Australopithecus anamensis

Australopithecus anamensis; Temporal range:
	Reconstructed skull at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Haplorhini
Infraorder:	Simiiformes
Family:	Hominidae
Subfamily:	Homininae
Tribe:	Hominini
Genus:	†Australopithecus
Species:	†A. anamensis
Binomial name
	†Australopithecus anamensis; M.G. Leakey et al., 1995
Synonyms
	†Praeanthropus anamensis ;

Australopithecus anamensis is a hominin species that lived roughly between 4.3 and 3.8 million years ago,^[1]^[2] and is the oldest known Australopithecus species,^[3]^[4]

Nearly 100 fossil specimens of A. anamensis are known from Kenya^[5]^[6] and Ethiopia,^[7] representing over 20 individuals. The first fossils of A. anamensis discovered are dated to around 3.8 and 4.2 million years ago and were found in Kanapoi and Allia Bay in northern Kenya.^[8]

A. afarensis is normally accepted to have emerged within this lineage.^[9] However, A. anamensis and A. afarensis appear to have lived side=by=side for at least some period of time, and whether the lineage that led to extant humans emerged in A. afarensis, or directly in A. anamensis is not fully settled.^[10]^[11]^[12] Fossil evidence determines that Australopithecus anamensis is the earliest hominin species in the Turkana Basin,^[13] but likely co-existed with afarensis towards the end of its existence.^[10]^[14] A. anamensis and A. afarensis may be treated as a single grouping.^[15]

Preliminary analysis of the sole upper cranial fossil indicates A. anamensis had a smaller cranial capacity (estimated 365-370 cm⁴) than A. afarensis.^[10]

Hominin timeline

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Miocene

Pliocene

Pleistocene

Hominini

Nakalipithecus

Samburupithecus

Ouranopithecus
(Ou. turkae)
(Ou. macedoniensis)

Chororapithecus

Oreopithecus

Sivapithecus

Sahelanthropus

Graecopithecus

Orrorin

(O. praegens)
(O. tugenensis)

Ardipithecus

(Ar. kadabba)

(Ar. ramidus)

Australopithecus
(Au. africanus)
(Au. afarensis)
(Au. anamensis)

H. habilis
(H. rudolfensis)
(Au. garhi)

H. erectus
(H. antecessor)
(H. ergaster)
(Au. sediba)

H. heidelbergensis

Homo sapiens

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Earliest sign of Ardipithecus

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Earliest sign of Australopithecus

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Earliest stone tools

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Earliest sign of
Homo

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Dispersal beyond Africa

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Earliest language

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Modern humans

H o m i n i d s

P a r a n t h r o p u s

(million years ago)

