South Africa and the Human Family Tree: The TaunG Child

Human origins fossiL evidence. CLicK


In 1924, Raymond Dart an Australian anatomist and anthropologist, discovered the first fossil ever found of Australopithecus africanus, an extinct Hominid closely related to humans at Taung, South Africa. Because he was not part of the scientific establishment and found the fossil in Africa and not Europe or Asia (man´s supposed origins), his findings were initially rejected. 

	Raymond Dart and the Taung child skull              04/02/1893-22/11/1988

The following video shows which" modern" characteristics in the Taung child made him revolutionary.

Fossilized Footprints...

How do we know if an early ape-man or woman walked upright? An examination of certain bones - a tibia (leg bone) or a pelvis-, can reveal the answer and so can fossilized footprints.In 1976, members of a team led by Mary Leakey discovered the fossilized footprints of human ancestors in Laetoli, Africa formed 3.5 million years ago when at least two individuals walked over wet volcanic ash, that hardened like cement and was then covered by more ash.
The footprints show that one hominid was larger than the other and because the footprints fall next to each other, that they were walking side by side and close enough to each other to be touching.
Apes sometimes walk on two legs. How, then, can we be sure that the footprints weren't left by a couple of apes that decided to walk upright for a few yards? When an ape walks upright, weight is transmitted from the heel, along the outside of the foot, and then through the middle toes. A human foot transmits weight from the heel, along the outside of the foot, across the ball of the foot, and finally through the big toe (this is a much more efficient way to transfer energy when walking upright).
The footprints look remarkably like a human and some scientists had a hard time believing that they were made by Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy's species), the only human ancestor known to have lived at the time.