2. What is a Hominid?
Hominids are a group that includes humans and
their closest relatives.
All walk upright on two feet.
Humans are the only hominids that live today.
3. Background
With the Ice Age:
The north African tropical forest began to retreat,
being replaced first by open grasslands and
eventually by desert (the modern Sahara).
This forced tree-dwelling animals to adapt to their
new environment or die out.
Some primates adapted to a partly or fully
ground-dwelling life.
4. Bipedalism
Some Hominids adapted to this
challenge by
adopting bipedalism: walking on
their hind legs.
This gave their eyes greater
elevation, the ability to see
approaching danger further off,
and a more efficient means of
locomotion.
It also freed the forelimbs (arms)
from the task of walking and
made the hands available for
tasks such as gathering food.
5. Lucy
The first hominids were
called by scientists:
Australopithecines.
The oldest fossil found was
that of “Lucy”, in Ethiopia.
6. Homo Habilis
At some point the bipedal
primates developed
handedness, giving them the
ability to pick up sticks,
bones and stones and use
them.
Two million years ago emerged
a new hominid: homo habilis.
They were the first to make
stone tools.
In other words, these primates
developed the use of
primitive technology.
7. Homo Erectus
Also around two million years
ago, another hominid appeared:
homo erectus.
The name was given because
they walked fully upright.
They had larger brains and
bones, smaller teeth and different
characteristics from other
hominids.
They were the first to use fire!
They also built more complex
tools.
It’s also suspected that they were
the first to develop spoken
language.
8. Homo Sapiens
Around a hundred thousand
years ago, a new group
emerged: homo sapiens…
the “Wise Man”.
They evolved further than
their predecessors and split
into two categories:
Homo sapiens
Homo neanderthalensis
Both species migrated out of
Africa and settled different
parts of Europe and Asia.
They also developed the first
real signs of culture.
9. One happy family
Sahelanthropus sediba Homo gautengensis
Sahelanthropus Paranthropus Homo habilis
tchadensis Paranthropus Homo rudolfensis
Orrorin aethiopicus Homo ergaster
Orrorin tugenensis Paranthropus boisei Homo georgicus
Ardipithecus Paranthropus Homo erectus
Ardipithecus kadabba
robustus
Homo cepranensis
Ardipithecus ramidus
Kenyanthropus
Homo antecessor
Kenyanthropus
platyops Homo
Australopithecus heidelbergensis
Australopithecus Homo rhodesiensis
anamensis Homo
Australopithecus neanderthalensis
afarensis Homo sapiens idaltu
Australopithecus Homo sapiens (Cro-
bahrelghazali Magnon)
Australopithecus Homo sapiens
africanus sapiens
Australopithecus garhi
Australopithecus Homo
10. Ask yourself
What skills did humans develop in order to outlive their own
“cousins”?
11. Bibliography
For further reading, use your books and check
pages 28 through 31.
Burstein, S. M., & Shek, R. (2012). World
History (Teacher´s Edition). In H. McDougal
(Ed.). Orlando, Florida, US.: Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt Publishing Company.
Ellis, E. G., & Esler, A. (2009). World History.
(P. Hall, Ed.) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey,
US: Pearson Education INC.
