biped (Lovejoy,

They found that Au. ramidus had very similar characteristics to Sahelanthropus Tchadensis an ancestor that dates to 6-7 million years ago. Ardi had a foot that was primitive and had an opposable big toe which was most likely used to grab on branches. She also had a long and curvy spine just like humans. Its pelvis was large like those of apes and had short and broad shoulders suggesting it had a lower center of mass and could possibly walk on one leg at a time. But it is also thought that it was still spending a lot of time in the trees as well. Thus, why it is thought to be intermediate form of bipedalism it lived in both worlds, walking upright, and climbing trees, equal success in both biospheres. Although Ardi is not the connection to apes it still served to prove that the ancestor of apes was a lot more primitive than we believed. There are still several questions to be answered in this puzzle called our ancestry. It may seem that more questions arise as more clues are found, but that is science, there would be no intrigue left if all questions were

Afropithecus is a fairly large extinct ape- 50kg, characterized by a lack of a prehensile tail, long snout with procumbent incisors, generalized limb proportions and thick molar enamel. The braincase of Afropithecus is fairly small in size compared to other Miocene apes and Old World Monkeys from the same area. The primitive characteristics of Afropithecus suggest a relation to early catarrhines- such as Aegyptopithecus. And the post-cranial fossil record suggest that it was both arboreal and quadrupedal, similar to the proconsul that Afropithecus is categorized

All primates are descended from tree-dwellers, showing adaptations which permit for tree climbing which include: a moving shoulder joint, divided big toes as well as the thumb for gripping, and also stereoscopic eyesight.

The first behavior, locomotion, is well known for hominins because of the evolution to bipedalism. Bipedal locomotion allows for the carrying of objects, provisioning family, and efficiency of energy, among many other reasons. Not all primates are bipedal. Chimpanzees can walk both bipedally and quadrupedally. They have been a common point of reference for a better understanding of the evolution of bipedal locomotion in early ape-like hominins. Many studies have looked into the evolution of walking quadrupedally to bipedally. These bipedal performances of contemporary non-human primates have given important context that can help in reconstructing early hominin bipedalism. Many anthropologists claim that biomechanical models link locomotor performance to anatomy and have the potential to reveal robust form function relationships, however, this is only given to the extent that locomotor performance of chimpanzees and other species are shown to fit

First, evidence from the hominid fossil Ardy and archaeological evidence from the same area where Ardy was found points to the evolution of bipedalism in a woodland environment. This goes against the previous assumption that bipeds adapted to a more desolate environment. Additionally, it was also previously believed that bipedalism started with organisms that walked on two legs and their knuckles as a today’s chimp walk. However, there is no evidence in Ardy’s bones that it ever walked using its knuckles. On the other hand, Ardy possesses a short, broad hipbone which allows for bipedalism, but also a much longer lower half of the pelvis which would be more useful for climbing. Consequently, while Ardy could walk on two legs, it could not walk as well as future bipeds such as the fossil Lucy or modern humans. Lucy is often described as “the ape who stood up” and is further down the evolutionary track toward modern humans. This evolutionary adaptation to stand and walk on two legs opened great doors for humankind. Most important was the fact that walking on two limbs rather than four freed up our very special hands and empowered humankind to build tools and reshape the world as no creature could

Ardipithecus and other early Australopithecines lived in a habitat much wetter than the environment of Aramis, Ethiopia today. The set for scene one could at times experience a “rain fall,” and should include a woodland habitat with patches of denser forest and an abundant amount of monkeys just as what would have been seen between five and three million years ago. In 1992, an expedition led by Tim White of the University of California, Berkeley discovered the fossil of Ardipithecus ramidus, dating back to 4.4 million years ago. The skeleton nicknamed “Ardi” ended up weighing around 112 pounds, stood almost four feet tall, (somewhat larger than a male chimpanzee but smaller than a female gorilla) and was most likely a female. Ardi’s ape sized brain has a cranial capacity of only 300 to 350 CC.

