Homo Erectus: Most human-like skull so far with a massive increase in cranial capacity Homo Heidelbergensis: Lower half of skull pops out more than the rest of the ‘homo skulls’
Neanderthals were a species of archaic humans who migrated out of Africa and into Europe and Asia. However, around 40,000 years ago the large populations of Neanderthals died off and became extinct. The mysterious circumstances that surrounded their extinction drove various research teams to undertake the task of excavating numerous
The Neanderthals lived in areas ranging from Western Europe through central Asia from about 200,000 to between 36,000 and 24,000 years ago. The Neanderthals lived in groups of 30 to 50 individuals, they invented many of the tool types that were to be perfected by fully sapient peoples, they had weapons adequate to deal with both the cave lion and cave bear, they used body paint, buried their dead. Neanderthal Man survived through the Ice Age. They are thought to have had fire. Neanderthals lived side by side with modern humans for over 10,000 years.
First, Homo Habilis was considered as the earliest They were found in Africa 600-200kya, Asia 200-130kya, and European 800-200kya. They had big cranial capacity. They were using Acheulean tools. They led to the development of Neanderthal, the closed ancestor of modern human. They occupied the continents from 130-30kya. There fossils were excavated in Neander Valley, Germany in 1856 by C. Fuhlrott. Their cranial and postcranial features were close to the modern human. They had thin cranial bone, which the capacity was about 1500cc; barrel-chested; and short distal limb segment. Neanderthal climate had changed significantly to cold weather. According to Bergmann’s and Allen’s rule, populations living in cold climates tend to have larger body (trunk) sizes and shorter extremities than those living in warm regions (“Human Biological Adaptability: Adapting to Climate Extremes”). Neanderthals developed Mousterian Tool Industry with greater variety of more standardized tool type. The high quality raw material was occasionally used. They used tools for cutting plant material, meat, scraping hides, and sharping tools. Sometimes, shaped bone was used as raw material. Those tools were stable over time and space. There are some new evidences that the Neanderthal had showed the artistic expression. At more than 39,000 years old, the etchings rival in age the oldest cave art in Europe — and they are the first to be unquestionably done by a Neanderthal (Rodríguez-Vidal, J. et
Non-human primates’ communication based on a limited range of sounds and gestures. Human communication is far more focused on the use of oral sounds. The human voice and non-human primate vocalizations are characterized by important differences. Our speech is radically different from other sounds used by non-human primates to communicate. Vocal perception abilities through conspecific vocalizations are important in social interactions. Only human possess speech perception to communicate in a highly efficient manner (Belin, 2006). Human and non-human primates’ vocalization differs in the morphology of the vocal apparatus and acoustic structure (Fitch 2000, 2003). Primates such as monkeys possess vocal folds in the vocal tract which are absent in humans (Schon Ybarra 1995). The larynx in the vocal tract of human is much lower compared to the non-human primates. The lowered larynx allows the increase of flexibility of the tongue and thus yielding a large range of frequencies. In contrast, higher larynx leads to inflexibility of the tongue thus limiting the non-human primates’ ability to yield acoustically distinct sounds through their vocal tract (Belin, 2006). In addition, non-human primates do not use their tongue to modify the shape of the vocal tract for the production of sound. The distinct production of human speech involves
Neanderthals share many biological similarities to that of modern day humans, giving rise to the idea of a Neanderthal humanity. One similarity was shown in a recent article published in 2013 on a scientific study done on the Neanderthal hyoid bone called the Kebra 2 hyoid which was found in 1898 in the Kebra caves. The article is called Micro-Biomechanics of the Kebra 2 Hyoid and Its Implications for Speech in Neanderthals. The study involved using a range of computational techniques to examine the mechanical nature and differences between the Neanderthal hyoid and human hyoid bones. The results from the study found, examining the macroscopic anatomy of the Kebra 2 hyoid that it was virtually identical to that of a human’s hyoid bone. Many
Additional interesting facts about Neanderthals include: They had the same gene associated with language that modern humans have, but the anatomy of their vocal chords would not allow them to make certain sounds. They found a way to make adhesive through a complex thermal process, where they extracted pitch from stones. Amongst the artifacts found from the Neanderthal time period there are bones which appear to have been made into instruments. They were the first in history to have buried their dead. It appears they may have even marked their graves and perhaps had burial rituals. Finally, it has been discovered that at least some of the Neanderthals had pale skin and red hair. Qualities that may have helped them to absorb vitamin D which in
The most distinct of H. neanderthalensis is its unique cranial features. These features comprise of a large middle part of the face where their skull was more long and flat but had more of a protruding brow ridge. They also had slanting cheek bones and a large nose which is said to be for humidifying and warming cold, dry air. Their jaw and teeth are larger and have a hole called the retro molar space (behind wisdom teeth at the back of the
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma which is also known as nasopharyngeal cancer or cancer of the nasopharynx. It is a cancer that begins in the upper part of the throat behind the nose and near the base of the skull. The nasopharynx is the upper part of the throat, the pharynx, which lies
Decoding Neanderthals Nearly 40,000 years ago, Earth was a much different place. Europe was in an ice age, Neanderthals were going on nearly 300,000 years of life, and Homosapiens were making a huge advancement. Was the cause of the Neanderthals diminish due to Homosapiens sudden and large advancement into Europe, or are there other underlying circumstances that could be the reasons for the fall of Neanderthals?
Since their discovery more than a century ago, the Neanderthals have hovered over the minds and have baffled the best-laid theories of paleoanthropologists. They seem to fit in the general scheme of human evolution, and yet they’re misfits. (Jurmain, Kilgore, Trevathan and Ciochon. p.367) In a way they are like
This article states that Homo sapiens were not the first to create jewelry, but according to the author Neanderthals were also the first to have a "particular level of abstract thinking" meaning Neanderthals may have been a lot smart than people credit them to be. For many years researcher had never gathered any information to lead then to think Neanderthals had any intelligence until the findings if their jewelry, the researchers also stated "These talons provide multiple new lines of evidence for Neanderthals abilities and cultural sophistication, they are the earliest evidence for jewelry in the European fossil record and demonstrate that Neanderthals possessed a symbolic culture long before more modern human forms arrived in Europe." it is said that all of their jewelry comes from one bird. An extremely difficult bird to capture both
15-Million-Year-Old Secrets Uncovered A study co-authored by Lauren Gonzales of Duke University and Fred Spoor of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology sheds some light on some long-held secrets of the ancient skull. Prior to their research, it was commonly thought and generally accepted that primate brains first grew in size, and then in complexity. However, the 3-D brain image that they were able to construct after using
When doing the sequence alignment using BLAST, the sequences were confirmed to be those of the eight species. In other words, the sequences were confirmed to be from Homo sapiens sapiens (modern human), Homo sapiens neanderthalensis (Neanderthal), Pan troglodytes (chimpanzee), Pan paniscus (bonobo), Gorilla gorilla (gorilla), Pongo abelii (Sumatran orangutan),
This lecture connection made was made to the Article “Neanderthal were people, too “by Jon Mooallem. Introducing his story to the audience about Gorham’s cave and the knowledge behind his excavation to the caves. The article describes and reflects back to humanity in the change of old view and assumption. Describing the Neanderthals as peoples and their shared ancestry with us. The Neanderthals did similar belief as the human species being they buried their dead. They had faith and reason to their functions. Believed in ceremonial purpose relating how we humans also believe in faith and ceremonial purpose there is a reason. Through congruence, both centuries had knowledge from experience and practical understatement.