Paleoanthropology

The term evolution comes from the idea that biological species, to include humans, have changed over time and have given growth to other species that can be traced as far back as the ancient Greek philosophers. Societies present day knowledge of evolution began in Europe in the late 1700s, but ideas began to shift in the late 1800s, when scientists were starting to recognize fossils as the remains of creatures that once existed on earth. Beforehand, scientists had been under the assumption that…

Paranthropus boisei was an early hominin and lived in East Africa. The dates range from 2.3 to 1.2 million years ago. Paleoanthropologists actually found the first fossils of Paranthropus boisei in 1955. (what does it mean to be human) However, not until anthropologist Mary Leakey discovered the well-preserved cranium OH5 at Olduvas Gorge, Tanzania in 1959. It was dated to 1.75 millions of year. Mary Leakey and her husband Louis Leakey classed the specimen as Zinjanthropus. Later on, Louis…

The world of paleoanthropology is constantly changing as people make new discoveries at digging sites or in an office examining fossils. Things are constantly shifting in that world and changing modern day human’s understanding of the past and their evolution. When looking at fossils, they try to see how much variation is needed to name it a new species or not. There are different fossils that are currently being argued about, where it is questioned if the fossil should be classified as a…

communication through certain calls, gestures and facial expressions. Evolution of genetics, brain development, and morphology of vocal organs that have ultimately allowed our species the ability to communicate through speech. However, the field of paleoanthropology has not been able to come to a consensus about when exactly articulate speech and language became a part of human communication (Fitch 2000). Examining some of the ways in which our evolutionary ancestors communicated with…

There are many subfields in Anthropology. One of them is cultural anthropology, which is the study of individual cultures mostly through participant observation, living in a culture or learning a culture different from your own. Cultural anthropology seeks to learn and compare cultures to help us as humans understand each other and recognize our diversity (Cloak, Jr., F. T., 1968). Basically, one cannot fully understand a culture without looking at all the features (the whole picture). One of…

taught to love fossils because of his parents love for them. Because of being raised in the wild, he has always been drawn to it. When he was younger, he would sell bones to museums. This job helped him to prepare for his future specialty in paleoanthropology. He has taken on many leadership roles in this field, one being the director of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Department. He says that life is all about change and that change is a good thing. He says humans are causing…

The search for the origins of humankind and the earliest human ancestor has intrigued anthropologists for generations. New evidence, while often scarce, is a vital aspect to the understanding and development of the field of paleoanthropology. Current research aids in the modification of the human ancestral tree and the analysis of various sites. One of the newest sites dealing with human evolution is the Rising Star cave system in South Africa, where a new species of human ancestors, Homo naledi…

Jesus E Fernandez WCIV 10100-H Dr. LePree Fall 2016 Lucy; the most important discovery of the 20th Century Ever since discussions of human ancestry began, many people believed that Europe was the home of the first ancestors of humankind up until the end of the 20th century. An American paleoanthropologist by the name of Dr. Donald Carl Johanson, visited Ethiopia as part of the International Afar Research Expedition in 1973, as a result of this expedition, Dr. Johanson found a knee of a…