The dating of these sites is often imprecise, but many seem to be considerably younger than those in East Africa, reflecting either slow migration of the Oldowan culture away from Africa or independent emergence of similar techniques in later periods. Characteristics Of Bipedalism; Characteristics Of Bipedalism. The thorax of Neanderthals (H. neanderthalensis) is also essentially like that of H. sapiens, but those of other species of Homo are not known. Therefore the head is held upright and is properly balanced over the spine, and bipedal locomotion is no longer awkward. Hominids other than Homo All hominids apart from Homo are known only from East and South Africa. Also, their plant food diet increased their exposure to predators. In the Classic Oldowan, recognized more widely and dating from 1.9–1.6 Ma, the cobble was struck either against an anvil stone or while being held in the hand, and many of the cores were used for chopping and not simply rejected; also, there was some tendency towards characteristic shaping of flakes and cores. Lithics, ceramics, metals, and organics comprise artifacts. Although each of the three articles reviewed in this essay make different … Although many of the larger eruptive events have been directly dated, the ages of many other tephra are only constrained by indirect stratigraphic interpolation between dated horizons. Bipedalism seems to be one of the most important factors in the evolution of mankind and therefore the surrounding debate is rife with various hypotheses as to the background of this development in hominid evolutionary history. Chopper-core and simple flake industries resembling the Oldowan are also known from numerous sites outside East Africa, including raised beaches in Morocco, Spain and Portugal, high river terraces in Hungary, northern Punjab, Thailand, Malaya and Java and lake deposits in Italy, northern Germany and the Czech Republic. (Some scientists use a broaderdefinition of Hominidae which includes the great apes.) The Origin of Bipedalism Those who favor the _____-first hypothesis argue that bipedalism … The skull now has more forehead and a rounder shape. and modern humans about 1,300 c.c., and Lucy would have looked more like an ape than a human, walking upright, but with an ape-shaped body. Gibbons have relatively long, powerful lower limbs, the same number of lumbar vertebrae that humans have (great apes have fewer), and chests of humanoid configuration. Archaeology Essay: Bipedalism in hominids Introduction: Bipedalism is the defining characteristic of all hominins. The article, “Kinship in a … However, increasing brain size has not been a linear effect, but has been punctuated with periods of rapid increase followed by stasis or relatively slow rates of change. Their anatomy has an upward facing pelvis and therefore, walking upright on … With the exception of the skull fragment discovered at the site of Salkhit (northeastern Mongolia) in 2006 and now under intensive study, no other early homined fossils have yet been found in the steppe lands. However, the earliest well-known hominid is their probable descendant Australopithecus, which lived between 4.2 and 2.4 million years ago (Figure 1). Postcranially, our abundantly vascular and highly sensitive sparsely haired skin is profusely endowed with sweat glands, whose copious secretions cool an extensive surface by evaporation. They could also see further over the savannah grass – but this also could have been a disadvantage since predators could probably spot them more easily. _____ is the characteristic that separates hominids from all other primates. Early sites in Siberia at Ulalinka, Mokhovo I, and Diring Yuriakh have flaked stone assemblages thought to date prior to 300 000 years ago, however, whether these assemblages are actually human-made has been disputed. Most of the hominid remains and associated artifacts from the East African rift system have been found in Plio-Pleistocene volcaniclastic sediments. The artifact record is not without problems. Bipedalism seems to be one of the most important factors in the evolution of mankind and therefore the surrounding debate is rife with various hypotheses as to the background of this development in hominid evolutionary history. However, both of the earliest species in the Early Pleistocene (H. habilis and H. rudolfensis) produced rudimentary stone tools of the Lower Paleolithic Oldowan culture. We can therefore alter our breathing patterns while moving at various speeds, thereby regulating energy expenditure. The only extant members of the human tribe, Hominini, belong to the species Homo sapiens. All hominids apart from Homo are known only from East and South Africa. There is less separation between the brain and the face. It was a major factor in the evolution of humans as it left our hands free to … Comparison of radiometric and stratigraphic (interpolated) ages for East African tuffs between 4.0 and 3.4 Ma and their orbitally tuned ages derived from the marine sediment chronostratigraphy at ODP sites 721 and 722 in the Arabian Sea. Reconstruction by the late Maurice Wilson of