What is the differences between Australopithecus and Homo?

Question

I need help with an anthropology class. Someone please help!

Answer 1

Well australopithecine was just an ape.

The St Louis zoo in Missouri, USA, has a $17.9 million exhibition majoring on evolution, which includes a statue, purportedly a reconstruction of the famous australopithecine part–skeleton 'Lucy', showing remarkably human–looking feet.

Associate professor of anatomy and neurobiology at the nearby Washington University, Dr David Menton.

The usual artistic licence in reconstructing the fleshly features of 'apemen' from bones allows evolutionary bias enormous free rein. However artists do not usually misrepresent the bones. This statue's feet and hands are simply wrong and mislead the public.

Menton cites evolutionary sources which show that creatures in this species had hands and feet which were 'not at all like human hands and feet; rather, they have long curved fingers and toes'—even more so than apes today that live mostly in the trees.

Canadian school teacher David Buckna has weighed in on the debate by posting an Internet challenge to this 'misleading' statue. He says that if people visiting this exhibition were to see an accurate replica of Lucy in the trees, with features typical of tree–dwelling primates, it would make them question the whole notion of human evolution; Lucy would be seen as just some sort of extinct ape.

Dr Menton, who first complained about it in 1989, says, 'I think the zoo owes it to all the people who helped pay for that exhibit to give (Lucy) an honest presentation.'

Bruce Carr, the zoo's director of education, has no plans to alter the exhibit. 'We cannot be updating every exhibit based on every new piece of evidence,' he says. 'What we look at is the overall exhibit and the impression it creates. We think that the overall impression this exhibit creates is correct.' Dr Menton points out that if Lucy's feet were accurately shown, it would be obvious they could never fit into the famous Laetoli fossil footprints. These are 'exhibit A' for evolutionary belief in upright walking by Lucy's kind, whereas in fact they are identical to bare-foot humans.

http://creationontheweb.com/content/view...

They were not bipedal - they were knuckle walkers.

http://creationontheweb.com/content/view...

Answer 2

With Homo floresiensis categorized as Homo, there isn't much difference anymore.   It used to be brain size above 600 cc but now that doesn't even apply.  All the listed behaviors are assumptions and some like fire or cloths almost certainly don't apply to all Homo.

Answer 3

Australopithecines were the first to be bipedal. They share many traits of modern humans and modern apes. They generally have medium/large teeth and are small compared to Homo. One important species was Australopthicus afarensis, you may know it as "Lucy". These Australopithecines evolved into Homo. With this, there were changes such as "Stone tools first appeared, brains expanded, bodies enlarged, sexual dimorphism in body size decreased, limb proportions changed, cheek teeth reduced in size, and crania began to share more unique features with later Homo"

Answer 4

Australopithecus were mostly vegetarian...

Homo first scavenged, then hunted for meat, wore clothes, and controlled fire!

Answer 5

Here's a site where you can find what you need:

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/bein...