Homo Erectus-
meaning- Straight man
time- 1.9 million to 150 thousand years ago (overlap with paranthropus)
Brain size- 800 cm3 to 1200 cm3 (150% of Habilis,70% of human)
Location- From african rift valley (etheopia) to asia migration.
Famous specimen- Turkana boy, peking man
physical characters-
Below the neck, Homo erectus were anatomically much like modern humans. Their arm and leg bones were essentially the same as modern people in shape and relative proportions. This strongly supports the view that they were equal to us in their ability to walk and run bipedally. However, their leg bones were apparently denser than ours.
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Their legs would have made Homo erectus efficient long distance runners like modern humans. It has been suggested that this capability would have allowed them to run down small and even medium size game animals on the tropical savannas of East Africa.
It also has been suggested that the pelvis in early Homo erectus may have been a bit narrower than in modern humans, which would require the infant brain to be smaller at birth and to then undergo considerable growth in childhood.
With the evolution of Homo erectus, there was a significant increase in body size compared to earlier hominids. Past estimates of Homo erectus stature frequently were in the 5-5½ feet (152-168 cm) range for adult males and around 88-150 pounds (40-68 kg). The discovery of the "Turkana Boy" in 1984 brought this into question. This is not only the most complete specimen of this species so far discovered, but it is one of the earliest. The boy was only 8-12 years old when he died but already 5 feet 3 inches (160 cm) tall.
Homo erectus heads were strikingly different from ours in shape. They had relatively strong muscles on the back of their necks. Their foreheads were shallow, sloping back from very prominent bony brow/supraorbital ridges . Compared to modern humans, the Homo erectus brain case was more elongated from front to back and less spherical. As a consequence, the frontal and temporal lobes of their brains were narrower, suggesting that they would have had somewhat lower mental ability.The larger brained Homo erectus mostly were relatively late in time and are considered by some paleoanthropologists to be a more recent human species (Homo heidelbergensis or early archaic humans).
Homo erectus teeth were generally intermediate between modern humans and the australopithecines in shape and size. The teeth of later Homo erectus were generally smaller than the earlier members of this species. This was particularly true of molars. This evolutionary trend probably reflects a progressive change in diet to softer foods, including more meat and eventually cooked food. The incisor teeth of Homo erectus generally have a "scooped out" appearance on the tongue side. These "shovel-shaped" incisors are also found among many Asians and Native Americans today.
It is likely that increased meat consumption had a significant impact on the biological success of early humans. It provided the calories in a more easily digestible, concentrated form needed to maintain larger brains. The additional useable calories also made it possible for women to have shorter time periods between pregnancies and to subsequently give birth to more children during their reproductive years. As a result, there was an acceleration of human population growth which was very likely an important contributing factor in the spread of people out of Africa and into Asia and Europe for the first time.
They were the longest lived of all human species (1.5 million years~ 9 times human existance)
further reading : http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-erectus
http://www.athenapub.com/13intro-he.htm
meaning- Straight man
time- 1.9 million to 150 thousand years ago (overlap with paranthropus)
Brain size- 800 cm3 to 1200 cm3 (150% of Habilis,70% of human)
Location- From african rift valley (etheopia) to asia migration.
Famous specimen- Turkana boy, peking man
physical characters-
Below the neck, Homo erectus were anatomically much like modern humans. Their arm and leg bones were essentially the same as modern people in shape and relative proportions. This strongly supports the view that they were equal to us in their ability to walk and run bipedally. However, their leg bones were apparently denser than ours.
Their legs would have made Homo erectus efficient long distance runners like modern humans. It has been suggested that this capability would have allowed them to run down small and even medium size game animals on the tropical savannas of East Africa.
It also has been suggested that the pelvis in early Homo erectus may have been a bit narrower than in modern humans, which would require the infant brain to be smaller at birth and to then undergo considerable growth in childhood.
With the evolution of Homo erectus, there was a significant increase in body size compared to earlier hominids. Past estimates of Homo erectus stature frequently were in the 5-5½ feet (152-168 cm) range for adult males and around 88-150 pounds (40-68 kg). The discovery of the "Turkana Boy" in 1984 brought this into question. This is not only the most complete specimen of this species so far discovered, but it is one of the earliest. The boy was only 8-12 years old when he died but already 5 feet 3 inches (160 cm) tall.
Homo erectus heads were strikingly different from ours in shape. They had relatively strong muscles on the back of their necks. Their foreheads were shallow, sloping back from very prominent bony brow/supraorbital ridges . Compared to modern humans, the Homo erectus brain case was more elongated from front to back and less spherical. As a consequence, the frontal and temporal lobes of their brains were narrower, suggesting that they would have had somewhat lower mental ability.The larger brained Homo erectus mostly were relatively late in time and are considered by some paleoanthropologists to be a more recent human species (Homo heidelbergensis or early archaic humans).
Homo erectus teeth were generally intermediate between modern humans and the australopithecines in shape and size. The teeth of later Homo erectus were generally smaller than the earlier members of this species. This was particularly true of molars. This evolutionary trend probably reflects a progressive change in diet to softer foods, including more meat and eventually cooked food. The incisor teeth of Homo erectus generally have a "scooped out" appearance on the tongue side. These "shovel-shaped" incisors are also found among many Asians and Native Americans today.
It is likely that increased meat consumption had a significant impact on the biological success of early humans. It provided the calories in a more easily digestible, concentrated form needed to maintain larger brains. The additional useable calories also made it possible for women to have shorter time periods between pregnancies and to subsequently give birth to more children during their reproductive years. As a result, there was an acceleration of human population growth which was very likely an important contributing factor in the spread of people out of Africa and into Asia and Europe for the first time.
They were the longest lived of all human species (1.5 million years~ 9 times human existance)
further reading : http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-erectus
http://www.athenapub.com/13intro-he.htm
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