Australopithecus garhi
| Australopithecus garhi Temporal range: Gelasian, 2.6–2.5 Ma
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| Reconstruction of the skull at the National Museum of Ethiopia | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Haplorhini |
| Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
| Family: | Hominidae |
| Subfamily: | Homininae |
| Tribe: | Hominini |
| Genus: | †Australopithecus |
| Species: | †A. garhi
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| Binomial name | |
| †Australopithecus garhi Asfaw et al., 1997
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Australopithecus garhi is a species of
A. garhi is the first pre-Homo hominin postulated to have manufactured tools—using them in butchering—and may be counted among a growing body of evidence for pre-Homo stone tool industries (the ability to manufacture tools was previously believed to have separated Homo from predecessors.) A. garhi possibly produced the Oldowan industry which was previously considered to have been invented by the later H. habilis, though this may have instead been produced by contemporary Homo.
million years ago ) |
Anatomy
Like other australopithecines, A. garhi had a brain volume of about 450 cc (27 cu in), a
Like the earlier A. afarensis from the same region, A. garhi had a humanlike humerus to femur ratio, and an apelike brachial index (lower to upper arm ratio) as well as curved
The BOU-VP-35/1 humerus specimen is notably larger than the humerus of the BOU-VP-12/1 specimen, which could potentially indicate size-specific sexual dimorphism with males larger than females to a similar degree to what is postulated in A. afarensis, but it is unclear if this does not represent normal size variation of the same sex as this is based on only two specimens. Nonetheless, on the basis of size, BOU-VP-12/130 is considered male and BOU-VP-17/1 female. Contemporary hominins from Kenya are about the same size as A. garhi.[1] BOU-VP-17/1 may have been about 140 cm (4 ft 7 in) tall.[3]
Australopithecus are thought to have had fast, apelike growth rates, lacking an extended childhood typical of modern humans. However, the legs of A. garhi are elongated, unlike those of other Australopithecus, and, in humans, elongated limbs develop during the delayed adolescent growth spurt. This could mean that A. garhi, compared to other Australopithecus, either had a slower overall growth rate, or a more rapid leg growth rate.[2]
Taxonomy
The Ethiopian Australopithecus garhi was first described in 1999 by palaeoanthropologists
The remains are dated to about 2.5 million years ago (mya) based on
Palaeoecology
The large teeth of Australopithecus species have historically been interpreted as having been adaptations for a diet of hard foods, but the durable teeth may instead have only served an important function during leaner times for harder fallback foods. That is, dental anatomy may not accurately portray normal Australopithecus diet, rather abnormal diet during times of famine.[7]
Though it was not found with any tools, mammalian bones associated with the A. garhi remains exhibit cut and percussion marks made from stone tools: the left
At the nearby Gona site, where there is an abundance of raw materials, several Oldowan tools (an industry previously believed to have been invented by H. habilis) were recovered from 1992 to 1994. The tools date to around 2.6–2.5 mya, the oldest evidence of manufacturing at the time, and since A. garhi was the only species identified in the vicinity at the time, this species was the best candidate for authorship.[10][11] However, in 2015, the earliest remains of Homo, LD 350-1, were discovered in Ledi-Geraru, also in the Afar Region, dating to 2.8–2.75 mya.[6] More stone tools were found in 2019 dating to about 2.6 mya in Ledi-Geraru, predating the Gona artifacts, and these may be attributed to Homo; the invention of sharp-edged Oldowan tools could actually be due to specific adaptations characteristic of Homo.[12] Nonetheless, other australopithecines have been associated with stone tool manufacturing, such as the 2010 discovery of cut marks dating to 3.4 mya attributed to A. afarensis,[9] and the 2015 discovery of the Lomekwi culture from Lake Turkana dating to 3.3 mya possibly attributed to Kenyanthropus.[13]
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See also
- African archaeology – Archaeology conducted in Africa
- Ardipithecus ramidus – Extinct hominin from Early Pliocene Ethiopia
- Australopithecus africanus – Extinct hominid from South Africa
- Australopithecus anamensis – Extinct hominin from Pliocene east Africa
- Australopithecus sediba – Two-million-year-old hominin from the Cradle of Humankind
- Homo gautengensis – Name proposed for an extinct species of hominin from South Africa
- Homo habilis – Archaic human species from 2.8 to 1.65 mya
- Homo rudolfensis – Extinct hominin from the Early Pleistocene of East Africa
- Kenyanthropus – Oldest-known tool-making hominin
- List of human evolution fossils
References
- ^ PMID 10213683.
- ^ ISBN 978-94-007-5918-3.
- ^ S2CID 7042848.
- S2CID 45225047.
- ^ Strait, D. S. (2001). "The systematics of Australopithecus garhi". Ludus Vitalis. 9 (15): 109–135.
- ^ PMID 25739410.
- PMID 24402713.
- PMID 10213682.
- ^ S2CID 4356816.
- S2CID 4331652.
- PMID 14529651.
- PMID 31160451.
- S2CID 1207285.
External links
- Reconstruction by Viktor Deak
- "Australopithecus garhi". The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2011.
- "Australopithecus garhi". ArchaelogyInfo. Archived from the original on August 27, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2011.
- Human Timeline (Interactive) – Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (August 2016).
- "The Earliest Human Ancestors: New Finds, New Interpretations". Science in Africa. 2001. Archived from the original on December 23, 2010. Retrieved March 1, 2011.