PA - Final Study Set*
How do scientists determine the age of fossils?
*Compare fossils found at various layers. *Absolute dating *Radioactive dating
On what continent did humans and human ancestors first evolve?
Africa
Levallois
A distinctive method of stone tool production used during the Middle Paleolithic, in which the core was prepared and flakes removed from the surface before the final tool was detached from the core.
How old do scientists think Selam was before she died?
3 years old.
Megafauna
General term for the large game animals hunted by pre-Holocene and early Holocene humans
Ardipithecus ramidus males have short and blunt canines.
true
bipedalism theory models:
1)Postural Feeding Hypothesis 2)Provisioning Model 3)Thermoregulatory Model (heat based) 4)Carrying Models 5)Wading Hypothesis 6)Turn-Over Pulse Hypothesis 7)bipedal threat displays 8)vigilance against predators 9)fashion escalated through sexual selection 10)male phallic display
The genus Australopithecine includes hominids that lived about
4-1 mya.
Iron deficiency anemia
A condition in which the blood has insufficient iron; may be caused by diet, poor iron absorption, parasitic infection, and severe blood loss.
Microcephaly
A condition in which the cranium is abnormally small and the brain is underdeveloped.
Occipital bun
A cranial feature of Neandertals in which the occipital bone projects substantially from the skull's posterior.
Dental caries
A disease process that creates demineralized areas in dental tissues, leading to cavities; demineralization is caused by acids produced by bacteria that metabolize carbohydrates in dental plaque.
Australopithecus africanus
A gracile australopithecine from South Africa that was contemporaneous with A. aethiopicus, A. garhi, and A. boisei and was likely ancestral to A. robustus.
Australopithecus garhi
A late australopithecine from East Africa that was contemporaneous with A. africanus and A. aethiopicus and was the likely ancestor to the Homo lineage.
Australopithecus sediba
A late species of australopithecine from South Africa that may have descended from A. africanus, was a contemporary of A. robustus, and expresses anatomical features found in Australopithecus and in Homo.
Ardipithecus ramidus
A later preaustralopithecine species from the late Miocene to the early Pliocene; shows evidence of both bipedalism and arboreal activity but no indication of the primitive perihoning complex.
Orrorin tugenensis
A preaustralopithecine species found in East Africa that displayed some of the earliest evidence of bipedalism.
Australopithecus robustus
A robust australopithecine from South Africa that may have descended from A. afarensis, was contemporaneous with A. boisei, and had the robust cranial traits of large teeth, large face, and heavy muscle attachments.
Robust australopithecine species include
A. aethiopicus.
What species are Selam and Lucy?
A. afarensis
______________ arose around 3.5 mya and gave rise to at least two branches of hominids: later australopithecines and the genus Homo.
A. afarensis
The best-known australopithecine, represented by hundreds of fossils and dozens of individuals found mostly at Laetoli and Hadar, is
A. afarensis.
The oldest australopithecine species is
A. anamensis
The Oldowan tool complex is attributed to __________________, making that hominid species the first to use tools.
A. garhi
What percentage of our ancestors leaving Africa populated Australia?
About 10% of our ancestors which left Africa populated Australia.
Australopithecus (or Kenyanthropus) platyops
An australopithecine from East Africa that had a unique flat face and was contemporaneous with A. afarensis.
Australopithecus afarensis
An early australopithecine from East Africa that had a brain size equivalent to a modern chimpanzee's and is thought to be a direct human ancestor.
Ardipithecus kadabba
An early preaustralopithecine species from the late Miocene to the early Pliocene; shows evidence of a perihoning complex, a primitive trait intermediate between apes and modern humans.
Australopithecus aethiopicus
An early robust australopithecine from East Africa, with the hallmark physical traits of large teeth, large face, and massive muscle attachments on the cranium.
What is important about Homo habilis?
Meat becomes an important part of the diet for our acesyos, the homo habilis around 2.5 MYA. They make stone tools used to cut bones and get to marrow. Homo habilis also is the first of our ancestors to have an expanded brain size (almost 2X bigger). This species also looks a lot more human.
Did Australopithecus have tools?
Australopithecus did not make tools. Stone tools have been found, and were probably made around 2 million years ago by homo habilis.
Eoanthropus dawsoni
Believed to be the first remains of a hitherto unknown form of early man before it was revealed to be a hoax.
How can scientists tell whether Toumai is a biped or not?
Bipedalism can be determined by how the skull connects to the spine. Toumai has the receding back skull of a biped.
Which trait evolved first: bipedalism or large brain size?
Bipedalism evolved before an enlarged brain size.
How can scientists determine the way an organism moved by looking at its bones?
By seeing where it's joints are, such as the pelvis and the knee caps.
Ameloblasts
Cells that make tooth enamel.
How do the Chukchi maintain their body heat? What is the Chukchi life support system? How do these animals survive in the tundra?
