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Dr Susannah ThorpeDr Jeremy Pritchard
Am I an Ape?
Christmas lecture
10s of years
100s of years
1000s of years
1,000,000s of years ago
MYA
Human Chimp Gorilla Orangutan Monkey
Human Chimp
Human
Australopithecus afarensisLucy, 3 mya1st to walk bipedally
Human
Homo habilis2 mya1st to use stone tools
Australopithecus afarensisLucy, 3 mya1st to walk bipedally
Human
Homo erectus1 mya1st to make fire & hunt
Homo habilis2 mya1st to use stone tools
Australopithecus afarensisLucy, 3 mya1st to walk bipedally
Dr Susannah ThorpeDr Jeremy Pritchard
Am I an Ape?…….Brains
Christmas lecture
Human Chimp
H. erectus
H. habilis
A. afarensis
Monkey ancestor
Human Chimp
H. erectus
H. habilis
A. afarensis
Monkey ancestor
Graph…………….
Dr Susannah ThorpeDr Jeremy Pritchard
Am I an Ape?…locomotion
Christmas lecture
Swinging by its arms
Running on its legs
We can work out how extinct species moved by studying their humero-femoral index:
length of humerus vs. length of femur
Fe
mu
rH
um
eru
s
Humero-femoral index: 70
Measuring your humero-femoral index
<80 80-99
100 101-120
Dr Susannah ThorpeDr Jeremy Pritchard
Am I an Ape?…bipedalism
Christmas lecture
Body shape Greasy skin Lots of sweat glands Less body hair Body fat Crying salt tears Human babies can swim
Lockable knees
pelvic tilt & valgus angle
Chimp and human bipedalism
Dr Susannah ThorpeDr Jeremy Pritchard
Am I an Ape?…footprints
Christmas lecture
Summary
Our relationships to other animals follow the same structure as our relationships to human relatives
Humans brains are big, but then so are the other apes
We are the only primate to walk bipedally, but actually there are many similarities to the gait of other apes
Dr Susannah ThorpeDr Jeremy Pritchard
I am an Ape!
Christmas lecture
