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I went to the Sterkfontein Caves [1] [2] recently and the most poignant thing for me was the diminutive size of Australopithecus. While larger huminoid species

I went to the Sterkfontein Caves [1] [2] recently and the most poignant thing for me was the diminutive size of Australopithecus. While larger huminoid species [3] were evolving, our direct (well, disregarding cross breeding) ancestors were tiny. Australopithecus is about the size of a 5 or 6 year old. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterkfontein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterkfontein [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradle_of_Humankind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradle_of_Humankind [3] That would be the precursors to Neanderthals and Denisovians. Edit: The males were somewhat larger. Modern humans do not display the same degree of sexual dimorphism as Australopithecus appears to have. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australopithecus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australopithecus

Pigo 7y ago
One thing I've always wondered about these early hominins is whether there was a large enough variety in any of them that we find different races within a species. Maybe that is a dumb question, or just complex to answer. I've just always wondered because some homo sapiens look wildly different from each other. I know it's because we've spread out so much, and had a long time to do so. But I read things about the denisovans being here or there for a very long span of time. It's hard to imagine that they didn't at least have occasional mutations that lead to interesting features.
seszett 7y ago
We have the same Australopithecus ancestors as Neanderthals and Denisovans though. The sapiens/neanderthal split is much more recent than that, "only" a few hundred thousand years, while Australopithecus became extinct two million years ago.
- mikorym 7y ago
  I think you are right, yes. I asked the guide (a professor) about this at the time. When specifically asked about Australopithecus and its small size, and about the contemporary hominids at the time, the remark was along the lines of: "The other contemporary hominids were much larger, but died out." But you are right that these would then be a split prior to Neanderthals and Denisovians. Looking at Wikipedia's available articles, I guess the hominids that he was talking about don't necessarily have clear names and branches. I am not sure what those hominids would have been.

Pigo 7y ago

One thing I've always wondered about these early hominins is whether there was a large enough variety in any of them that we find different races within a species. Maybe that is a dumb question, or just complex to answer. I've just always wondered because some homo sapiens look wildly different from each other. I know it's because we've spread out so much, and had a long time to do so. But I read things about the denisovans being here or there for a very long span of time. It's hard to imagine that they didn't at least have occasional mutations that lead to interesting features.

seszett 7y ago

We have the same Australopithecus ancestors as Neanderthals and Denisovans though. The sapiens/neanderthal split is much more recent than that, "only" a few hundred thousand years, while Australopithecus became extinct two million years ago.

mikorym 7y ago
I think you are right, yes. I asked the guide (a professor) about this at the time. When specifically asked about Australopithecus and its small size, and about the contemporary hominids at the time, the remark was along the lines of: "The other contemporary hominids were much larger, but died out." But you are right that these would then be a split prior to Neanderthals and Denisovians. Looking at Wikipedia's available articles, I guess the hominids that he was talking about don't necessarily have clear names and branches. I am not sure what those hominids would have been.