Unit 1: The Origin of Humans Flashcards
(29 cards)
What does the term History mean?
“His-story” and refers to the period that ended when humans learned to read and write.
What is a Nomad?
People who have no permanent home.
What is a Archaeologist?
Archaeologists are scientists who study history - study fossils.
What is a fossil?
The remains of prehistoric plants or animals
What does Petrified mean?
They turn to stone.
Petrifaction occurs when rivers and streams carry dissolved minerals to the porous parts of bones, shells or wood.
How many fossils survived?
We have many unanswered questions because very few fossils were found.
What are Archaeologists like and why?
They were like police detectives. They search for clues left behind by people, animals and things.
They use those clues to make educated guesses about the past.
What were our earliest ancestors?
They were vegetarians. They did not eat meat. Scientists believe that humans began to eat meat when the climate where they lived began to change.
What happened when there was less vegetation?
The hominids were not physically suited to compete with larger animals for the remaining plants. They became scavengers, eating the meat off dead animals.
Who was Homo Erectus?
- More intelligent than other animals.
There was a price to pay for having such a large brain. Giving birth to offspring through a small pelvis would be impossible, so natural selection favored offspring whose brains continued to grow after birth.
How big was Lucy’s brain?
Human like characteristics?
Lucy’s brain was about 1/3 the size of the brain of a human.
Her knee could lock, so she could stand up straight.
What did Johanson nickname his find?
“Lucy” after ‘Lucy in the sky with Diamonds” a song by the Beatles.
Who uncovered what was considered the oldest hominid fossil record?
Don Johanson.
A hominid is the family of man kind and their ancestors.
What happened if the mutation as bad?
The organism was more likely to die before contributing to the gene pool.
What happened if the mutation was good?
The organism lived and contributed the mutation to the gene pool of its offspring.
What was Darwin’s theory of organism?
Suggested that organisms evolved to fit their environment based on Natural Selection.
What is a Mutation?
A mutation is simply an alteration of the genetic information of an organism. Some mutations are good. A child might be taller or stronger than his or her parents.
What are theories?
Scientist have to make educated guesses about prehistory. We can call these guesses theories. Theories about prehistory often change as we make new discoveries about the past.
Frequently change as we make new discoveries.
Why were our ancestors able to leave their environment?
About One Million years ago, hominids began to leave South Africa. Scientists believe one reason our ancestors were able to leave their environment was fire.
What was the most important metal to early cultures?
Iron.
About Six Thousand years ago what secrets of metals did people slowly begin to find out?
They learned to smelt, or refine metal, by heating particular types of rocks. Metal pans allowed people to cook meat and destroy harmful bacteria.
What did Early “stone age” humans use?
They used stone tools and those tools were the first technology. They used rocks s weapons, to break open things and to sharpen softer objects.
What is Technology?
The tools and skills are used to build things.
How much does the human brain grow in the first year?
The human brain almost triples in size during the first year.
