Fossil Evidence For Human Evolution Flashcards
how do fossils and stone tools support evolution
- 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
what are the three main binomial starters of species and in what order
ARDI, LUCI and HOMO
how can tools be dated to the time they existed
- 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
how have tools that humans have created developed overtime
they become more intricate, refined and are built up of a higher variation of materials
how can scientist see that humans have evolved over time through fossils
- 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
why did the skulls of humans evolve to become bigger
because the size of their brains were increasing due to the increasing complexity of tools and structures, which require more brain power
what does evidence from fossils suggest in general
that humans and chimpanzees evolved from a common ancestor that was around about 6 million years ago
what are human beings and their ancestors known as
hominids
what is ardi and what does it feature
- arid is a fossil of species ardipithecus ramidus
- ardi’s features are a mixture of those of a human and apes
what are the characteristics of the ardi fossil
- 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
what does the structure of ardi’s legs suggest about how they travelled
- 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
what is lucy and what does do the fossiles feature
- 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
when were the ardi fossils found and how old are they
- they were found in ethiopia
- they date back 4.4 million years
when were the lucy fossils found and how old are they
- they were found in ethiopia
- they date back 3.2million years
what are the characteristics of the lucy fossil
- 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
what do the structures of lucy’s feet suggest
that they walked upright and more efficiently than ardi
what did the scientist leaky do in 1984 andwhat did he discover
- 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
what was the main finding of the 1984 expdition that leaky went on to kenya
- they found a fossil called turkana boy
- which was a 1.6 million year old fossil skeleton of the homo erectus
what does the fossil turkana boy feature
it features human and ape characteristics but is more human than lucy
what are the characteristics of the turkana boy (homo erectus) fossil
- 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
what does the structure of the homo erecuts feet suggest
it suggests that it was even more efficient and adapted to walking on two feet than lucy
what is the timeline of each species of fossil that has been discovered
- 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
