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Ardipithecus Kadabba
''Ardipithecus kadabba'' is the scientific classification given to fossil remains "known only from teeth and bits and pieces of skeletal bones", originally estimated to be 5.8 to 5.2 million years old, and later revised to 5.77 to 5.54 million years old. According to the first description, these fossils are close to the common ancestor of chimps and humans. Their development lines are estimated to have parted 6.5–5.5 million years ago. It has been described as a "probable chronospecies" (i.e. ancestor) of '' A. ramidus''. Although originally considered a subspecies of ''A. ramidus'', in 2004 anthropologists Yohannes Haile-Selassie, Gen Suwa, and Tim D. White published an article elevating ''A. kadabba'' to species level on the basis of newly discovered teeth from Ethiopia. These teeth show "primitive morphology and wear pattern" which demonstrate that ''A. kadabba'' is a distinct species from ''A. ramidus''. The specific name comes from the Afar word for "basal family ance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Messinian
The Messinian is in the geologic timescale the last age or uppermost stage of the Miocene. It spans the time between 7.246 ± 0.005 Ma and 5.333 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago). It follows the Tortonian and is followed by the Zanclean, the first age of the Pliocene. The Messinian overlaps the Turolian European Land Mammal Mega Zone (more precisely MN 12 and 13) and the Pontian Central European Paratethys Stage. It also overlaps the late Huayquerian and early Montehermosan South American Land Mammal Ages, and falls inside the more extensive Hemphillian North American Land Mammal Age. During the Messinian, around 6 million years ago, the Messinian salinity crisis took place, which brought about repeated desiccations of the Mediterranean Sea. Definition The Messinian was introduced by Swiss stratigrapher Karl Mayer-Eymar in 1867. Its name comes from the Italian city of Messina on Sicily, where the Messinian evaporite deposit is of the same age. The base of the Messinia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hominini
The Hominini form a taxonomic tribe of the subfamily Homininae ("hominines"). Hominini includes the extant genera ''Homo'' (humans) and '' Pan'' (chimpanzees and bonobos) and in standard usage excludes the genus ''Gorilla'' (gorillas). The term was originally introduced by Camille Arambourg (1948). Arambourg combined the categories of ''Hominina'' and ''Simiina'' due to Gray (1825) into his new subtribe. Traditionally, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans were grouped together as pongids. Since Gray's classification, evidence has accumulated from genetic phylogeny confirming that humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas are more closely related to each other than to the orangutan. The former pongids were reassigned to the subfamily Hominidae ("great apes"), which already included humans, but the details of this reassignment remain contested; within Hominini, not every source excludes gorillas, and not every source includes chimpanzees. Humans are the only extant species in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded on August 10, 1846, it operates as a trust instrumentality and is not formally a part of any of the three branches of the federal government. The institution is named after its founding donor, British scientist James Smithson. It was originally organized as the United States National Museum, but that name ceased to exist administratively in 1967. Called "the nation's attic" for its eclectic holdings of 154 million items, the institution's 19 museums, 21 libraries, nine research centers, and zoo include historical and architectural landmarks, mostly located in the District of Columbia. Additional facilities are located in Maryland, New York, and Virginia. More than 200 institutions and museums in 45 states,States without Smithsonian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holotype Specimen
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several examples, but explicitly designated as the holotype. Under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), a holotype is one of several kinds of name-bearing types. In the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) and ICZN, the definitions of types are similar in intent but not identical in terminology or underlying concept. For example, the holotype for the butterfly '' Plebejus idas longinus'' is a preserved specimen of that subspecies, held by the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. In botany, an isotype is a duplicate of the holotype, where holotype and isotypes are often pieces from the same individual plant or samples from the same gathering. A holotype is not necessarily "typ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homo
''Homo'' () is the genus that emerged in the (otherwise extinct) genus '' Australopithecus'' that encompasses the extant species ''Homo sapiens'' ( modern humans), plus several extinct species classified as either ancestral to or closely related to modern humans (depending on the species), most notably '' Homo erectus'' and ''Homo neanderthalensis''. The genus emerged with the appearance of '' Homo habilis'' just over 2 million years ago. ''Homo'', together with the genus '' Paranthropus'', is probably sister to '' Australopithecus africanus'', which itself had previously split from the lineage of '' Pan'', the chimpanzees. '' Homo erectus'' appeared about 2 million years ago and, in several early migrations, spread throughout Africa (where it is dubbed ''Homo ergaster'') and Eurasia. It was likely that the first human species lived in a hunter-gatherer society and was able to control fire. An adaptive and successful species, ''Homo erectus'' persisted for more than a millio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homo Habilis
''Homo habilis'' ("handy man") is an extinct species of archaic human from the Early Pleistocene of East and South Africa about 2.31 million years ago to 1.65 million years ago (mya). Upon species description in 1964, ''H. habilis'' was highly contested, with many researchers recommending it be synonymised with ''Australopithecus africanus'', the only other early hominin known at the time, but ''H. habilis'' received more recognition as time went on and more relevant discoveries were made. By the 1980s, ''H. habilis'' was proposed to have been a human ancestor, directly evolving into ''Homo erectus'' which directly led to modern humans. This viewpoint is now debated. Several specimens with insecure species identification were assigned to ''H. habilis'', leading to arguments for splitting, namely into "''H. rudolfensis''" and "'' H. gautengensis''" of which only the former has received wide support. Like contemporary ''Homo'', ''H. habilis'' brain size generally varied from . Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australopithecus Sediba
