Homo Sapiens and Friends

Question 1

Who are Homo Sapiens?

Answer 1

Anatomically Modern Homo Sapiens (AMHS)

Question 2

What is another name for Homo Sapiens?

Answer 2

Cro-Magnons

Question 3

Where were the Cro-Magnon found, and how long ago were they dated to?

Answer 3

France, up to 30,000 years ago… but first emerged from Africa and spread out.

Question 4

What is the brain size of the Homo Sapiens?

Answer 4

1300 cc.

Question 5

When thinking of a Homo Sapien’s physical features, who should we look to for similarities?

Answer 5

Modern Humans, aka us.

Question 6

What changes occur in the forehead of the Homo Sapiens?

Answer 6

Higher, bulging forehead.

Question 7

Name 3 features of a Homo Sapiens face.

Answer 7

Smaller face: lighter facial bone structure
Emergence of a chin
Slight brow ridges

Question 8

The Homo Sapiens had no Post Orbital Constriction.

Answer 8

True

Question 9

Where/when were the Homo Neanderthals first found?

Answer 9

First found in Neander Valley, Germany in 1856.

Question 10

What was significant about the first fossil discovery of the Homo Neanderthal? (2)

Answer 10

First fossil found that is considered to be an early humanoid.
Fossil found 3 years before Darwin’s “Origin of Species” came out

Question 11

How big was the brain of the Homo Neanderthal?

Answer 11

1450 cc.

Question 12

Why was the brain of the Homo Neanderthal so large?

Answer 12

It matched the large, brawny size of the Homo Neanderthals’ bodies.

Question 13

What tools did the Homo Neanderthals use?

Answer 13

?

Question 14

What were the Homo Neanderthals’ brow ridges like?

Answer 14

Pronounced brow ridges

Question 15

What oxipital feature was found on the rear of Homo Neanderthals’ skull?

Answer 15

A broad oxipital “bun”

Question 16

The Homo Neanderthal had a large nose.

Answer 16

True

Question 17

Did the Homo Neanderthal have a noticeable chin?

Answer 17

Nope. No chin

Question 18

What was the forehead/skull of the Homo Neanderthal like?

Answer 18

No forehead due to a long/low sloping skull

Question 19

What did the Homo Neanderthals eat?

Answer 19

Plants and meat, but a lot more meat during the winter months due to a lack of vegetation.

Question 20

Who was Marcellin Boule and what did he think about Neandertals?

Answer 20

He was a French paleontologist that thought that the Neanderthals were brutish, slow, primitive “Cavemen”

Question 21

What led Marcellin Boule to his misconception-creating belief?

Answer 21

He studied the La Chapelle-aux-Saints, the “Old Man”- an old, partial Neanderthal skeleton in poor physical condition

Question 22

How long ago did the Neanderthals date back to?

Answer 22

30,000-130,000 years ago

Question 23

Specifically, where were the Neanderthals most commonly found? Where were they not found?

Answer 23

Found in Europe and Middle East, but not found in Africa

Question 24

Did the Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens overlap? If so, where?

Answer 24

Yes, it is known that the two species overlapped in the Middle East

Question 25

Where was there evidence of double occupation between the Neanderthals and the Homo Sapiens?

Answer 25

Mt. Carmel in Israel

Question 26

Approximately how many years did the two species share the Middle East?

Answer 26

About 30,000 years

Question 27

How long did the two species co-exist?

Answer 27

As many as 60,000 years

Question 28

What are possible ideas for why the Neanderthals ceased to exist? Name 3.

Answer 28

Interbreeding until the species dissipated (least likely)
Genocide by the Homo Sapiens (also not too likely)
Competition by the Homo Sapiens (more likely)

Question 29

What Homo species left evidence of funerals/burial rituals?

Answer 29

Homo Neanderthals

Question 30

Name 3 significant funeral/burial sites left behind by the Neanderthals.

Answer 30

Le Moustier (15-16 year old boy buried with a hand axe)
La Ferrassie (5 kids and 2 adults, all buried in the same grave)
Shanidar Cave, Iraq (9 burials, flowers placed in graves)

Question 31

What is the overall impact of climate on the evolution of primates and human species?

Answer 31

As climates change, food sources change.
Changes in diet force overspecialized species to die out, while others evolve and survive
(Seed/nuts to meat transition)