Course Unit / Fisrt hominins and the genus Homo

Fisrt hominins and the genus Homo

Year
1
Academic year
2017-2018
Code
02004847
Subject Area
Biology
Language of Instruction
Portuguese
Other Languages of Instruction
English
Mode of Delivery
Face-to-face
Duration
SEMESTRIAL
ECTS Credits
6.0
Type
Elective
Level
2nd Cycle Studies - Mestrado

Recommended Prerequisites

Paleoanthropology.

Teaching Methods

Power point presentations; discussions; analysis of fossil casts; analysis of primate skeletons.

Learning Outcomes

This unit aims to provide the knowledge on the early phases of human evolution, from eraly forms to the emergence of modern humans.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

Humans as primates. The living primates.

Comparative anatomy of the hominoids.

Introduction to human evolution. Hominoids evolution in the Miocene.

Why Africa?

Early hominin fossils . The Miocenne pore human fossils.

 Australopithecus and Paranthropus. Bipedality;

Phylogenetic relations among Homo and the pre existing forms.

Early Homo.  Fisrt stone tools.

First out of Africa.

Dmanisi and Java.

Atapuerca: the fisrt europeans and the tresor from Middle Pleistocene.

 

.Homo heidelbergensis in Europe.

The origin of neandertals.

who were the Neandertlas?.

the question of the 1st burials.

Neandertlas extinction.

Head Lecturer(s)

Eugénia Maria Guedes Pinto Antunes da Cunha

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Mini Tests: 30.0%
Synthesis work: 70.0%

Bibliography

Cunha, E. 2010. Como nos tornamos humanos. Coimbra. Imprensa da Universidade

 

Klein,R. 2009. The human career. Chicago. Chicago University Press.3rd edition

 

Delson, E.;Tatersall, I.;Van Couvering, J. A.; Brooks, A. S. (Editors). 2000. Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and Prehistory. 2nd edition. NY. Garland Publishing, Inc.