(in Polish) Human Origins 3700-AL-HO-QPR
The lecture drives the student through the several stages of non-human and human primate evolution. The course will start with background knowledge on relevant skeletal anatomy, non-human primate taxonomy, hominin classification, and an introduction to the temporal and environmental context for non-human and human primate evolution. For the first half of the course, we will go through the many stages of primate evolution, becoming familiar with the great diversity of fossil primate groups, starting with plesiadapiforms in the Paleocene and ending with the great apes of the Miocene. For the second half of the course, we will focus specifically on hominin evolution, starting with the potential earliest hominins from the Miocene, and exploring the record of hominin species until the most recent anatomically modern humans.
The course will have a discussion component, in which students will engage with some of the most discussed controversies in the literature.
Type of course
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
K_W01, K_W02, K_W03, K_W04, K_W05
K_U01, K_U02, K_U04, K_U08, K_U09
K_K02, K_K06, K_K07
Student:
- Name the defining features of the order Primates and explain their significance.
- Define the characteristics of major primate groups.
- Describe the phylogenetic relationships of the major clades of primates.
- Describe the major evolutionary trends in hominins.
- Identify hominin species.
- Distinguish between gracile and robust australopiths.
- Understand the ecological context in which bipedalism evolved and the consequences of adopting a bipedal posture.
- Summarize the major migrations of anatomically modern humans around the globe and understand the impact of human migration to the hybridization between different Homo species.
- Understand the consequences of the increase in brain size to human development and explain the origins of speech.
Assessment criteria
The student will be evaluated based on a test in class in the middle of the course, their participation in the discussion topics, and by handing a final piece of written work.
Test, written assignment
Bibliography
Bibliography Alemseged Z (2023) Reappraising the palaeobiology of Australopithecus. Nature 617: 45-54.
Almécija S, Hammond AS, Thompson NE, Pugh KD, Moyà-Solà S, Alba MD (2021) Fossil apes and human evolution. Science 372: eabb4363.
Bergström A, Stringer C, Hajdinjak M, Scerri EML, Skoglund P (2021) Origins of modern human ancestry. Nature 590: 229-237.
Fleagle JG (2013) Primate Adaptation and Evolution, 3rd edition. London, UK: Academic Press.
Kimbel WH, Villmoare B (2016) From Australopithecus to Homo: the transition that wasn't. Philosophical Transactions B 371: 20150248
Larsen CS (2023) A Companion to Biological Anthropology. John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 640 pp.
López-Torres S (2022) Primate evolution and the emergence of humans (Chapter 24). In: Pough FH, Bemis WE, McGuire BA, Janis CM (eds.) Vertebrate Life, 11th ed., New York, NY: Oxford University Press; pp. 557-585.
Silcox MT, Bloch JI, Boyer DM, Chester SGB, López-Torres S (2017) The evolutionary radiation of plesiadapiforms. Evolutionary Anthropology 26: 74-94.
Silcox MT, López-Torres (2017) Major questions in the study of primate origins. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 45: 113-137.
Wood BA, Patterson DB (2020) Paranthropus through the looking glass. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117: 23202-23204.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: