Evolution of Hominini ~ Part Two

This entry starts here at Evolution of Hominini ~ Part One

We spent a week taking measurements of our Smithsonian ancient human skull models, and recording our measurements. We graphed them and drew what we saw so that we could compare some things...

From most recent to earliest species, here is our documentation:

Homo sapiens- the largest braincase, smallest snasal opening and teeth

Homo heidelbergensis - a predecessor to Neanderthal. He's got a big nasal opening!

Homo erectus ~ not a bad looking species!

Homo rudolphensis ~ brain case is much smaller than more recent species!

Australopithecus africanus ~ a tiny brain case (but still larger than many mammals!) and
a huge jaw

Graphing out and comparing the nasal opening

More graphing of the width of the face and size of the jaw

Graphing out the size of the teeth. When you compare Taung Child's teeth (A. africanus) to
Homo sapiens' (us) teeth, it's remarkable. Taung had a tiny brain and huge teeth. We are the
opposite.

Here's everyone lined up so you can compare. Clearly, the earliest hominin has the smallest brain and largest jaw. Over time,
brains get larger and jaws and teeth get smaller.