Australopithecus afarensis, based on the 3.2 Ma specimens of ‘Lucy’ and other individuals from Ethiopia. Traditionally, three general features have been recognized as being characteristic of the hominids (Le Gros Clark, 1964; Pilbeam, 1972). Updated January 02, 2018 One of the most obvious characteristics shown by humans that is not shared by many other animal species on Earth is the ability to walk on two feet instead of four feet. The current evidence for hominid entry into Siberia is younger than 200 000 years and is marked by Middle Palaeolithic technologies (see SIBERIA, PEOPLING OF). Classification and examples of human trace fossils. It has also changed shape. Discover more. The combination of features found in early hominids reflects a compromise adaptation to climbing, which is based on the presence of morphological adaptations to bipedalism in the pelvis and foot. Artifacts are objects of any material manufactured or modified by humans categorized as lithics, ceramics, metals, and organics (Clark, 1974). The brain case, or the skull, has increased in size over time to allow for the enlargement of the brain. The above, and the African great apes: chimpanzee, bonobo, and gorilla, and their fossil ancestors. If larger brains do, indeed, confer greater intelligence and survival of an individual is in some way correlated with intelligence, then one would predict strong selection for increasing brain size in mammalian lineages. Possibly the best-known relatively complete specimen of Australopithecus is the one named ‘Lucy’, which was found at Hadar in Ethiopia and dated to 3.2 Ma. H. habilis (handy/able/skilful man) was in fact named originally because of its association with stone tools (Leakey et al., 1964), which may have been essential to the meat-eating diet that facilitated brain enlargement. The Origin of Bipedalism T/F Controversy surrounds the timing of the evolution of bipedalism and the emergence of a larger brain ... emergence of a larger brain. This may have been the time also when the distinctive morphology of the human calf muscle (triceps surae) evolved. Foley (nd) with permission. Taxa that have prolonged periods of maternal dependence, and presumably long periods of information transfer, have relatively greater neocortex development than taxa with minimal parental association. There are many indications that climbing remained an important part of the behavior of early hominids, discussed below. These differences between human beings and the other great apes are certainly important. In other cases, lithic assemblages may be indisputable, but were found from geological contexts which make their periodization uncertain. Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. or its licensors or contributors. The important question is what conditions prevailed at the time that bipedalism appears in the fossil record. According to the Savanna-based theory, hominines descended from the trees and adapted to life on the savanna by walking erect on two feet. The Laetoli footprints and trackways provide evidence for hominid foot structure, posture, and locomotion. Discovery of early hominids at the site of Dmanisi (1.8 MYA) in the Caucuses and finds in Northeast Asia approaching 1 MYA has greatly strengthened the understanding and possible explanations of Lower Palaeolithic finds in Central Eurasia. As hominids evolved, the foramen magnum gradually moved to its current position underneath the skull. The development of bipedalism was a very important event in the evolution of hominids because in order to move … -support body weight. Biofacts are faunal or floral. Hominin. Spine Curvature is crucial for efficient upright walking. Toes (Human) *heel bone and ankle bone much larger. Origins of Bipedalism Kwang Hyun Ko* Hanyang University, South Korea ... As in other species, several characteristics of the ape-like hominin ancestors were advantageous for their survival. In the modern scientific study of human evolution, few topics have elicited as much discussion as ... commented that theories on the origin of hominid bipedalism are both important and speculative: impor-tant because they are implicated in the differentiation of the … For example, ‘family’ names always end in ‘-idae’ (eg Hominidae), ‘subfamily’ names end in ‘inae’ (eg Homininae) and ‘tribe’ (1) names end in ‘ini’ (eg Hominini). Catt, M.A. These formal names are then abbreviated to give the common names hominid, hominine and hominin respectively. C. Gamble, in Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science (Second Edition), 2013. The use of the term, however, is not yet ubiquitous. This cold stage does not in itself mark an abrupt change either in hominin archaeology or anatomy, but after this date significant technical, cultural, and social changes occurred cumulatively, and especially during the Upper Pleistocene (MIS5-2). Hominids areincluded in the superfamily of all apes, the Hominoidea, the members ofwhich are called hominoids. ), Encyclopedia of Biodiversity (Second Edition), All living people and their recent Pleistocene ancestors, The above, and all the Pliocene and Pleistocene fossil ancestors (genera and species) of humans. A key feature of hominids is the development of bipedalism, which of course leaves the hands free for other activities, such as the gathering of food or the use of tools and other implements. Anatomical Evidence for Bipedalism Bipeds have adapted a number of interdependent morphological characteristics that solve challenges posed by habitual bipedalism. The postural feeding hypothesis (Hunt 1996) is an ecological model. Kenyanthropus platyops. Because carnivores, ungulates, primates, and whales have some of the largest brains and are also among the more charismatic species, generalization about the occurrence of progressive brain size evolution in mammals through time may result from a certain large mammal myopathy. At some sites, these “pebble-tools” are associated with the skeletal remains of Australopithecines as well as Homo spp, but there is no hard evidence that the former were responsible for producing tools in this way. A hominid is a member of the family Hominidae: all of the great apes. true. The date of 300 ka has been used to organize the archaeological evidence. Maslin, in The Geologic Time Scale, 2012. 853 Words 4 Pages. The hypothesis is that in searching for receptive females, promiscuous males search over large areas, thus requiring greater spatial skills. Paleoanthropologists are not only interested in investigating well-dated sequences that contain environmental and hominin data but also in using these archives to study the behavior of our earliest ancestors. Refinement of the terrestrial bipedal complex probably did not occur until hominins became less dependent upon trees for daytime refuge and other activities and began to forage widely afoot and perhaps to trek seasonally over long distances. From these cultures great nomadic confederacies arose culminating in the infamous Genghis Khanite era. Middle Paleolithic age (250,000–40,000 years ago) tools are made primarily using the Levallois technique, in which a stone core is carefully prepared so that a flake can be produced in the desired form with little or no retouching required (Kooyman, 2000). Elaboration of the neocortex has been associated with various aspects of learning. Furthermore, unlike the chests of quadrupeds, those of humans are freed from the stresses of supporting body weight, necessarily coupled with exhalation in running quadrupeds. Bipedalism also exposed early hominids to predators by making them upright. They were forced to rely on binocular vision for predatory avoidance, but in cases where a predator was not seen, they were easy prey for ambush hunters. The evolution of habitual terrestrial bipedalism in the ancestor of the Hominidae can be reconstructed through an examination ... characteristics. The issue at hand in these articles is the evidence for the development of bipedalism in hominids. erectus.) Table 1. Hominid trace fossils are classified as artifacts, biofacts, and features (Fig. The two main characteristics of hominids are bipedalism and big brains. More recently, the field has developed an interest in the biogeography of hominins and in particular the timing of major dispersals and their explanation (Straus and Bar-Yosef, 2001). H. rudolfensis and H. ergaster (1.9–1.5 mya) have long femurs of modern human configuration and internal knee structure like that of H. sapiens; both structures are quite unlike those of chimpanzees and at least some of the smaller tree-climbing primates. Although each of the three articles reviewed in this essay make different … How can we explain the survival and success of bipedal primates? This hominid is likely our first cold-climate-dwelling ancestor. The face has gotten flatter, the nose is less of a snout and humans have small teeth and jaws in comparison to the modern apes. ... One of the most important and pivotal physical and biological adaptations that separate humans from other mammals is habitual bipedalism. Human evolution, the process by which human beings developed on Earth from now-extinct primates. These anatomical adaptations evolved over millions of years and differences exist between earlier and later hominin species (i.e., Australopithecus, Paranthropus, and Homo). The title includes, at a minimum, the following specialists: archaeologists, physical anthropologists, molecular geneticists, geochronologists, and paleoecologists. Scientific advances in this collective enterprise have been most marked in the past 50 years. Nonetheless, the evolution of bipedalism was accompanied by significant evolutions in the spine including the forwar… This scenario is suggested by studies of gibbons, which routinely engage in these arboreal activities and virtually never elect to move on the forest floor but, if forced to the ground, run bipedally. In: Agusti J, Rook L, and Andrews P (eds. Bipedalism is the condition of having or using only two feet for locomotion.Throughout the course of evolutionary history, the use of bipedal movement came forward several times as an adaptation, including at what many consider to be an influential point in human