CLASSIFICATION
phyllum : chordata
class : mammalia
order : primate
suborder : anthropoids (simian)
family : hominidae
subspecies : Homo sapiens sapiens

NATURAL HISTORY
origin : first primates appear about 60 million years ago ; the split between humans and living apes has occurred 30 or 40 million years ago.

Australopithecus : Australopithecus anamensis existed between 4.2 and 3.9 million years ago and shows evidences of bipedality.

A. afarensis : existed between 3.9 and 3.0 million years ago. Their bones show that they were physically very strong and leave no doubt that they were bipedal.

A. africanus : existed between 3 and 2 million years ago. It is similar to afarensis, and was also bipedal, but body size was slightly greater, and brain size may also have been slightly larger.

Homo habilis : existed between 2.5 and 1.8 million years ago.
H. habilis and all the australopithecines are found only in Africa.
first tools - it was possibly capable of rudimentary speech.

Homo erectus : existed between 1.8 million and 250,000 years ago.
H. erectus was wide-ranging, and has been found in Africa, Asia, and Europe ; probably used fire - stone tools more sophisticated than those of habilis.
Homo erectus skull

Homo sapiens : archaic forms of Homo sapiens first appear about 500,000 years ago.

Homo sapiens neandertalensis : existed between 200,000 and 35,000 years ago. Europe and Middle East. Tools - weapons - buried their dead.
Homo Sapiens neandertalensis skull

Homo Sapiens Sapiens : modern forms of Homo sapiens first appear about 120,000 years ago ; appearance of the Cro-Magnon culture about 80,000 years ago.
artwork - decorated tools - ivory carvings - musical instruments - spectacular cave paintings.
Homo Sapiens Sapiens skull


BIOLOGY
human body contains :
- water : 60%
- organic substances : 39%
- mineral salts : 1%
- blood : 4-5 liters
- between 198 and 214 bones
- muscles represent 40% of the body weight

body temperature : 37.2°C
longevity : 75-80 years
respiratory rhythm : 22 breath/min.
cardiac rhythm : 75 beat/min.
blood PH : 7,4

BEHAVIOR
too complex to be summed up : see the links (ethology, brain, pheromone, paleopsychology...) and the books references.



Liens
human prehistory (lot of images) :
http://www.wsu.edu:8001/vwsu/gened/learn-modules/top_longfor/lfopen-index.html

hominids :
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/species.html

fossils :
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/specimen.html

paleopsychology :
http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/signcon.html

human brain (very good site, a lot of 2D/3D pictures) :
http://www9.biostr.washington.edu/da.html

human ethology:
http://erl.ornithol.mpg.de/~fshuman/EngHomep/Ehplinks.html

Film Archive of Human Ethology :
http://erl.ornithol.mpg.de/~fshuman/EngHomep/eindex.html

Prof. Dr. Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt :
http://erl.ornithol.mpg.de/~fshuman/EngHomep/Ehpeibl.html

pheromone :
http://evolution.humb.univie.ac.at/institutes/urbanethology/pheropro.html

nonverbal communication :
http://evolution.humb.univie.ac.at/institutes/urbanethology/compro.html