Biology - Review 12

Question 1

Who are the members of Genus Homo?

Answer 1

Modern humans (Homo sapiens) are the only living species belonging to the genus Homo.

Question 2

How are humans classified?

Answer 2

Humans belong to the subfamily Homininae and hence are called hominins. We are part of a larger group that includes the great apes, the family Hominidae, hence the term hominid. The superfamily Hominoidea includes humans, the great apes and the lesser apes, and are all called hominoids.

Question 3

Who are Humans closest relatives?

Answer 3

Our closest living relatives are chimpanzees and bonobos, but we did not directly evolve from them or any other living primate. Our last shared common ancestor existed around 6S million years ago.

Question 4

What is the oldest fossil record of our species ?

Answer 4

The oldest fossil record of our species was found in a region called Omo Kibish in Ethiopia and has been dated to 195,000 years ago.

Question 5

What is the major trend for hominins?

Answer 5

There has been a trend throughout hominin evolution for larger braincases, with brain size tripling in the last two million years.

Question 6

Who has the largest cranial capacity?

Answer 6

Homo sapiens has the largest, most complex brain of any of the hominins.

Neanderthals had a slightly larger cranial capacity, but it is thought that their brains were more specialised for vision and movement than for problem solving.

Question 7

By what are modern homo sapiens characterised?

Answer 7

Behaviourally, modern Homo sapiens are characterised by the ability to

• Plan
• Abstract thinking
• Ritual
• Symbolism (e.g. in art. ornamentation and music)
• Large prey capture
• Advanced tool use.

Tool making and communication have had a significant impact on the cultural characteristics of our species.

Question 8

What significant change happened approximately 50,000 years ago?

Answer 8

Homo sapiens underwent a cultural ‘explosion’ approximately 50,000 years ago with rituals, burials, the wearing of clothes and more complex hunting techniques becoming more evident in the fossil record.

Question 9

How many hominin species are there?

Answer 9

The number of hominin species known is changing with new discoveries and evidence from fossils and DNA. Currently there is evidence of 10-16 Homo species, but many of these are thought to be subspecies or not distinct enough to warrant recognition as separate species.

Question 10

What is our closest extinct relative?

Answer 10

Our closest extinct relative is Homo neanderthalensis Homo sapiens coexisted with Neanderthals and there is evidence of interbreeding between the two species.

Question 11

What other species coexisted with humans?

Answer 11

DNA and fossil evidence also suggests that both Homo sapiens & Homo neanderthalensis species coexisted and interbred with Homo denisovans.

Question 12

What was the first of our relatives to walk upright?

Answer 12

Homo erectus was the first of our relatives to walk upright all the time, and spread into South-East Asia.

Question 13

What is the oldest known species of the genus homo?

Answer 13

Homo habilis is the oldest known species of the genus Homo.

Question 14

What is the other genus of hominin?

Answer 14

Paranthropus is a genus of hominin that existed at the same time as some species of the genus Homo.

Question 15

What genus is a turning point in the evolution of bipedalism?

Answer 15

The genus Homo is related to members of the genus Australopithecus.

Australopithecus, including the fossil Lucy, represents a turning point in the evolution of bipedalism, which is thought to be an adaptation to the African savannah environment

Question 16

How is the human fossil record used?

Answer 16

The human fossil record is open to interpretations that are contested, refined or replaced when new evidence challenges them or when a new model has greater explanatory power.

Question 17

What is culture?

Answer 17

Culture is the accumulated knowledge passed on to the next generation by verbal, written or symbolic communication and this evolves over time

Question 18

How are tools considered?

Answer 18

Tools were (and still are) crucial to the evolution of human culture for hunting, adornment ritual, clothes making, agriculture, writing, building and many other important advances. Tool use marked the beginning of cultural evolution in Homo.

Question 19

What is the tool use of 300,000-400,000 years ago?

Answer 19

300,000-400,000 years ago (Africa): The earliest evidence of the emergence of modern behaviour and culture in Homo is from tools found in Africa.

Question 20

What is the tool use of 100,000-200,000 ago?

Answer 20

100,000-200,000 ago (Africa): Culture, in the form of ritual and symbolic expression, is evident from the use of ochre and decorative pierced shells.

Question 21

What is the tool use of 130,000 years ago?

Answer 21

130,000 years ago (Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis, Africa): Signs of ritual and religion are evident in intentional burials, with groups of individuals found buried together or deliberately placed in cave pits.

Question 22

What is the tool use of 100,000 years ago?

Answer 22

100,000 years ago (Israel): Evidence of spiritual belief is found in ritual burials with symbolic objects, such as jewellery and tools, and the use of ochre to cover the dead.

Question 23

What is the tool use of 50,000 years ago?

Answer 23

50,000 years ago: Evidence of religion and elaborate ritual became more prevalent in the archaeological record from approximately 50,000 years ago.

Question 24

What is the tool use of 35,000-40,000 years ago?

Answer 24

35,000-40,000 years ago (Europe. Indonesia): Complex forms of symbolic expression are evident in cave paintings and carvings.

Question 25

What is the tool use of 10,000-12,000 years ago?

Answer 25

10,000-12,000 years ago (the Fertile Crescent, Middle East): The transition from a hunter- gatherer lifestyle to agriculture began and is known as the Neolithic Revolution. This was one of the most significant advances in human evolution.

Question 26

What is the chronoloy of spread

4 key periods

Answer 26

Homo sapiens spread to all corners of the Earth, but their origins are still debated. Evidence puts:

• Hominins in Africa from 6 million years ago
• Homo in Africa from 2.5 million years ago.
• Homo in Asia 1.8-2 million years ago.
• Homo in Europe 1-1.5 million years ago

and other parts of the world much later.

Question 27

What are main theories to explain the origins of homo sapiens?

3 Theories

Answer 27

There are three main theories to explain the origins of Homo sapiens:

1. The Out of Africa theory
2. The Multiregional theory
3. The Assimilation theory.

Question 28

What is the Out of Africa theory?

Answer 28

The Out of Africa theory is currently the most widely accepted model for the origin of modern humans.

It suggests that all living modern humans evolved from a single common ancestor in Africa about 200,000 years ago and spread throughout the rest of the world, replacing other hominin species.

Migrations of modern humans from Africa occurred at some time between 60,000 and 90,000 years ago.

Question 29

What is the multiregional theory?

Answer 29

The Multiregional theory proposes significant migration of Homo erectus across Africa, Asia and Europe, with concurrent evolution of all groups into Homo sapiens.

The Multiregional theory suggests that there was interbreeding and gene flow between various populations in Africa and Eurasia.

Question 30

What is the assimilation theory?

Answer 30

The Assimilation theory proposes that all living humans had an African origin and migrated out of Africa, occasionally interbreeding with archaic humans, resulting in hybrid populations (assimilation).

Question 31

What is the Anthropocene?

Answer 31

The Anthropocene is defined as the time when human activities began to have significant impacts on Earth’s systems on a global scale.

Question 32

What is characteristic of the Anthropocene?

Answer 32

Most scientists agree that human activities have had significant long-term detrimental effects on ecosystems, biodiversity and Earth’s climate system.
Our unique ability to modify and adapt to changing environments may be more significant than ever for our species’ survival in the face of the current rapid rate of population growth, biodiversity crisis and climate change.