Human evolution 1, Lecture 4

Question 1

Primate ancestors

Answer 1

‘superorder’ of Euarchonta,

established around 80 mya

Question 2

50 mya which two groups did the superorder of Euarchonta (primate ancestors) split into?

Answer 2

prosimians and simians

Question 3

Another word for Simians

Answer 3

anthropoids

Question 4

Prosimians characteristics

4

Answer 4

1. grasping fingers and toes
2. binocular vision
3. mostly nocuturnal
4. mostly arboreal

Question 5

Arboreal meaning

Answer 5

live in trees

Question 6

Which group are the direct ancestors of monkeys and hominoids?

Answer 6

Simians

Question 7

Where did Simians orginate?

Answer 7

Africa or Asia

Question 8

When did the different adaptive radiations of Simians occur?

Answer 8

over 40 mya

Question 9

Simians characteristics

4

Answer 9

1. overlapping fields of vision
2. opposable thumbs (not all genera)
3. live in groups (social)
4. mostly diurnal

Question 10

Humans vs. chimps

similarity

Answer 10

96% similarity overall,

99% similarity in coding DNA

Question 11

Key characteristics of apes

4

Answer 11

1. larger brain relative to body size (compared to other primates)
2. flexible behaviour
3. tail-less
4. some highly social (social interactions)

Question 12

Human ancestory

5

Answer 12

Hominoid(the ‘apes’) –superfamily

• Hominid(the ‘great apes’) –family
• Hominine(gorilla, chimp and human) –subfamily
• Hominin(human and chimp) –tribe
• Hominina(human) -subtribe

Question 13

Australopithecus

what are they? and 5 characteristics

Answer 13

close relation to Homo sapiens
All australopithecus had:
1. round jaw
2. brain size 35% of modern humans
3. stocky build
4. large teeth and jaws
5. various ways of moving, but can walk upright

Question 14

Ardipithecus ramidus

summary

Answer 14

a key step towards human evolution?
dated to around 4.4 mya
chimp sized brain
broader diet than modern chimps
at least partly bipedal
recent discovery

Question 15

Plural of australopithecus

Answer 15

australopithecines

Question 16

Paranthropus,

Answer 16

similar to australopithecus, 
validity is considered
features:
1. flatness of face
2. brow ridge bone size
3. steepness of skull moving foward

Question 17

Lucy

Answer 17

type of australopithecus,
found in Ethiopia
3.2 mya
skeleton 40% complete
human-like teeth
ape-like head

Question 18

Is australopithecus a direct ancestor on the genus homo?

Answer 18

maybe

Question 19

Many species of homo overlapped in time so what did this mean?

Answer 19

extinction? interbreeding?

Question 20

Homo habilis

Answer 20

appearance of homo genus, 2.5 mya
found with many stone tools
short stature
disproportionately long arms
shorter jaw
larger brain than australopithecus, 50% of current size of human brain

Question 21

What replaced homo habilis?

Answer 21

homo erectus

Question 22

Homo erectus features

8

Answer 22

• 2 mya
• 5 feet tall ish
• long straight legs (excellent walkers)
• thick skill with steep forehead
• larger brain (similar to modern human)
• but still prominent brow ridge
• rounded jaw
• ability to talk?

Question 23

Homo erectus

social developement

Answer 23

used crude tools
built fires
social groups
cave dwellers/wooden shelters

Question 24

Where were homo erectus from?

Answer 24

orginated in africa,

first hominin ro leave African continent?

Question 25

Neanderthal man

when

Answer 25

appeared 600,000 years ago in Europe and W/C Asia,

still common in europe and asia 70,000 years ago

Question 26

Neanderthal man

features

Answer 26

large skulls, heavy bony ridges over brows

bigger brains than modern humans

Question 27

Neanderthal man

skills and sociald development

Answer 27

made diverse tools (stone and wood)
lived in huts and caves
took care of injured and sick
buried dead - symbolic thinking

Question 28

Cro-magnon man

Answer 28

homo sapiens sapiens
AMH & EMH
half way between neanderthals and modern humans
looked like humans but lacked all behaviours
replaced neanderthals may’ve had overlap

Question 29

Cro- magnon man
behaviour
6

Answer 29

sophisticated tools
complex social organisation
facial expressions
language
successful hunters
move/run over greater distances

Question 30

Cro - magnon man
features
5

Answer 30

one offspring generally
made cave paintings
loss of body hair
pigmentation (trade off for lost body hair)
lengthened thumb (tool use)

Question 31

Cave paintings

Answer 31

earlist known - 27,000 years ago