Chukchi maintain their body heat by being very active and eating and drinking all the time. The Chukchi life support system is reindeer. These animals survive in the tundra by eating lichen.
Shovel-shaped incisors
Dental trait, commonly found among Native Americans and Asians, in which the incisors' posterior aspect has varying degrees of concavity.
Homo floresiensis
Nicknamed ''Hobbit'' for its diminutive size, a possible new species of Homo found in Liang Bua Cave, on the Indonesian island of Flores.
Clovis
Earliest Native American (''Paleoindian'') culture of North America; technology known for large, fluted, bifacial stone projectile points used as spear points for big game hunting.
Folsom
Early Native American (immediately following Clovis) culture of North America; technology known for large, fluted, bifacial projectile points used as spear points for big game hunting.
How well did the bipedal hominids with small brains survive?
For over 4 million years, bipeds still had chimp sized brains. Many different species were extremely successful. They flourished for about 25X longer than we've been around. Wild climate change killed off many species who were unable to adapt to the rapidly changing climate.
Australopithecus boisei
Formerly known as Zinjanthropus boisei; a later robust australopithecine from East Africa that was contemporaneous with A. robustus and A. africanus and had the robust cranial traits, including large teeth, large face, and heavy muscle attachments.
From the Middle East, where did the first branch travel to? Where did the second wave travel to?
From the Middle East, the first branch traveled to India. The second wave traveled to China.
These footprints found in the ash at Laetoli show that hominids had which of the following characteristics of bipedalism:
Nondivergent big toes Double arches Rounded heels
What is Wells looking for in India?
In India, Wells is looking for markers that would prove that the Aborigines would have passed through there from Africa on their way to Australia.
Heme iron
Iron -- found in red meat, fish, and poultry -- that the body absorbs efficiently.
This picture shows the skeleton of the most famous A. afarensis individual, nicknamed
Lucy.
Lucy
One of the most significant fossils: the 40% complete skeleton of an adult female A. afarensis, found in East Africa.
What didn't the hominids at Dekelter's Cave in S. Africa have that our ancestors did?
Our ancestors had bone tools, which the hominids at Dekelter's Cave didn't have.
When were our ancestors migrating into Europe?
Our ancestors migrated into Europe around 35,000 years ago.
What else, following Wells, did our ancestors use to give them a technological advantage over other hominids?
Our ancestors used arrow tips made of bone, "Smart missiles", the bone tips were finer and sharper than rock arrows. * Advanced language also allowed our ancestors to arrange plans with one another, like hunting, so language also gave them a technological advantage.
The _____________ fossil, mistakenly thought of as the missing link between humans and apes, had a large cranial capacity but ape-like dentition.
Piltdown
Cribra orbitalia
Porosity in the eye orbits due to anemia caused by an iron-deficient diet, parasitic infection, or genetic disease.
What is a hominid?
Refers to all great apes as well as to the human line.
Upper Paleolithic
Refers to the most recent part of the Old Stone Age, associated with early modern Homo sapiens and characterized by finely crafted stone and other types of tools with various functions.
Kamoya Kimeu, a Kenyan whose Hominid Gang has found numerous fossil remains, worked primarily with
Richard Leakey.
How can scientists determine what the climate was like millions of years ago?
Rock layers show environmental change. Shells (diatoms) in the rock layers show scientists that there are layers of water over chucks of time. In the ocean, deep sea sediment is also an indicator of climate change.
The oldest pre-australopithecine, or a fossil link between late Miocene apes and australopithecines, found to date is
Sahelanthropus tchadensis.
A. sediba indicates that the genus Homo may have its roots in
South Africa
Where did Wells find the Central Asian marker?
The Central Asian marker was found by Wells in Kazakhstan. The Central Asian marker is in people in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
What was found at Lake Mungo, Southern Australia? What has covered up the migration route to Australia from Africa?
There have been various artifacts found at Lake Mungo, including stone tools, used for scraping and remnants of fireplaces, as well as remains dating back as far as 40-45 K YA. The migration route (6K miles of ocean) from Africa to Australia (through India) would have been a bridge, a land mass between continents caused by the receded sea during an Ice Age. 150 miles of ocean would have had to have been crossed as well.
Homo habilis
The earliest Homo species, a possible descendant of A. garhi and an ancestor to H. erectus; showed the first substantial increase in brain size and was the first species definitively associated with the production and use of stone tools.
Paleoindians
The earliest hominid inhabitants of the Americas; they likely migrated from Asia and are associated with the Clovis and Folsom stone tool cultures in North America and comparable tools in South America.
Sahelanthropus tchadensis
The earliest pre-australopithecine species found in central Africa with possible evidence of bipedalism.
When did the first Americans arrive?
The first Americans (only 10-20 people) (Chukchi --> Navajo) arrive roughly 13,000 YA trough the landmass Beringia through Alaska to North America ("the last continent").
What are the first European humans called?
