Ch. 3 -- African Roots

Question 1

Articular surfaces

Answer 1

The surfaces of two adjacent bones marking the point at which they attach or “articulate”

By examining the articulate surfaces of a bone, scientists can determine the mechanics of joint movement

Question 2

Australopithecine

Answer 2

Any members of the genus “Australopithecus,” including several species: ramidus, afarensis, africanus, and sediba

Characterized by ape-sized brain but with bipedal locomotion

Question 3

Bipedal locomotion

Answer 3

Ability/habit of walking on two feet as opposed to four

Question 4

Brachiation

Answer 4

Ability to swing, arm over arm, through the trees

Question 5

Cranium

Answer 5

The bones of the head and face, but excluding the lower jaw

Question 6

Diastema

Answer 6

Gap in the teeth of both the mandible (lower jaw) and maxilla (upper jaw)

Large canine teeth fit into the diastemas of their opposing jaws when those jaws are closed

Question 7

Femur

Answer 7

The upper leg bone

Question 8

Flake

Answer 8

Stone fragment removed from a core with the blow of a hammerstone, antler baton, or pressure flaker

Can be used as a tool either as is or further modified, or discarded

Question 9

Foramen magnum

Answer 9

Large hole at the base or back of the skull through which veins, arteries, and nerves pass

Question 10

Genera

Answer 10

The level in biological taxonomy between family and species

Question 11

Hammerstone

Answer 11

In stone toolmaking, the hammerstone is the lithos tool used in percussion flaking to move flakes or blades from a core, or to detach additional flakes from flakes or blades

Question 12

Hominid

Answer 12

Any creature believed to be in the direct human line

Question 13

Ilium

Answer 13

The upper blade of the pelvis

Question 14

Innominate

Answer 14

Left or right side of the pelvis

Question 15

Ischium

Answer 15

The bottom rear portion of the innominate bone of the pelvis

Question 16

Isotope

Answer 16

Variety of an element’s atomic form

Question 17

Knapper

Answer 17

One who makes stone tools

Question 18

Mandible

Answer 18

The lower jaw

Question 19

Maxilla

Answer 19

The upper jaw

Question 20

Miocene

Answer 20

Period of time from 25 to 5 million years ago

Question 21

Mosaic

Answer 21

Environments characterized by patches of different habitats rather than a single, homogeneous habitat

Question 22

Niche

Answer 22

The actual physical space occupied by an organism as well as its functional role in a community of organisms

Question 23

Object piece

Answer 23

In the manufacturing of stone tools, the stone that is being worked through the application of either percussion or pressure

Question 24

Oldowan

Answer 24

The earliest stone tools

Question 25

Phylogeny

Answer 25

The evolutionary histories of different kinds of organisms and their relationships to each other

Question 26

Pliocene

Answer 26

Geological epoch of the Tertiary Period, following the Miocene Epoch and preceding the Pleistocene Epoch of the Quaternary Period

About 5 mya to about 2.6 mya

Question 27

Pongid

Answer 27

A member of the taxonomic family Pongidae

Question 28

Postcranial

Answer 28

All of the bones below the cranium

Question 29

Prognathous

Answer 29

The quality of having a forward-thrusting lower face

Question 30

Sagittal crest

Answer 30

A ridge of bone that runs along the top of the skull from front to back

Provides added surface area for the attachment of powerful temporalis muscles that attach to the jaws

Question 31

Savanna

Answer 31

Grasslands

Question 32

Sexual dimorphism

Answer 32

Differences in the form and size of the two sexes

Question 33

Striking platform

Answer 33

Part of a stone core or worked flake that presents an area where the desired flake can be removed when struck with a hammerstone or antler hammer

Question 34

Tibia

Answer 34

The larger of the two long bones making up the lower leg (the shin bone)

Question 35

Arboreal

Answer 35

Life in the trees