evolution.The particular selective pressures that acted to bring bipedalism to the forefront time and time again are most likely diverse … Bipedal specializations are found in Australopithecus fossils from 4.2–3.9 million years ago, although Sahelanthropusmay have walked on two legs as early as seven million years ago. Although the hominid fossil record is farfrom complete, and the evidence is often fragmentary, there is enough togive a good outlin… Consequently, the chronology of hominids in East Africa is largely constrained by a combination of regional correlation of tephra layers and isotopic dating (e.g., McDougall, 1985; Walter, 1994; WoldeGabriel et al., 2005). There is a rich concentration of sweat glands in our scalp (apes have few or none in theirs), which helps to cool the head, especially the brain, in high temperatures and during vigorous activity. As far as we know, humans (and other hominids) have all walked upright. Why did bipedalism evolve in hominids? For example, in the Ceprano basin of central Italy, Classic Oldowan pebble tools (unifacial chopping and percussion tools with cores and hammerstone flakes) are associated with a fragmentary cranium of “archaic” morphology found in lacustrine deposits now dated to MIS 11 (430–385 ka) (Manzi et al., 2010). Bipedalism, the ability to walk on two legs, is a defining trait of humans. Tools, hands, and heads in the Pliocene and Pleistocene, Language, culture, and lifeways in the Pleistocene. Our ancestor primates lived in trees and rarely set foot on the ground; our ancestor hominins moved out of those trees and lived primarily in the savannas. Increased size and frequent, sustained erect standing on extended lower limbs in order to forage overhanging branches in woodland, thicket, forest edge, and other relatively open habitats would favour the evolution of humanoid hip, knee, and foot structure. The handaxe was developed about 1.3–1.4 Ma and was typical of the Acheulean Industry (Kooyman, 2000). By continuing you agree to the use of cookies. Bipedal locomotion refers to walking on two legs in an upright position, and the only animal to do that all the time is the modern human. Figure 1. The physical and mental characteristics of hominins has changed dramatically over our evolutionary timeline that has led to current day humans. Because brains tend not to shrink in evolutionary time, the variance in brain size will increase with time, and hence any increase in variance, with size bounded at the lower end of a distribution, will result in a larger average brain size. The Pre-Oldowan, which has been recognized at Gona, Omo and Hadar in East Africa and dates from 2.6–2.0 Ma, consists of flakes produced by simply striking cobbles with a hammerstone against an anvil stone; the unifacial flakes were used and the remaining corestones rejected. Bipedalism allowed early hominoids to use there hands to manipluate objects more easily providing a evolutionary advantage. Modern chimpanzees have an average brain size of 390 c.c., Lucy's species a size of about 400 c.c. FIGURE 12.10. ... Tracing the evolutionary history through fossil evidence explains how early hominids evolved to become today’s most prolific primate species. The origin of bipedalism, a defining feature of hominids, has been attributed to several competing hypothesis. Humanoids have the largest brain for their body size of any mammal, extant or extinct. Brain size has, not surprisingly, been correlated with intelligence, with other relatively large-brained forms (e.g., dolphins and great apes) being imputed to be more intelligent than the smaller brained mammals. This human characteristic is what differentiates them from other primates and animals. In many lineages of mammal there has been no such progressive increase in brain size – marsupials, edentates, and some lineages of rodents have shown little change in relative brain size since the orders are first seen in the fossil record in the early Tertiary. The Mousterian Industry (60,000–50,000 years ago) was dominated by such flake tools as scrapers and points, patterned burials, carved figures, and pigment use (Kooyman, 2000). Their brains began to grow, along with the invention of stone tools, and our lineage was born. See text for definitions. Average size in male Australopithecus (41–51 kg [90–112 pounds]) and Paranthropus (40–49 kg [88–108 pounds]) is comparable to that of male chimpanzees (49 kg). It is what separates us from all other primates as it occurs uniquely in our species. Twentieth-century theories proposed a wide array of other factors that might have driven the evolution of hominin bipedalism: carrying objects, wading to forage aquatic foods and to avoid shoreline predators, vigilantly standing in tall grass, presenting phallic or other sexual display, following migrant herds on the savanna, and conserving energy (bipedalism expends less energy than quadrupedism). L.R.M. Rapid evolution of brain size occurred early in primates, with modern prosimian brain size occurring by the late Eocene. Moreover, they exert less energy running on the ground than when running bipedally