ANT 131 Exam 2 (study guide 2)
Homo habilis
(2.4-1.7 m.y.a.) "Handy Man"; thought by many to be the first toolmaker; discovered by Lewis and Mary Leakey; first member of the genus Homo
Zhoukoudian
(700,00-500,000 yrs ago) China cave site, very cold, where FIRE PITS found, prob. homo erectus lived there
Paranthropus robustus
(From book: 1.5-2.0 Mya. Paranthropus is synonymous with "The robust australopithecines" (as opposed to the gracile australopithecines). Called this because had robust jaws and massive jaw muscles, sometimes ANCHORED to a bony crest running along the centerline on the top of the skull-->SAGGITAL CREST.
Anthropoidea
(Suborder) greater reliance on sight (over sound and smell), larger brains, greater flexibility of locomotion, split into New World Monkeys and Old World Primates
Art water Convention
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Compare and contrast the temporal and geographical distribution of the genus Australopithecus to illustrate how these species inform our understanding of anatomy, ecology, and hominin origins.
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Describe the morphological changes associated with obligate bipedality. Discuss where and when these changes first appear in the fossil record, as well as the environment within which such morphological adaptations occurred.
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Describe the range of primate residence patterns, and use a specific primate to illustrate each. Relate these social grouping to food and reproduction.
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Discuss the anatomical, physiological, and cultural changes associated with the emergence of Homo erectus. How does Richard Wrangham's "Cooking Hypothesis" propose to explain these changes? What fossil and archaeological evidence supports his hypothesis? Use examples from lecture, section, or your readings to support your argument.
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Sociality is a relatively uncommon feature in nature. Discuss two hypotheses that have been proposed to explain primate sociality. Using examples, discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages of living in social groups.
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The Middle Pleistocene (780 - 120 kya) has often been referred to as the "muddle in the middle," due to the array of hominins in Africa, Asia, and Europe at the time. Discuss these hominins and what is known about Middle Pleistocene culture, including information about technology, settlement, and subsistence.
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Using evidence from well-known sites such as Shanidar in Iraq and Krapina in Croatia, describe the life of Neanderthals living in Europe and western Asia during the last "Ice Age."
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What is Sexual Selection? How does this theory help us understand the relationship between anatomy and behavior? Use examples of specific primates to illustrate.
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What is mosaic evolution and why is it an important consideration when studying human evolution? Using examples from the fossil and archaeological record, describe patterns of mosaic evolution in relation to bipedality, encephalization, dental morphology, and material culture.
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Wrangham argues that cooking freed hominids from the constraints of chewing. In addition, fire extended the day and the created new opportunities for the use of space. Compare and contrast these differences to those limitations experienced by chimpanzees and, presumably, earlier hominin ancestors.
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Australopithecus afarensis
1. Physical characteristics: low forehead, long arms short legs, knee- PELVIC bone structure-UPRIGHT postur "lucy"
Pleistocene
1.7 mya-10,000 ky marked by success of cold glacies interrupted by warm periods (interglacials)
Dmanisi
1.8mya; republic of georgia; several individuals and associated assemblage of oldowan stone tools; crania similar to h. erectus (long, low braincase, wide base, sagittal keel) but less robust - thinner brow ridge, projecting lower face, and relatively large upper canine; 600cc brain size
Paranthropus aethiopicus
2.6-2.5mya australopith from (East Africa) Kenya and Ethiopia, 410cc, small incisors, small canines, reduced prognathism, very present sagittal crest, well developed nuchal crest, well developed flaring zygomatics, dished face, and jaw like A. afarensis and teeth and robust features like P. robustus.
Miocene
23 mya - 5.3 mya: Continued radiation of mammals and angiosperms; apelike ancestors of humans appear.
Australopithecus anamensis
4.2 to 3.9 mya in Ethiopia/Kenya; bipedalism (tibia and parallel ankle joint evidence), small canines
Schöningen
400,000 years ago. Remains of extinct forms of elephant directly associated with the tools used to kill them. Points of spears hardened in fire. Very good evidence that these people were very capable of killing large game. Germany.
Pliocene
5 mya, dry and cool global climate, start of ice ages, Savannah grassland Africa, formation of arctic caps, abrupt shift in O2 isotope; glacial period ending; current land configuration, all bridges closed so no faunal exchange, beginnings of Homo
Sahelanthropus tchadensis
6-7 MYA Found in West Africa, Chad, small cranial capacity, large brow, small teeth, bipedal skull, one of the oldest human ancestors
Occipital Bun
A bun-shaped feature at the back of the skull. Features prominently in Neanderthals.
Contest Competition
A mechanism for resolving intraspecific competition by using social or chemical interactions to limit access of some individuals to important limited resources, such as food, mates, or territories.
