Ch. 19 Human Evolution Flashcards
What are the 4 types of primates?
Humans
Apes
Monkeys
Lemurs
Arboreal
living in trees
- reflected in human body features
What are the 5 characteristics of a primate?
1) Limber + Hip joints
2) 5 Digits on hands + feet (mobility/grasping)
3) Opposable thumbs (sometimes toes too)
4) Great sense of touch (receptors)
5) Eyes on the from of face (depth perception)
- poor peripheral
What are the 2 groups of Primates?
Prosimians
Anthropoids
Prosimians
“Before Apes
- oldest known and primitive
- came about after dinosaurs
- 35 species including hushbabies, lorries, tasters, and lemurs
- tropical rainforests
Antropoids
“Man form”
- humans, apes, monkeys
- larger brain relative to body size mean higher intelligence
- rely more on eyesight than smell
- Old World Moneys and New World Monkeys
Old World Moneys
Africa, Eurasia
- no tails, ground dwellers
New World Monkeys
South/Central America
- tail, arboreal
Apes
Closest living relatives and confined to rainforests in Africa/Eurasia
- forelimbs longer than hind limbs
- vegetarian (some eat insects/small vertebrae)
Gibbons
Smallest, lightest, most agile of apes
- southeast asia
- 9 species
- arboreal
- monogolous (1 mate)
Orangutan
Live in isolates parts of the world
- largest living arboreal mammal, moving slowly, supported by stock body w/ all 4 limbs
- Borneo and Sumatra
- 1 species
Gorilla
Largest of the primates
- Central Africa rain forest
- knuckle walkers, stand upright
What are the 4 types of apes?
Gibbons
Orangutan
Gorilla
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Knuckle walkers
- behavior resembles humans
- uses tools like humans
___ and ___ are more related to humans than any other primate and differs by ___%
Gorillas and Chimps
3%
What is wrong with the common misconception that man evolved from apes?
Man and apes have a common ancestry from which we evolved and went to different pathways
What is the order of human evolution?
1) Australopithecus
2) Homo Habilis
3) Homo erectus
4) Homo Neanderthal
5) Homo Sapiens
Australopithecus
“Southern ape” 4mya
- first hominids
- afarensis, africanus, boisei, robustus
- widespread, 2 legged
- hunter/gatherers
- Took opportunity and disappeared 4 mya
Homo Habilis
“Handy man” 2.5 may
- possessed a larger brain (high intelligence)
- gave rise to homo erectus
Homo Erectus
“upright man” 1.8 mya - 250,000
- larger brain than predecessors
- regional diversity
- first to use fire, huts, caves
- use animal skins, advanced tools
Homo neanderthals
130,000 - 35,000
- archaic homo
- spread out
- short, stocky, muscular
- skilled tool maker and ritualistic
Homo Sapians
“Wise man”
- coexisted with homo neanderthals
- multi regional hypothesis or monogenesis hypothesis
Multiregional Hypothesis
Races of humankind stem from regional diversity
- similar genetic make up
Monogenesis Hypothesis
Modern homo sapiens come from 1 ancient group (all others were evolutionary dead ends)
- uniformity of mitochondrial DNA
What are the 3 major milestones in human evolution?
1) Erect stance
2) Enlargement of Brain
3) Prolonged Period of Parental Care
*Culture
Erect stance
Remodeling of entire skeleton (hips/arms)
- 2 walking legs
Enlargement of Brain
As man evolved, brain grew and higher intelligence achieved
Prolonged period of parental care
Care for offspring for long time and have strong bond
Culture
Accumulate knowledge, customers, beliefs, arts, and other human products that are socially transmitted over the generations
- made us the dominant force on Earth by defying physical limitations
- alter nature at rate exceeding biological evolution
- adapt/change environment to our needs (help survival but population explosion continues but problems arise)
What are the 3 stages of culture?
1) Scavenging, hunting, gathering
2) Agriculture
3) Industrial Revolution
Scavenging, hunting, gathering
As tools and cooperative hunting behaviors, we improve and control
Agriculture
Grow own food -> abundant reliable food supply
- farming leads to stay in one place
- division of labor and more time for other stuff
- population explosion
Industrial Revolution
England 18th century
- small scale hand production -> large scale martin production
- increased demand for suppliers
What happened to change?
Change continued to happen but it happened at a rapid rate. Biological changes were slower than cultural changes. And our world became changing so rapidly, we may be threatening our own existence.
Hominid
A species on the human branch of the evolutionary tree; a member of the family Hominid (homo-sapiens + ancestors)