''Australopithecus sediba'' is an extinct species of australopithecine recovered from Malapa Cave, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. It is known from a partial juvenile skeleton, the holotype MH1, and a partial adult female skeleton, the paratype MH2. They date to about 1.98 million years ago in the Early Pleistocene, and coexisted with ''Paranthropus robustus'' and '' Homo ergaster'' / ''Homo erectus''. Malapa is interpreted as having been a natural death trap, the base of a long vertical shaft which creatures could accidentally fall into. ''A. sediba'' was initially described as being a potential human ancestor, and perhaps the progenitor of ''Homo'', but this is contested and it could also represent a late-surviving population or sister species of '' A. africanus'' which had earlier inhabited the area. MH1 has a brain volume of about 420–440 cc, similar to other australopithecines. The face of MH1 is strikingly similar to ''Homo'' instead of other australopithecines, wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homo Floresiensis
''Homo floresiensis'' also known as "Flores Man"; nicknamed "Hobbit") is an extinct species of small archaic human that inhabited the island of Flores, Indonesia, until the arrival of modern humans about 50,000 years ago. The remains of an individual who would have stood about in height were discovered in 2003 at Liang Bua on the island of Flores in Indonesia. Partial skeletons of at least nine individuals have been recovered, including one complete skull, referred to as "LB1". These remains have been the subject of intense research to determine whether they were diseased modern humans or a separate species; a 2017 study concludes by phylogenetic analysis that ''H. floresiensis'' is an early species of ''Homo'', a sister species of ''Homo habilis''. This hominin was at first considered remarkable for its survival until relatively recent times, initially thought to be only 12,000 years ago. However, more extensive stratigraphic and chronological work has pushed the dating of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australopithecus Garhi
''Australopithecus garhi'' is a species of australopithecine from the Bouri Formation in the Afar Region of Ethiopia 2.6–2.5 million years ago (mya) during the Early Pleistocene. The first remains were described in 1999 based on several skeletal elements uncovered in the three years preceding. ''A. garhi'' was originally considered to have been a direct ancestor to ''Homo'' and the human line, but is now thought to have been an offshoot. Like other australopithecines, ''A. garhi'' had a brain volume of ; a jaw which jutted out (prognathism); relatively large molars and premolars; adaptations for both walking on two legs (bipedalism) and grasping while climbing (arboreality); and it is possible that, though unclear if, males were larger than females (exhibited sexual dimorphism). One individual, presumed female based on size, may have been tall. ''A. garhi'' is the first pre-''Homo'' hominin postulated to have manufactured tools—using them in butchering—and may be counted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paranthropus Robustus
''Paranthropus robustus'' is a species of robust australopithecine from the Early and possibly Middle Pleistocene of the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa, about 2.27 to 0.87 (or, more conservatively, 2 to 1) million years ago. It has been identified in Kromdraai, Swartkrans, Sterkfontein, Gondolin, Cooper's, and Drimolen Caves. Discovered in 1938, it was among the first early hominins described, and became the type species for the genus '' Paranthropus''. However, it has been argued by some that ''Paranthropus'' is an invalid grouping and synonymous with ''Australopithecus'', so the species is also often classified as ''Australopithecus robustus''. Robust australopithecines—as opposed to gracile australopithecines—are characterised by heavily built skulls capable of producing high stresses and bite forces, as well as inflated cheek teeth ( molars and premolars). Males had more heavily built skulls than females. ''P. robustus'' may have had a genetic susceptibility ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paranthropus Boisei
''Paranthropus boisei'' is a species of australopithecine from the Early Pleistocene of East Africa about 2.5 to 1.15 million years ago. The holotype specimen, OH 5, was discovered by palaeoanthropologist Mary Leakey in 1959, and described by her husband Louis a month later. It was originally placed into its own genus as "''Zinjanthropus boisei''", but is now relegated to '' Paranthropus'' along with other robust australopithecines. However, it is also argued that ''Paranthropus'' is an invalid grouping and synonymous with ''Australopithecus'', so the species is also often classified as ''Australopithecus boisei''. Robust australopithecines are characterised by heavily built skulls capable of producing high stresses and bite forces, and some of the largest molars with the thickest enamel of any known ape. ''P. boisei'' is the most robust of this group. Brain size was about , similar to other australopithecines. Some skulls are markedly smaller than others, which is taken ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paranthropus Aethiopicus
''Paranthropus aethiopicus'' is an extinct species of robust australopithecine from the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene of East Africa about 2.7–2.3 million years ago. However, it is much debated whether or not ''Paranthropus'' is an invalid grouping and is synonymous with ''Australopithecus'', so the species is also often classified as ''Australopithecus aethiopicus''. Whatever the case, it is considered to have been the ancestor of the much more robust '' P. boisei''. It is debated if ''P. aethiopicus'' should be subsumed under ''P. boisei'', and the terms ''P. boisei'' sensu lato ("in the broad sense") and ''P. boisei'' sensu stricto ("in the strict sense") can be used to respectively include and exclude ''P. aethiopicus'' from ''P. boisei''. Like other ''Paranthropus'', ''P. aethiopicus'' had a tall face, thick palate, and especially enlarged cheek teeth. However, likely due to its archaicness, it also diverges from other ''Paranthropus'', with some aspects resembling th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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