Hominid Adaptations

Question 1

Monkeys

Answer 1

Climb on tops of branches
Hands and feet to grip, tail to balance
Long trunks
Arms and legs similar length

Question 2

Apes

Answer 2

Swing from branch to branch 
often hang whilst feeding, no tail
Short trunks
Long arms
Flexible shoulder joints

Question 3

Proconsul

Answer 3

23-15Myr Kenya and Uganda
Arboreal quadruped
No tail
Marked sexual dimorphism
Flat face/Large brain 
Dextrous hands and feet 
Erect trunk
Frugivorous diet

Question 4

Miocene apes - Africa

Answer 4

Sahelanthropus tchadensis
320cm³ - 380cm³
8 Mya Africa
Close to human-chimp split

Question 5

Miocene apes - Europe

Answer 5

Dryopithecus spp.
12-9 Mya
Suspensory
Little enamel

Question 6

Miocene apes - Asia

Answer 6

Sivapithecus
8 mya Pakistan
Ancestral to the orangutan?

Question 7

General hominoid characteristics

Answer 7

Large body size
Specialised arboreal and terrestrial locomotion
Mostly frugivorous
Specialised dentition (eg 5 cusps on lower molars)
Encephalisation
Complex behaviour patterns

Question 8

The hominoid skeleton - skull

Answer 8

‘braincase’ – frontal, temporal, parietal, occipital
‘face’ – frontal, maxilla, nasal, zygomatic
‘jaws’ – maxilla, mandible, dentition
‘skull base’ – basicranial bones

Question 9

Hominoid morphological variation

Answer 9

Related to many factors, including:
Body size
Brain size (encephalisation)
Locomotion
Ecological niche

Question 10

Orthognathism

Answer 10

Having a face that lies almost entirely beneath the anterior cranial fossa

Question 11

Prognathism

Answer 11

Having a face which projects forwards

Question 12

Dental arch morphology

Answer 12

Rectangular vs parabolic
Simian shelf vs external chin
Canine size