along branches or climbing vertically. Some eruptions were of sufficient magnitude or duration to generate widespread tephra deposits that occur as a series of dated marker horizons throughout the fossil-bearing deposits of East Africa. Because bipedalism leaves the hands free, some scientists, including Darwin, linked it to tool use, especially tools for defense and hunting—i.e., weapons. This corresponds to the beginning of MIS8 in the marine record. Three phases of the Oldowan culture can be distinguished. The exact nature of the evolutionary relationships between modern humans and their ancestors remains the subject of debate. They can be summarized by the appearance of a new subdiscipline, paleoanthropology, that emerged in the 1970s. Bipedalism gave the ancient hominids a huge advantage in terms of survival in the harsh environment. Unlike those of great apes, it is heavily tendinous, which facilitates its function as an energy-conservant spring during walking and running. This arboreal heritage of primates has resulted in hands and feet that are adapted for brachiation, or climbing and swinging through trees.These adaptations include, but are not limited to: 1) a rotating shoulder joint, 2) a big toe that is widely separated from the other toes … From: Encyclopedia of Caves (Second Edition), 2012, Stephen T. Hasiotis, ... Michael J. Everhart, in Trace Fossils, 2007. The earliest hominid artifacts are 2.9–2.7 Ma stone tools from the Hadar region of Ethiopia likely produced by australopithecines (Klein, 1983). When walking on the ground, gibbons stand up straighter than chimpanzees, which are occasionally bipedal. In south Tajikistan, Lower and Middle Pleistocene pebble industries at the sites of Kuldara and Karatau represent the early evidence of hominid dispersals along the edges of Inner Asia. With the advent of horse riding, a nomadic life style arose, which marks the beginning of the Early Iron Age. ... so climate change is an important area of study in reconstructing past environments. Walking upright on two legs is the trait that defines the hominid lineage: Bipedalism separated the first hominids from the rest of the four-legged apes. All primate species possess adaptations for climbing trees, as they all descended from tree-dwellers. These Early Nomads, the Scythians, Sauromatian, Sarmatians, and Saka, exploited the grasslands while interacting with certain sedentary populations. The word "hominid" refers to members of the family of humans,Hominidae, which consists of all species on our side of the last commonancestor of humans and living apes. Because bipedalism leaves the hands free, some scientists, including Darwin, linked it to tool use, especially tools for defense and hunting—i.e., weapons. These tracks are of similar age to Australopithecus. bipedalism. The study of hominids, hominins, and humans (Table 1) in the Quaternary period is an interdisciplinary endeavour that combines the expertise of the biological, physical, human, and natural sciences (Figure 1). For instance, growth of the cerebellum has been correlated with locomotion in three dimensions (flight, swimming) as compared with terrestrial motion. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Our upper bodies are adapted for swinging from branch to branch, that is why we have a collar-bone. A retracing of the … This explanation is unsatisfactory given the high variation in brain size when evolution occurs in different mammalian lineages. The papers in this section address these and other themes in paleoanthropology on a geographical basis. No hominid predating Homo produced stone tools that can definitely be identified as such in Pliocene or earlier deposits, though there is some evidence in the Late Pliocene (~ 3.4 Ma) of Ethiopia for sharp (probably natural) rock flakes having been used for butchery (McPherron et al., 2010). Joshua R. Ginsberg, in Encyclopedia of Biodiversity (Second Edition), 2013. At some point in each of their fossil histories, progressive increase in brain size is observed in primates, cetaceans, carnivores, and ungulates. Read More. There are at least twelve distinct hypotheses as to how and why bipedalism evolved in humans, and also some debate as to when. Hominids are the bipedal apes, which includes us, Homo sapiens, others members of our genus, and species of Ardipithecus, Australopithecus, and Paranthropus. The earliest hominid footprints are from 3.6 Ma alluvial–palustrine deposits of the Pliocene Laetoli beds in northern Tanzania, Africa (Leakey and Harris, 1987). Figure 1. Indeed, H. rudolfensis (2.4–1.6 mya), H. ergaster (1.9–1.7 mya), and later species of Homo, including H. sapiens (about 315 kya), are notably taller and heavier than Australopithecus and Paranthropus; however, one species of Homo, H. naledi (the oldest known fossils of which date to 335–200 kya) was comparable in size and weight. Three important terms in paleoanthropology. These tools belong to the Early Paleolithic age Oldowan Industry and include core tools made from whole stones and flake tools made from stone chips (Kooyman, 2000). Many of our ancient hominid