^ RFI Afrique par Simon Rozé Publié le 28-08-2019 Modifié le 29-08-2019 à 11:00, http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20190828-ethiopie-decouverte-plus-vieux-fossile-australopitheque
^ Lewis, Jason E.; Ward, Carol V.; Kimbel, William H.; Kidney, Casey L.; Brown, Frank H.; Quinn, Rhonda L.; Rowan, John; Lazagabaster, Ignacio A.; Sanders, William J.; Leakey, Maeve G.; Leakey, Louise N. (2024). "A 4.3-million-year-old Australopithecus anamensis mandible from Ileret, East Turkana, Kenya, and its paleoenvironmental context". Journal of Human Evolution. 194. 103579. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103579.
^ Haile-Selassie, Y (27 October 2010). "Phylogeny of early Australopithecus: new fossil evidence from the Woranso-Mille (central Afar, Ethiopia)". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 365 (1556): 3323–3331. doi:10.1098/rstb.2010.0064. PMC 2981958. PMID 20855306.
^ Lewis, Barry; et al. (2013). Understanding Humans: Introduction to Physical Anthropology and Archaeology (11th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Leakey, Meave G.; Feibel, Craig S.; MacDougall, Ian; Walker, Alan (17 August 1995). "New four-million-year-old hominid species from Kanapoi and Allia Bay, Kenya". Nature. 376 (6541): 565–571. Bibcode:1995Natur.376..565L. doi:10.1038/376565a0. PMID 7637803. S2CID 4340999.
^ Leakey, Meave G.; Feibel, Craig S.; MacDougall, Ian; Ward, Carol; Walker, Alan (7 May 1998). "New specimens and confirmation of an early age for Australopithecus anamensis". Nature. 393 (6680): 62–66. Bibcode:1998Natur.393...62L. doi:10.1038/29972. PMID 9590689. S2CID 4398072.
^ White, Tim D.; WoldeGabriel, Giday; Asfaw, Berhane; Ambrose, Stan; Beyene, Yonas; Bernor, Raymond L.; Boisserie, Jean-Renaud; Currie, Brian; Gilbert, Henry; Haile-Selassie, Yohannes; Hart, William K.; Hlusko, Leslea J.; Howell, F. Clark; Kono, Reiko T.; Lehmann, Thomas; Louchart, Antoine; Lovejoy, C. Owen; Renne, Paul R.; Saegusa, Hauro; Vrba, Elisabeth S.; Wesselman, Hank; Suwa, Gen (13 April 2006). "Asa Issie, Aramis and the origin of Australopithecus". Nature. 440 (7086): 883–9. Bibcode:2006Natur.440..883W. doi:10.1038/nature04629. PMID 16612373. S2CID 4373806.
^ Ward, Carol; Leakey, Meave; Walker, Alan (1999). "The new hominid species Australopithecus anamensis". Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews. 7 (6): 197–205. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1520-6505(1999)7:6<197::AID-EVAN4>3.0.CO;2-T. ISSN 1520-6505. S2CID 84278748.
^ Kimbel, William H.; Lockwood, Charles A.; Ward, Carol V.; Leakey, Meave G.; Rake, Yoel; Johanson, Donald C. (2006). "Was Australopithecus anamensis ancestral to A. afarensis? A case of anagenesis in the hominin fossil record". Journal of Human Evolution. 51 (2): 134–152. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.02.003. PMID 16630646.
^ ^a ^b ^c Haile-Selassie, Yohannes; Melillo, Stephanie M.; Vazzana, Antonino; Benazzi, Stefano; Ryan, Timothy M. (2019). "A 3.8-million-year-old hominin cranium from Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia". Nature. 573 (7773): 214–219. Bibcode:2019Natur.573..214H. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1513-8. hdl:11585/697577. PMID 31462770. S2CID 201656331.
^ Price, Michael (2019-08-28). "Stunning ancient skull shakes up human family tree". Science | AAAS. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
^ "Skull discovery 'a game changer' in understanding of human evolution". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
^ Cerling, Thure E.; Manthi, Fredrick Kyalo; Mbua, Emma N.; Leakey, Louise N.; Leakey, Meave G.; Leakey, Richard E.; Brown, Francis H.; Grine, Frederick E.; Hart, John A.; Kalemeg, Prince; Roche, Hélène; Uno, Kevin T.; Wood, Bernard A. (June 25, 2013). "Stable isotope-based diet reconstructions of Turkana Basin hominins". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 110 (26): 10501–10506. Bibcode:2013PNAS..11010501C. doi:10.1073/pnas.1222568110. PMC 3696807. PMID 23733966.
^ Hanegraef, Hester (4 September 2019). "How the skull of humanity's oldest known ancestor is changing our understanding of evolution". The Conversation. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
^ Du, Andrew; Rowan, John; Wang, Steve C.; Wood, Bernard A.; Alemseged, Zeresenay (2020-01-01). "Statistical estimates of hominin origination and extinction dates: A case study examining the Australopithecus anamensis–afarensis lineage". Journal of Human Evolution. 138: 102688. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102688. ISSN 0047-2484. PMID 31759257.

[1] RFI Afrique par Simon Rozé Publié le 28-08-2019 Modifié le 29-08-2019 à 11:00, http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20190828-ethiopie-decouverte-plus-vieux-fossile-australopitheque

[2] Lewis, Jason E.; Ward, Carol V.; Kimbel, William H.; Kidney, Casey L.; Brown, Frank H.; Quinn, Rhonda L.; Rowan, John; Lazagabaster, Ignacio A.; Sanders, William J.; Leakey, Maeve G.; Leakey, Louise N. (2024). "A 4.3-million-year-old Australopithecus anamensis mandible from Ileret, East Turkana, Kenya, and its paleoenvironmental context". Journal of Human Evolution. 194. 103579. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103579.

[Haile-Selassie2010c-3] Haile-Selassie, Y (27 October 2010). "Phylogeny of early Australopithecus: new fossil evidence from the Woranso-Mille (central Afar, Ethiopia)". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 365 (1556): 3323–3331. doi:10.1098/rstb.2010.0064. PMC 2981958. PMID 20855306.

