- Las Positas College
- Anthropology
- Ardipithecus Group
Anthropology
Ardipithecus Group
Ardipithecus ramidus
BH-039 Ardi
4.4 MYA. Discovered by Tim White and associates in 1994 in the Afar region of Ethiopia. The partial skeleton ARA-VP-6/500 is now considered by many to be the oldest skeleton of a supposed human ancestor. Characteristics of the skeleton suggest that the species moved in the trees on all fours (on palms rather than knuckles) but also was able to walk bipedally.
Ardipithecus kadabba
Orrorin tugensis
Sahelanthropus tchadensis
6-7 MYA. The Sahelanthropus tchadensis skull was discovered by Michael Brunet's team in Chad in 2001 and described in Nature in 2002. Some suggest that S. tchadensis existed near the time that hominids and apes separated on their evolutionary paths. It could be that this specimen is a representative of an early hominid, predating A. afarensis by 3 to 4 million years; on the other hand, it might be an ancestor of the gorilla. The characteristics of the cranium are a mosaic of hominid-like (short face, the size and shape of the canines), and ape-like (very large brow ridges and small brain case) features.
For more information please contact:
Daniel Cearley
Coordinator
Office: 21156 - Building 2100 (First Floor)
(925) 424-1203
dcearley@laspositascollege.edu