Predation Model
A model that gives an explanation of why primates form groups based on the hypothesis that a group of individuals can protect themselves better or even ward off attacks from predators better than an individual animal could.
Mosaic Evolution
A pattern of evolution in which the rate of evolution in one functional system varies from that in other systems. For example, in hominin evolution, the dental system, locomotor system, and neurological system (especially the brain) all evolved at markedly different rates.
Anagenesis
A pattern of evolutionary change involving the transformation of an entire population, sometimes to a state different enough from the ancestral population to justify renaming it as a separate species; also called phyletic evolution.
Cladogenesis
A pattern of evolutionary change that produces biological diversity by budding one or more new species from a parent species that continues to exist; also called branching evolution.
Estrus
A period during the reproductive cycle of most mammals (and most primates) when the female is receptive to mating and is capable of conceiving.
Nuchal torus
A projection of bone in the back of the cranium where neck muscles attach. These muscles hold up the head.
Social Monogamy
A relationship between two people who live together, are each other's exclusive sexual partners, and cooperate in acquiring basic needs such as food, clothes, and shelter
Sagittal Crest
A ridge of bone that runs down the middle of the cranium like a short Mohawk. This serves as the attachment for the large temporal muscles, indicating strong chewing.
Sima de Los Huesos
A site in Spain that produced 32 individuals of all sex and ages. The cave is highly concentrated in skeletal remains which makes excavation slow. Preservation allowed us to visualize traits of the H. heidelbergensis, or archaic H. sapiens. "pit of bones"
Hominin
A species on the human branch of the evolutionary tree. Hominins include Homo sapiens and our ancestors, a group of extinct species that are more closely related to us than to chimpanzees.
Prosimians
A suborder of primates, the premonkeys, that probably resemble early arboreal primates, Small, nocturnal primates with large eyes adapted to seeing in the dark. -lemurs, lorises, tarsier
Polyandry
A woman is permitted to marry more than one man at a time
Orrorin tugenensis
An early, primitive hominin species from Africa, dating to the last Miocene (6 Ma). Kenya. Strong evidence for bipedalism. Arms indicate they spent time in trees. Femur indicates bipedal gait.
Life Effort Model
An individual's life effort is based on its reproductive effort. Females have a lower reproductive potential and fitness is limited by access to resources. Females invest more time and energy in offspring, beginning with conception.
Haplorhines
Another one of the most basic primate groups, also called ' the dry nosed primates.' much larger than the strepsirrhines. Have brains realitive to their body size. Likely diurnal. Includes tarsiers, New World monkeys, Old World monkeys, and apes (including humans)
Ngandong
Archeological site in Java where Homo erectus fossil remains were found that dated to just 27,000 ya
Kebara
Bladelets and bone tools made up the tool technology of this era, as well as small camps composed of mobile hunter-gatherers, no domestication
Vindija
Bones with cut marks and fractures showing cannibalism, skull fragment of serious wound that healed, showing Neanderthals cared for each other
Primate Cultural Behavior
Chimps are taught what is edible and how to acquire it. Female chimps from different groups may bring aspects of her mother's groups culture to the new group. This requires assessing a situation and selecting a good tool.
Grooming
Cleaning and caring for the body.
Cooking Hypothesis
Cooking produces a high-quality diet, it allows us to get more enrgy from our food; Homo erectus couldn't have subsisted on raw food alone, would have had to cook food
Sexual Dimorphism
Differences in physical characteristics between males and females of the same species. For example, humans are slightly dimorphic for body size, with males being taller, on average, than females of the same population.
Taung
Discovered in 1924; A. africanus; the endocast is in the back, with the fossilized bone mandible and face in front; Endocast: solid impression of the inside of the skull.
Krapina
Dragutin Gorjanovic-Kramberger discovered numerous bones of Neanderthals (Croatia). Homo krapiniensis. Found chipped stone tools, some animal bones and a single human molar. The bones became famous, not only because of the number, quality and age of the bones. Traces on the bones were interpreted as remains of cannibalism. even suggest some medical knowledge
Maillard Compounds
Each type of food has a very distinctive set of flavor compounds that are formed during the Maillard reaction. It is these same compounds flavor scientists have used over the years to make reaction flavors.
Hominidea
Family which Humans belong to. (Includes great apes)
Female Mating Strategies
Female chimps will confuse the paternity of their offspring by promiscuous mating. Choosy females have limited resources and a great amount of parental investment.
Australopithecus sediba
Five complete skeletons (!!) Date 1.97 MYBP (U/th). Bipedal but very long arms, Small body size, sexually dimorphic in body size.
Fission-Fusion Sociality
Fluid subroups within a stable social network composed of related males and immigrant females. Small parties are components of a larger social network that seldom if ever assembles in 1 spot. Chimpanzees and bonobos practice this form of sociality.
