Chapter 8 Flashcards
Approximately how large is the modern human brain?
1,350 cm^3
If we compare Earth’s history to a 24-hour day (with one second equaling 50,000 years)
Homo sapiens arrived just 6 seconds before midnight.
In the Latin binomial system, each organism has three names, and the first letter of each of those names is capitalized.
false
In the Latin binomial system, names for organisms often tell a story.
true
Prognathism means
having a great big jutting mouth and jaw.
Based on the skull sizes of early fossilized humans, the characteristic wish to have supportive familiar people around at childbirth probably goes back millions of years
true
Bipedalism, considered a key defining characteristic that differentiated early hominins from other apes,
perhaps developed in the woodlands but became even more adaptive in a savanna habitat.
Fossils of Au. afarensis are particularly significant because
they comprise the first fossil evidence to confirm that bipedalism preceded the evolution of a humanlike brain.
The position of a primate fossil’s foramen magnum underneath it’s skull is evidence that
it was an obligate biped
What is the term for the bony protuberance found on top of the skulls of robust australopiths?
sagittal crest
Which of the following is/are evidence of robust australopiths’ adaptation to eating hard-shelled seeds and grasses?
the presence of very large molars and a sagittal crest on the top of the skull
Along the path we took to humanity…there are more than 20 different relatives that have been discovered in the fossil record.
true
When a skeleton (or part of a skeleton) is large, rugged, and basically just hefty looking, it is termed
robust
When a skeleton (or part of a skeleton) is small in stature and relatively graceful looking, it is termed
gracile
Which of the following was a key obstacle that hominins’ increase in brain size had to overcome?
larger skulls demanding larger birth canals, even though the requirements of upright bipedalism impose limits on the expansion of the human pelvic opening
A characteristic trend in hominin evolution has been an increase in brain size, especially with the advent of the genus Homo.
true
The footprints at the site of Laetoli in northern Tanzania were made by Au. afarensis.
true
Sexual dimorphism is less pronounced in modern Homo sapiens than in the australopiths.
true
The genus Homo did not appear until after all of the australopiths had died off.
false
The earliest widely accepted hominin genus is
Ardipithecus