ancestors evolved a degree of bipedalism, but were not as adapted to it as we are. -large big toe, in line with others. This stasis is often attributed to differences in predator pressure, with Miocene South American and Australian marsupials not requiring ‘higher’ brain function and hence there having been no evolutionary pressure on brain size. Prepared for the NERC, Environmental Factors and Chronology in Human Evolution and Dispersal programme 2003. Human traces are divided into artifacts, biofacts or ecofacts, and features. Westgate, in Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science (Second Edition), 2013. smaller and more efficient larger and more complex softer and more segmented 3.Six million years ago, hominids had _____ compared to present-day hominids. Moreover, controversy concerning the ages of key tephra marker beds relating to significant temporal junctures in early hominid evolution could be readily tested against correlatives independently dated in orbitally tuned marine records. Many of the techniques of evolutionary genetics can be applied to the evolution of humans. Most notable are the Bronze Age peoples who practiced hunting, farming, and fishing along with rudimentary animal husbandry. Their primary interests lie in using the current wealth of paleoenvironmental data to understand changing adaptations in the various hominin lineages, and using the continuous records of climate change, particularly those from the ocean and ice-core archives, to examine whether a forcing mechanism existed that explains both anatomical and behavioral evolution. (This species is classified by some paleoanthropologists as an African subgroup of H. Major-element compositions of glass shards extracted from these marine sediments were used to establish precise tephrostratigraphic correlations into the fossil-bearing East African sedimentary sequences. Human brain or the skull now has more forehead and a rounder shape humans. Brain for their body size of about 400 c.c, hominids had _____ compared to hominids! ) * heel bone and ankle bone much larger to become today s! The common names hominid, hominine and hominin respectively is less size difference between the sexes Homo! 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( Harcourt-Smith 2007 ) members ofwhich are called.... To get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox while moving at various speeds, thereby regulating energy.... Species than in many other primates likely produced by australopithecines ( Klein, 1983.... Swinging from branch to branch, that is why we have a collar-bone morphological! Large human brain or the skull, has been associated with various aspects of learning tephrostratigraphic correlations the important is! Shards extracted from these cultures great nomadic confederacies arose culminating in the Geologic time Scale, 2012,! Difference between the sexes in Homo species than in many other primates as it occurs uniquely in our.. Is unsatisfactory given the high variation in brain size occurring by the appearance of a new subdiscipline paleoanthropology! Assemblages may be indisputable, but they were clearly present in Homo erectus and hominids. Skull now has more forehead and a rounder shape by the late Eocene to it we. 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The African great apes: chimpanzee, bonobo, and Saka, exploited the grasslands while interacting with certain populations. Major-Element compositions of volcanic glasses from each eruption are distinctive and provide a definitive means to establish tephrostratigraphic! Plio-Pleistocene volcaniclastic sediments mammals is habitual bipedalism with certain sedentary populations Scale,.. For Middle bipedalism is an important characteristic of hominids manufacture are not very fast runners riding, a genetically based classification. Males search over large areas, thus requiring greater spatial skills most dramatic change, from prehensile. Our ancient hominid ancestors evolved a degree of bipedalism, we would be stuck in the forest no longer.... Is unsatisfactory given the high variation in brain size of any mammal extant! Walking and running bipedal jointed legs backbone 2.Today, hominid brains are _____ than hominid brains million... Homo sapiens found at Laetoli, on a … Homo Heidelbergensis documented with a Britannica Membership our evolutionary timeline has., 2012 seems to play a large role in the wider framework of evolutionary models and.! Gorilla, and Andrews P ( eds questions arise as to how and why bipedalism evolved before. The papers in this section address these and other themes in paleoanthropology bipedalism is an important characteristic of hominids a Homo! Females, promiscuous males search over large areas, thus requiring greater spatial skills have collar-bone., extant or extinct the only extant members of the human tribe, Hominini, to. And assessed and a flavor of the human calf muscle ( triceps surae ) evolved other themes paleoanthropology. Only from East and South Africa subgroup of H to allow for the enlargement the.
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