Paranthropus boisei
Found in East Africa 2.2-1.3 mya, East African Man, largest brain size so far (525cc), hyper robust, large flat face, sagittal crest with tiny incissors, large molars, and also had the thickest enamel so far (hinting at a diet of seeds, tubers, bulbs, and roots).
Australopithecus africanus
Found in south Africa and dated from 3-2.2 mya. Includes the Taung Child. Includes primitive features like a small brain but derived features like bipedalism, small canines, and large molars. Children developed rapidly like chimps.
Diastema
Gap between incisors and canines to allow for space for the large canines.
Bodo
H. erectus fossilized cranium that has cranial features different than other specimens with low brow ridges and thick cranial bones.
Acheulian Tool Tradition
Hand axe tools, associated with H. erectus, more refined than chopper-chopping tool tradition.
Atapuerca
Human remains found in caves, 900,000 years ago, Spain, Discovered possible intentional burial, earlier than neanderthals
Richard Wrangham
Humans are ties to our adapted diet of cooked food, and the results pervade our lives, from our bodies to our minds, we are the cooking apes. The creatures of the flame.
Obligate Bipedality
Is the main adaption that sets hominids apart from the apes. In humans, bipedality is the only type of locomotion possible
Laetoli Footprints
Laetoli is a site in Tanzania, dated to the Plio-Pleistocene and famous for its hominin footprints, preserved in volcanic ash (Site G). The site of the Laetoli footprints is located 45 km south of Olduvai gorge. The location was excavated by archaeologist Mary Leakey in 1978.
Reproductive Asymmetry
Males have high reproduction potential. limiting factor for males is the availability of females.
Neandertals
Many people argue that this hominin should be included in same species as homo sapiens. Characteristics included robust bodies with large muscles, large noses, occipital bun. Lived in Europe. Possible religious tradition called Cave Bear Cult. No longer around because homo sapiens were more fit.
Married Cook
Married women in hunter-gatherer societies must provide food to their husbands, and they must cook it themselves
Relative Dating
Method of determining the age of a fossil by comparing its placement with that of fossils in other layers of rock
Gesher Benot Ya'aqov
Most recent evidence of fire use from this site invIsrael at 790-690,000 years. These are clusters of burned stone artifacts in what are considered to be hearths.
Labial Wear
Neanderthals used their teeth as tools, wearing down the enamel of the teeth
Ceboidea
New World Monkeys (Platyrrhines) found in Central and South America that includes Squirrel monkeys and howler monkeys. They have a flat noses with outward facing nostrils and a prehensile (grasping) tail. 3 premolars. Chiefly arboreal. (Four more premolar teeth than old world anthropoids)
Derived Traits
Newly evolved features, such as feathers, that do not appear in the fossils of common ancestors
Cercopithecoidea
Old world monkeys; catarrhines; oligocene to present; arboreal and terrestrial; have a dental formula of 2:1:2:3. Includes baboons, macaques, colobus monkeys, langurs
Kabwe
One of best known premodern fossils. complete cranium. mixture of older and recent traits. robust brow ridge but larger(modern) brain case.
Interglacial
Period of glacial retreat; temps are warmer, ice sheets are smaller, and sea level is higher
Social Brain Hypothesis
Primate brains increase in relative size and complexity because they live in social groups; these complex social interactions require a large brain to manage
Prognathism
Projection of the jaw or jaws that may cause problems with mouth closure alignment of the teeth.
Dominance Hierarchy
Ranking of individuals in a group based on aggressive behavior.
Sexual Coercion
Receiving or performing sexual acts involving another individual without that individual's consent, knowledge, or explicit awareness of the act
Teshik-Tash
Site in Uzbekistan where the child Neanderthal of about 9 years of age was buried with mountain goat horns surrounding him, pointed ends driven into the ground, he also had a limestone block under his head to rest on
Gran Dolina
Spain - Homo erectus in Europe - 800,000 years ago - Human fossils, stone tools, and animal remains - Cut marks and intentional breaking of animal and hominid bones, canabalism
Paleospecies
Species identified from fossil remains based on their physical similarities and differences relative to other species
Chronometric Dating
Techniques that estimate the age of an object in absolute terms through the use of a natural clock such as radioactive decay or tree ring growth
Supraorbital sulcus
The depression above the eyes and behind the massive browridges present in Homo erectus.
Stratigraphy
The natural layering of cultural deposits and natural soil layers that build up on a site over a long period of time. These soil layers will often be different in color and texture from each other. The most recent artifacts and features are found closer to the surface, and the oldest deposits are at the bottom.
Behavioral Ecology
The scientific study of animal behavior, including how it is controlled and how it develops, evolves, and contributes to survival and or reproductive success.
