Did robust australopithecines have large chewing muscles?
Robust species like Paranthropus robustus had large teeth as well as a ridge on top of the skull, where strong chewing muscles attached. These features allowed individuals to crush and grind hard foods such as nuts, seeds, roots, and tubers in the back of the jaw; however, P. robustus didn’t just eat tough foods.
Would you also classify Australopithecus africanus as gracile or is it a robust australopithecine what features support your argument?
Some paleoanthropologists consider Australopithecus africanus to be robust despite its gracile cranium, due to its large molars. Others place this hominin among the gracile australopithecines. Australopithecus afarensis is more commonly considered ancestral to the Homo lineage.
Was Lucy gracile or robust?
Who is ancestral to modern humans? Gracile is ancestral to modern humans. Is Australopithecus Afarensis (Lucy) Gracile or Robust? Lucy is Gracile.
Which of these species of Australopithecines are referred to as robust?
The “robust” australopiths are a group of fossil hominins that existed in East and southern Africa between approximately 2.5 and 1.4 million years ago (Ma). They are referred to here as members of the genus Paranthropus, though considerable disagreement about their proper taxonomy persists (see below).
What did gracile australopithecines eat?
Diet. In a 1979 preliminary microwear study of Australopithecus fossil teeth, anthropologist Alan Walker theorized that Austrolopithecus may have been fruitarian. However, newer methods of studying fossils have shown that Australopithecus was likely omnivorous.
What are the major difference between gracile and robust australopithecines?
The main difference between gracile and robust is that gracile species had smaller cheek teeth, pronounced prognathism, less flared cheeks, and no sagittal crest, but robust species had enormous cheek teeth, robust jaws and massive jaw muscles, sometimes anchored to a bony crest running along the top of the skull.
What are the major differences between robust and gracile australopithecines?
Furthermore, gracile species were frugivores that lacked heavy vegetation, but robust species were herbivores that consumed heavy, gritty vegetation. Generally, gracile and robust are two terms commonly used to describe different species of the extinct genus Australopithecus.
Does brain size increase much in the australopithecines through time?
Homo sapiens brain size increases over time within the sapiens super-species clade (figure 2 and table 1).
What are the major differences between gracile and robust Australopiths?
What is the most energetically expensive uses the most calories organ in the human body?
May is the Month of the Brain, our most energy-consuming organs. Representing only 2% of the weight of an adult, the brain consumes 20% of the energy produced by the body.
Why did Louis and Mary Leakey choose Olduvai Gorge?
Paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey, with wife Mary Leakey, established an excavation site at Olduvai Gorge to search for fossils. The team made unprecedented discoveries of hominids millions of years old linked to human evolution, including H. habilis and H. erectus.
What did australopithecines not eat?
Their thick-enameled, flattened molars would have had great difficulty propagating cracks through tough foods, suggesting that the australopithecines were not well suited for eating tough fruits, leaves, or meat.
What is the difference between a robust and a gracile Australopithecus?
In the case of australopiths, “gracile” and “robust” refer to the relative size of the jaws, teeth and chewing muscles (all contributing to the “masticatory apparatus”). Traditionally, graciles include the ≥2 million year old Australopithecus afarensis and africanus, and robusts include the later A.
What are the names of the robust australopithecines?
In general, Paranthropus is another term for the robust Australopithecines. In this, there are three significant species that represent the robust form. They are A. robustus (2.5 Mya), A. boisei ( 2.5-1.4 Mya), and A. aethiopicus (2.5 Mya).
How are robust teeth different from gracile teeth?
On that account, they had large cheek teeth, robust mandible as well as a heavy bony architecture (i.e. zygomatic arch), which supports strong chewing muscles. Additionally, they had very large projecting brow ridges and projecting face
What kind of face did Australopithecus afarensis have?
Australopithecus afarensis. A. afarensis existed between 3.9 and 3.0 million years ago. Afarensis had an apelike face with a low forehead, a bony ridge over the eyes, a flat nose, and no chin. They had protruding jaws with large back teeth. Cranial capacity varied from about 375 to 550 cc.