The significance of finding these traits primitive in nature compared to the apes is that it shows how these are specialisations for apes to better access their terrestrial and tree dwelling environments. It also indicates that hominids did not develop these traits and therefore developed a less specialised grasping hand (Lovejoy et al., 2009a). Further evidence to support the hypothesis that Ardipithecus ramidus were both bipedal for tree dwelling life and land living is in the wrist bones. The bones were less fixed with the joints providing mobility to the hand. The most significant feature is the midcarpal joint, which shows increased flexibility that would allow Ardipithecus ramidus the ability to bear its body weight solely on it’s hands whilst moving throughout trees (Lovejoy et al., 2009a). The length of the upper limbs overall would have been difficult to support vertical climbs and aid in reaching longer distances between trees commonly found in arboreal settings (Sarmiento et al., 2011)

Approximately 4 million years ago a wonderful evolutionary phenomenon was happening in Africa. Early hominids, man’s ancestors, were beginning a giant leap in their evolution. These hominids were moving out of the forest and beginning to walk upright, out on the open plains (Fagan, 98). This change from quadrupedalism was the most significant adaptation that ever happened to these early hominids. It caused many adaptations that make man what he is today. This process occurred in early hominids for many different reasons, each reason helping to perfect the upright walking posture. Bipedalism is thought to have occurred because of changes in environment, feeding habits, thermal regulation, and

he darkness of evening slowly blankets the land. The harvest moon, gowned in silver attire floats in a sea of air, peeks from behind a misty veil. Below, a wisp of smoke dances upward toward the heavens. There is a feeling of ancient magic as the circle is cast in the clearing. The lone worshipper walks the circle, methodically lighting the colored candles she has placed in each of the cardinal directions: North is green and represents represents earth, the east candle is yellow and represents air, South is red and represents fire and west is blue and represents water. As each candle is she invokes the spirits of the Watchtowers. The circle is cast to create a hallowed ground, a place that exists and does not exist simultaneously. She

Humans are the weirdest species I have ever encountered; they are so different from an Australopithecus afarensis (A. afarensis) like me. Humans are way taller than me, an average human is about 69.4 inches for males and 63.8 inches for women (Statistic Brain RSS, 2014) while men of my species barely pass 4 feet and women barely reach it (Australopithecus Afarensis, 2014). Although my species has similarities to humans, like bipedalism, the ability to walk on two legs, and a similar dental structure, we are completely different because our ape-like ancestors (Australopithecus Afarensis, 2014). A. afarensis ancestors are very primitive and closely resemble apes that they actually look like them but, due to the fact that they are evolving, they have distinctive features that make them human. Humans and A. afarensis are different because of their exponential maturity, sexual dimorphism, and hair density, making them more human than we actually think.

The Australopithecus genus of human like apes walked the earth about 1.9 million years ago however variations of Australopithecus have been estimated to be around as early as 4.5 million years ago. The Australopithecus genus is a set of early upright walking ape species, these early ancestors generally looked more apelike than human as fur still covered most of their bodies and their slanted flat faces and forward jaws still resembled apes more than recent humans. Features more common to later genus homo have been found present on the various Australopithecus species; namely features such as its smaller teeth, longer legs, less hand like feet, adapted pelvis, stronger reliance on bipedalism and slightly increased relative brain size all distinguished

The Australopithecines were the first to walk upright, or became bipedal, although rather clumsily. Their walk was unsteady, judging by their bone structure (Figure 1.), and they most likely were quadrupedal the majority of the time. The Australopithecines had a brain about the size of an orange, high up cheekbones, and big molars. They were about three feet tall, and had small thumbs. Australopithecines, while definitely possessing some human characteristics, humans are still much closer to the chimps. Australopithecines were vegetarians; even if they knew that animals were edible, they still had no reliable means of killing animals for food. About 2 million years ago, highly evolved Australopithecines made the