The Ardi Species Of The Awash And Gona Region

Introduction

Ardipithecus ramidus or Ardi is a human ancestor or hominin who lived between 4.5 million years ago. The name originated from the Afar language word “Ardi”, meaning ground or floor, and ramid, which means root. The species developed by the radioscopic dating methods (radioactive decay rate of isotopes). It is one of the oldest species that has the most prominent features of hominins. Having the most accurate link to hominin features, Ardi is the best evidence for research about early hominins. The first Ardi fossil was found in Ethiopia near the Awash River in 1994 and dated back to 4.4 million years ago. The fossils discovered had complete cranial and dental structures, and the obligate structure shows that the species had developed the property of walking upright. It has been found that Ardi has an anatomical relation to the first human species. This essay will discuss the anatomy of this species, the environment she lived in, the social behaviour and potential interactions with other species.

Discussion

This time, I decided to travel back 4.3 million years to the city of Gona in Ethiopia to discover the Middle Awash Region and my early human ancestors who lived there. I sat in my time machine and travelled 4.3 years back. As I stepped out of my time machine, I saw a chimpanzee-like creature that was about 4 feet tall but weighed about 50 kilos. The creature that was later named Ardi by the researchers had long arms, huge hands, and chimpanzee-like feet. The creature was standing upright like modern humans and had a developed skull and teeth with main frontal incisors. Like most chimpanzees, Ardi had a projected face and a shorter neck. The teeth of Ardi were developed like chimpanzees and humans with relatively shorter incisors but longer molars. The limbs of Ardi were developed, as well as a shoulder bone and bicep muscle. The body posture was not curved like that of apes and was mostly upright, suggesting that the species had an upright backbone.

During my visit, I discovered that there are two possible environmental belongings. The species was found living in the grassy habitat of Middle Awash, close to the Awash River. This environment was a relatively open and grassy meadow. The species was also found in the Gona region, which was mostly closed woodland. Based on the fossil discovery of the 1990s, it is safe to say that the habitat of this species was closed woodlands rather than a vast grassland. This discovery bridges the gap in our research about the time when we moved to live in green lands and left forest life.

I found Ardi’s diet mixed with modern-day omnivores. The species survived on plants, fruits, and vegetables. The dental structure of Ardi suggests that they were not able to eat hard foods like nuts and seeds. The diet suggests that the species had not developed a sense of using tools or tools for hunting. This suggests that the diet did not include meat of other species.

The Ardi social behaviour describes how the species developed behaviour. They learned to live in a civilized manner with no male-male dominance, and they did not fight for dominance or food. The reason given in future research bases their argument on the fact that Ardi’s frontal incisors were not long and sharp, which suggests that they were not used to show aggressive or defensive behaviour, which means that there was no more fighting over females or food. They learned to live in groups and families and learned the concept of society.

I have seen most males collecting food and bringing them to their homes. As I was sitting behind a rock, I saw a male chased by a group of baboons. The male probably had entered the baboon territory and collected the fruits. This angered the baboons, and they reacted to it and chased him away. The male climbed into his house above a tree in the woods and offered his fruits to his female. I observed that their females appreciated the males who brought more food home, and these males received more sexual benefits. This gave me an answer to why humans learned to walk on two feet, as it enabled us to carry more food.

The Ardi lived with other animals in peace, and they did not interfere with other animals. There were birds, monkeys, and antelopes that lived in the forest, but Ardi, being a fruit and plant-eater, did not have any urge to kill other animals for meat. They were not seen as having developed cultural attributes, but they had a sense of using the tools like chimpanzees. They used simple tools like branches and sticks to acquire food from trees and average stones to use more hard fruits. However, there is no evidence that they learned to hunt or eat the meat of other animals.

Conclusion

In short, the Ardi species of the Awash and Gona region was developed enough to understand the need for food and the use of tools to acquire food. They were civilized to the limit that they lived in families; however, they did not have a developed social circle. Observing their environment, we learned that human life initially started in woodlands, and then we moved to live in green lands. The research on Ardi bridges the gap in history on when and why we learned to walk on two legs. It provides us insight into how needs change the behaviour of humans and how we adapt to live with different lifestyles.

References

Magill, C. R., Ashley, G. M., Domínguez-Rodrigo, M., & Freeman, K. H. (2016). Dietary options and behavior suggested by plant biomarker evidence in an early human habitat. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(11), 2874-2879.

Maurin, T., Bertran, P., Delagnes, A., & Boisserie, J. R. (2017). Early hominin landscape use in the Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia: Insights from the taphonomical analysis of Oldowan occurrences in the Shungura Formation (Member F). Journal of Human Evolution, 111, 33-53.

Squyres, N., & Ruff, C. B. (2015). Body mass estimation from knee breadth, with application to early hominins. American journal of physical anthropology, 158(2), 198-208.