The first European humans were called the Cro-Magnon.
What was the first stop of our ancestor's second migration out of Africa?
The first stop of our ancestor's second migration out of Africa was to the Middle East.
Masticatory-functional hypothesis
The hypothesis that craniofacial shape change during the Holocene was related to the consumption of softer foods.
Middle Paleolithic
The middle part of the Old Stone Age, associated with Mousterian tools, which Neandertals produced using the Levallois technique.
Lower Paleolithic
The oldest part of the period during which the first stone tools were created and used, beginning with the Oldowan Complex.
Australopithecus anamensis
The oldest species of australopithecine from East Africa and a likely ancestor to A. afarensis.
Domestication
The process of converting wild animals or wild plants into forms that humans can care for and cultivate.
Oldowan Complex
The stone tool culture associated with H. habilis and, possibly, A. garhi, including primitive chopper tools.
Mousterian
The stone tool culture in which Neandertals produced tools using the Levallois technique.
What is the best theory for bipedalism's development? Explain, in detail, how it came about.
Walking bipedal saved us energy. Bipedal walking consumes about a quarter of the amount of energy as compared to walking on all fours. As the forest started to disappear our ancestors had to spend more time on the ground getting to food.
What did Wells find out about the Chukchi that help us understand how Central Asian hunters could survive a journey through the heart of an Ice Age?
Wells found that, like the Chukchi, the Central Asian hunters could survive a journey through the heart of an Ice Age by being better able to cope with the cold, the surface area of the body is reduced so that there is little surface area for heat to be lost.
How does Wells know that the San are direct descendants? Which chromosome does he track the history of?
Wells tracks down markers on the Y chromosome (the male sex chromosome). San markers are the most unique on Earth. (The San have no Aboriginal maerkers).
What is the most visible archaeological evidence for Cro-Magnon?
Within the caves system in Pech Merle are the first prehistoric (animal) paintings.
Which of the following is true of the A. sediba fossils?
While the brain is small, there is an expanded frontal region The sdult female's upper limb pairs a long arm, holdover from a tree-dwelling ancestor, with short straight fingers adapted to making and using tools. The foot combines a heel bone like an ancient ape's with an anklebone like Homo's
Robust australopithecines differ from earlier australopithecines in their
smaller front teeth. larger faces. larger back teeth.
Who were the first hominids?
the australopithecines
Charles Darwin hypothesized that bipedalism arose so that hominids would have two free hands to create and carry weapons. The fossil evidence that now refutes this hypothesis includes
the small brain and large canines of Ardipithecus.
The difference in anatomy in bones illustrates that
apes can grasp tree branches better than humans.
Bipedalism has disadvantages to quadrupedalism, including
development of arthritis and back injuries.
A. sediba shows that a Homo-like pelvis with a broad birth canal developed in order to accommodate a relatively large-brained infant at birth.
false
Even if paleoanthropologist Lee Berger and his team had found the various body parts of A. sedibus apart from each other, they would have known that the fossilized bones belonged together.
false
Human evolution is simple and linear.
false
Humans differ from apes because
humans use language.
In an argument with your parents, they claim that the only difference between australopithecines and early Homo species is a bigger brain in the latter. You argue that there are other differences, such as
in addition to a larger brain, early Homo species have a smaller face and smaller teeth.
Bipedalism's advantages over quadrupedalism include
increased ability to see greater distances. ability to run long distances. free hands for tool use.
The _____________ hypothesis about hominid bipedalism states that energy-efficient walking on two legs arose so that hominids could search for food that was dispersed as a result of climatic changes at the end of the Miocene.
patchy forest
Your mom has started complaining to you about her varicose veins and is thinking about surgery. You try to convince her not to by noting that
people might not mind varicose veins as much if they realized they were a direct consequence of bipedality.
The _____________ hypothesis proposed by Owen Lovejoy states that the advantages of males carrying food and bringing it to females and young could have contributed to the rise of bipedalism.
provisioning
Your old roommate is in Australia on a one-year study abroad program. She excitedly skypes you and says her Aborigine friend mentioned an australopithecine skull he discovered while on "walkabout" in the desert. The skull has a small brain and wear on the tip of the canines. You respond that
there is no evidence that australopithecines ever left Africa.
While walking through a natural history museum, your little cousin points out the skull of an australopithecine with a large crest on the top and asks you what its purpose was. To simplify a complicated evolutionary trait, you tell your cousin that
these hominids had muscles to eat hard foods such as nuts.
"Flo" was approximately 3.3 feet tall and weighed about 60 pounds.
true
According to paleoanthropologists working in East Africa, such as William Kimbel and Meave Leakey, A. sedibus is too recent to be ancestral to the genus Homo and represents a separate evolutionary radiation.
true
Homo floresiensis is found in Indonesia on the island of Flores.
true
Modern humans outside Africa carry 1-4% Neandertal genes.
true