Lecture 22

Question 1

Features of primates

Answer 1

1) Plantigrade feet (also heel to tip)
2) Grasping digits (prehensile (grabbing) digits and opposable thumbs, fingernails, adaptation for arboreal existence, evolution of tool use)
3) Binocular vision (forward facing eyes , increased visual sense
4) Increased brain size
5) Shoulder Anatomy (well developed clavicle, flexible rotating shoulder joint)
6) Upright posture

Question 2

Differences between humans and apes

Answer 2

1) Locomotion 
Bipedalism (habitual)
pelvis shortened and rounded
femur bonds inwards, knee straightend, patella
connection with spinal colum (foramen magnum) on underside of skull
2) Diet
Omnivores 
3) Manual dexterity
4) even larger brain size

Question 3

Hominids to note

Answer 3

• Sahelanthropus tchadenis (first hominid after chimp split?)
• Australopithecus afarensis (upright walking, tracks and skeleton)
• Homo habilis (first in our genus, handyman)
• Homo erectus (most enduring, complex tools, migration, increased brain size, fire, dwellings)
• Homo sapiens (modern human brain size, approx 200 000)
• Homo neanderthalis (larger brain, different shape, outcompeted, overlapped
• Homo florsiensis (tiny brain, isolated population)