[:12-4] Lewis, Barry; et al. (2013). Understanding Humans: Introduction to Physical Anthropology and Archaeology (11th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[M._G._Leakey,_C._S._Feibel,_I._MacDougall_&_A._Walker_565–571-5] Leakey, Meave G.; Feibel, Craig S.; MacDougall, Ian; Walker, Alan (17 August 1995). "New four-million-year-old hominid species from Kanapoi and Allia Bay, Kenya". Nature. 376 (6541): 565–571. Bibcode:1995Natur.376..565L. doi:10.1038/376565a0. PMID 7637803. S2CID 4340999.

[Leakey_et_al.,_1998-6] Leakey, Meave G.; Feibel, Craig S.; MacDougall, Ian; Ward, Carol; Walker, Alan (7 May 1998). "New specimens and confirmation of an early age for Australopithecus anamensis". Nature. 393 (6680): 62–66. Bibcode:1998Natur.393...62L. doi:10.1038/29972. PMID 9590689. S2CID 4398072.

[WhiteEtal2006nature04629-7] White, Tim D.; WoldeGabriel, Giday; Asfaw, Berhane; Ambrose, Stan; Beyene, Yonas; Bernor, Raymond L.; Boisserie, Jean-Renaud; Currie, Brian; Gilbert, Henry; Haile-Selassie, Yohannes; Hart, William K.; Hlusko, Leslea J.; Howell, F. Clark; Kono, Reiko T.; Lehmann, Thomas; Louchart, Antoine; Lovejoy, C. Owen; Renne, Paul R.; Saegusa, Hauro; Vrba, Elisabeth S.; Wesselman, Hank; Suwa, Gen (13 April 2006). "Asa Issie, Aramis and the origin of Australopithecus". Nature. 440 (7086): 883–9. Bibcode:2006Natur.440..883W. doi:10.1038/nature04629. PMID 16612373. S2CID 4373806.

[:023-8] Ward, Carol; Leakey, Meave; Walker, Alan (1999). "The new hominid species Australopithecus anamensis". Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews. 7 (6): 197–205. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1520-6505(1999)7:6<197::AID-EVAN4>3.0.CO;2-T. ISSN 1520-6505. S2CID 84278748.

[Kimbel-9] Kimbel, William H.; Lockwood, Charles A.; Ward, Carol V.; Leakey, Meave G.; Rake, Yoel; Johanson, Donald C. (2006). "Was Australopithecus anamensis ancestral to A. afarensis? A case of anagenesis in the hominin fossil record". Journal of Human Evolution. 51 (2): 134–152. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.02.003. PMID 16630646.

[Nature573pp214-219-10] Haile-Selassie, Yohannes; Melillo, Stephanie M.; Vazzana, Antonino; Benazzi, Stefano; Ryan, Timothy M. (2019). "A 3.8-million-year-old hominin cranium from Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia". Nature. 573 (7773): 214–219. Bibcode:2019Natur.573..214H. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1513-8. hdl:11585/697577. PMID 31462770. S2CID 201656331.

[Price-11] Price, Michael (2019-08-28). "Stunning ancient skull shakes up human family tree". Science | AAAS. Retrieved 2019-10-29.

[12] "Skull discovery 'a game changer' in understanding of human evolution". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2019-10-29.

[pnas.org-13] Cerling, Thure E.; Manthi, Fredrick Kyalo; Mbua, Emma N.; Leakey, Louise N.; Leakey, Meave G.; Leakey, Richard E.; Brown, Francis H.; Grine, Frederick E.; Hart, John A.; Kalemeg, Prince; Roche, Hélène; Uno, Kevin T.; Wood, Bernard A. (June 25, 2013). "Stable isotope-based diet reconstructions of Turkana Basin hominins". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 110 (26): 10501–10506. Bibcode:2013PNAS..11010501C. doi:10.1073/pnas.1222568110. PMC 3696807. PMID 23733966.

[TC-20190904-14] Hanegraef, Hester (4 September 2019). "How the skull of humanity's oldest known ancestor is changing our understanding of evolution". The Conversation. Retrieved 8 September 2019.

[15] Du, Andrew; Rowan, John; Wang, Steve C.; Wood, Bernard A.; Alemseged, Zeresenay (2020-01-01). "Statistical estimates of hominin origination and extinction dates: A case study examining the Australopithecus anamensis–afarensis lineage". Journal of Human Evolution. 138: 102688. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102688. ISSN 0047-2484. PMID 31759257.

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