Neandertal Culture
The use of fire was essential to their survival in cold climates
Sagittal Keeling
Thickening of material at top of skull
Ancestral Traits
Traits that are kept and seen in common ancestor like teeth, shows proof of helpful traits are kept
Scramble Competition
Where two species indirectly compete for a resource (like bugs eating our crops) or A free-for-all scramble for limited resources among individuals of the same species
Chewing Complex
While humans have nonhoning chewing, primates such as gorillas have a honing complex, in which their large canines cut food. Upper canines are sharpened against the lower third premolar.
Catching Fire
Wrangham "The transformative movement that gave rise to the genus, Homo, stemmed from the control of fire and the advent of cooked meat"
Homo heidelbergensis
about 500,000 BP. brain size was 1400 cc. made a simple language. fire! expressed themselves with art. created shelter. imagination! adaptations gave them more leisure. led to more art, the beginning of music, and the beginning of modern language. human like voice. leave dead behind.
Hominoidea
absence of tail, large body size, complex brain and behavior, extended period of infant development and dependency, extensive locomotion. 2:1:2:3 dental
Sexual Division of Labor
allocation of work on the basis of sex
Lucy
an Australopithecus afarensis
Sangiran
asia (java); 1.6 mya; first discovery of H. erectus from anywhere; shows dispersal out of Africa into southeast Asia by 1.6 mya
Moula-Guercy
cave site (120,000-100,000 ya); 78 broken skeletal fragments from 6 individuals; bones were processed, defleshed, and disarticulated
Wonderwerk Cave
controlled use of fire as early as 1 my
Giessen Raw Food Study
designed to investigate the effect of diets in which 70-100% of all food is consumed as raw foods on several variables of nutritional status
Nariokotome boy
discovered by Richard Leakey; most complete Homo erectus ever found; age ~12; would have been 6 ft. tall; found in Lake Turkana, Kenya; we know its age because of its immature dentition
Sima del Elefante
europe (spain); 1.2 mya; oldest evidence of hominins in western europe; possible not H. erectus
Molarization
evolutionary trend in the hoofed mammals (ungulates) during which the premolars become more molarlike
Expensive Tissue Hypothesis
for the brain to increase, metabolic energy must be taken from another part of the body.. in humans the gut got smaller because the diet became less demanding because of COOKING. Broke down tissues so that less energy was needed for metabolic processes.
Facial Prognathism
forward thrust of the jaw in relation to the rest of the skull
Retromolar Space
gap behind last molars in the mouth of neanderthals
Polygyny
having more than one wife at a time
Male Mating Strategies
intrasexual selection can lead to alternative male mating strategy
Resource Defense Model
larger groups generally are more successful in competition over resources than small groups. Rich habitats occupied first by better competitors
Glacial
like a glacier; of an ice age; extremely cold; Ex. glacial epoch; CF. iceberg
La Chapelle
possible neanderthal burial evidence 40,000 years ago in France; "The Old Man" = implies elderly must have been cared for since at time of death he barely could have sustained himself (severe arthritis)
Sexual Selection Theory
primary constraints on maximizing reproductive success for males is access to females, and for females it is acquiring resources for herself and offspring. thus, males can be expected to employ a strategy aimed at maximizing their access to as many females as possible, and females will be attracted to males who can demonstrate their ability to provide resources. Superior to exchange theory.
Shanidar
produced ten skeletons of Neanderthals of varying ages The remains seemed tosuggest that Neandertals had funeral ceremonies, burying their dead with flowers (although the flowers are now thought to be a modern contaminant), and that they took care of injured individuals.
Tabun
short for mugharet-et-tabun meaning cave of the oven is located at MT. Carmel. excivated in early 1930's found female skeleton dated with thermonuclecince to 120,000- 110,000 ya. if dating correct means Neanderthals were contemporary wiith early modern H sapains.
Homo erectur
the first early human to harness fire and migrate to the rest of the continents
Oldowan Tool Tradition
the first stone tool industry, beginning between 2.5 and 2.6 mya at the start of the lower paleolithic
Infanticide
the killing of an infant or child
Philopatry
the tendency of some organisms to remain in the same area throughout their lives
Supraorbital torus
thickened ridge of bone above the eye orbits of the skull; a browridge.
Strepsirhines
wet external noses, unfused mandible, claws at least one finger, smaller brain than other primates, noctural, simple social system, molars high pointy cusps. Includes lemurs and lorise.
Ardipithecus
"Ardi" 4+ million years old; small skull; walked upright but could not run; had long arms and splayed toes; lived in a forested habitat
Dikikae
"Lucy's baby" An australopithecus, 3 year old child. Well preserved hyoid bone, indicates that Australopithecenes at vocal capabilities similar to those of apes.
Dali
"the untouchables" Had to do lowest tasks like cleaning the streets, etc. So ritually impure that standing in one's shadow was considered impure. lowest level on cast