Fossil Evidence For Human Evolution

Question 1

how do fossils and stone tools support evolution

Answer 1

• earlier tools like hammers became more refined and intricately chipped overtime
• showing an evolution in our brain’s capacity
• this is supported by our skulls volume increasing over time

Question 2

what are the three main binomial starters of species and in what order

Answer 2

ARDI, LUCI and HOMO

Question 3

how can tools be dated to the time they existed

Answer 3

• their age isn’t found out by examining the tool itself

- but how many layers of sediment and the age of the sediment it was found in

Question 4

how have tools that humans have created developed overtime

Answer 4

they become more intricate, refined and are built up of a higher variation of materials

Question 5

how can scientist see that humans have evolved over time through fossils

Answer 5

• the volume of their skulls increased
• spines straightened
• the length of their arms and legs have adjusted
• the gradual loss of big ape like toes on our feet

Question 6

why did the skulls of humans evolve to become bigger

Answer 6

because the size of their brains were increasing due to the increasing complexity of tools and structures, which require more brain power

Question 7

what does evidence from fossils suggest in general

Answer 7

that humans and chimpanzees evolved from a common ancestor that was around about 6 million years ago

Question 8

what are human beings and their ancestors known as

Answer 8

hominids

Question 9

what is ardi and what does it feature

Answer 9

• arid is a fossil of species ardipithecus ramidus

- ardi’s features are a mixture of those of a human and apes

Question 10

what are the characteristics of the ardi fossil

Answer 10

• had ape like big toes to grasp tress, suggesting she climbed tress
• she had long arms and short legs (much like an ape)
• brain size was about the same size as a chimpanzees

Question 11

what does the structure of ardi’s legs suggest about how they travelled

Answer 11

• it suggests that they walked upright
• the bone structure in her hands also suggests that she would use her hands to support her when walking,like how apes do

Question 12

what is lucy and what does do the fossiles feature

Answer 12

• lucy is a fossil from the species australopithecus aferensis
• lucy has a mixture of ape and humans features, but more on the human side than ardi

Question 13

when were the ardi fossils found and how old are they

Answer 13

• they were found in ethiopia

- they date back 4.4 million years

Question 14

when were the lucy fossils found and how old are they

Answer 14

• they were found in ethiopia

- they date back 3.2million years

Question 15

what are the characteristics of the lucy fossil

Answer 15

• she had arched feet, more adapted to walking than climbing and no big ape like toe
• size of the arms and legs were between what you would find in an ape or human
• her brain was slightly larger than ardi’s but still a similar size to chimpanzees

Question 16

what do the structures of lucy’s feet suggest

Answer 16

that they walked upright and more efficiently than ardi

Question 17

what did the scientist leaky do in 1984 andwhat did he discover

Answer 17

• he organised an expedition to kenya with a team to look for hominid fossils
• the team discovered many different important fossils of autralopithecus and homo species

Question 18

what was the main finding of the 1984 expdition that leaky went on to kenya

Answer 18

• they found a fossil called turkana boy

- which was a 1.6 million year old fossil skeleton of the homo erectus

Question 19

what does the fossil turkana boy feature

Answer 19

it features human and ape characteristics but is more human than lucy

Question 20

what are the characteristics of the turkana boy (homo erectus) fossil

Answer 20

• it has short arms and long legs, which is a lot more similar to a human than an ape
• its brain size was larger than lucy’s and was now similar to the size of a human’s brain

Question 21

what does the structure of the homo erecuts feet suggest

Answer 21

it suggests that it was even more efficient and adapted to walking on two feet than lucy

Question 22

what is the timeline of each species of fossil that has been discovered

Answer 22

• ardipithecus species (ardi), 6 to 4 million years ago
• australopithecus species (lucy), 4 to 2 million years ago
• homo species (turkana boy), 2 millon years ago to now
• homo sapiens (thats us