Andrew Estrada

Dr. Yoder Bio 3

Human Evolution

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Click on interactive documentary and/or click on the menus on the bar

to find the answers to the following questions. You may have to
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View the prolog.

View Evidence.

When and where did Donald Johansson do his research?

Hadar, Ethiopia. Beginning in 1972.

What fossil finds did his team discover?

A hominid knee joint that was 3.4 million years old.

What was significant about the Lucy fossil?

She walked upright.

How old was she?

3.2 million years old.

What scientific name was she given?

Australopithecus afarensis.

Profiling fossils:

How do we determine the following about a fossil:

What species it is?

Researchers look for certain characteristics in the fossils they find.

These characteristics are then compared to a large reference collection
of many species to determine what species the fossil belongs to.
How old the person was?

Age can be determined from teeth and bones. Teeth and bones grow
at different ages during childhood so the type present can determine
the age. If the species is an adult, then the amount of tooth wear and
changes to the pubic symphysis determine its age.

Male or female?

The best determination of sex is through the pelvic bone. Female

pelvises are wider and have a greater sciatic notch than males. Sex
can also be determined by examining the skeleton as a whole.
Generally, male skeletons are larger and stronger than females.

What did they eat?

Tooth enamel scratches and pits can determine the type of food eaten
by a species. Chemical analysis of trace element ratios in bone tells
the balance of plant and meat foods in the diet. Also, diet can be
determined by the amount and placement of muscle attachments on
the skeleton.

What was their body size?

Body size is predicted by examining the various weight-bearing bones.

It is helpful to first know the sex of the species to establish anatomical
measurements. The relationship between anatomical measurements
of a fossil and its body size can be explained by mathematical formulas
that can be applied to fossils to reconstruct their height and weight.

How healthy were they?

Researchers examine the teeth and bones of a fossil. Teeth and bones
often show evidence of diseases and physical traumas that can help
researchers find a cause of death and, ultimately, determine if the
fossil was healthy.

The Dating Game:

There are various ways of dating objects, Please explain how are fossils
dated?

Fossils are dated by dating the surrounding rock layers above and
below where it was found. Two methods are used to date the layers:
relative dating and absolute dating. Relative dating arranges items(can
be sites, events, or artifacts) in chronological order, from oldest to
youngest, without assigning dates. A rule of thumb used is that objects
found in lower layers are older than those found in higher layers, given
that the layers have not shifted. Biostratigraphy is an example of
relative dating that uses evolutionary changes in animals to date rock
layers. Absolute dating gives an age to a fossil, usually with a degree
of error. Radiometric dating is a common absolute dating technique. It
uses the decay rate of a radioactive isotope to determine how long ago
the fossil was formed. Both methods must be used to accurately date a
fossil.

Context Clues:

What do we mean by the context of a fossil, and why is context

important?

The context of a fossil refers to its provenience and association.

Provenience is the exact place in which the object was found and
association is everything found nearby the object. Context is so
important because it provides valuable information that cannot come
from the object alone. What is found through provenience and
association can answer many important questions.

Anatomy:

How are we like primates in terms of our skeleton? (This is a long list)

Our brains are large relative to our body size and we take a long time
to mature. We have eyes in the front of our heads. We can see in 3-D
due to the fact that each eye’s visual field slightly overlaps with the
other’s. We have small noses and snouts because we depend more on
sight rather than our sense of smell. We have a variety of different
kinds of teeth, with each kind performing a specific action. We have
kept the clavicle, or collar, bone in our skeleton. This allows a bigger
range of limb motion. We have nails, rather than claws, and
fingerprints. Finally, we have opposable thumbs that allow for
grasping. Unfortunately, humans cannot grasp with their feet while
other primates can.

What adaptations have we in our skeleton that produces a bipedal

gate? (This is another long list)

Our foramen magnum, the hole though which the spinal cord exits the
skull, is located beneath our skull to help balance the head and to keep
it upright. We have an additional lumbar curve that positions our
bodies inward and over our pelvises. Our pelvis blades are rotated
inwards to better support our internal organs when we stand upright.
Also, our iliac blades are twisted which allows our gluteal muscles to
balance the trunk portion of our body by pulling against gravity while
we stand on one foot. Our femurs are angled inwards so the weight of
our bodies is supported at the midline. This makes walking more
efficient because it stops our bodies from rotating while walking and it
increases the length of our stride. Our knee joint, femur, tibia, and
patella, is positioned in a way to make our knees more stable for
walking. The top of our tibia is flatter than apes to reduce our knee’s
rotation. This same flatness also happens on our femurs. Our big toe is
enlarged and it lines up with our other toes to add more balance to our
bodies. Lastly, our foot has two arches: the transverse and
longitudinal. The transverse arch positions weight during walking and
standing over the sole of the foot. The longitudinal arch distributes the
weight, pushes it forward, and absorbs shock.

Lineages:

How is microevolution different from macroevolution?

Microevolution is done on a smaller scale. It consists of small genetic

changes that happen over a few generations. Macroevolution is a much
larger pattern of change over thousands of generations in which new
species form.

Extinction:

Why are extinction rates today a source of alarm?

Ecologists believe that extinctions today are happening too fast.

Human interventions, such as overhunting and habitat destruction,
have caused the ecosystem to go off balance. The enormous human
population of today threatens natural habitats and endangers
thousands of interdependent species.

Draw the proposed human family tree on a separate piece of paper,

and label the hominid species, their approximate dates, and list below
some information about them.

Culture:

Why do we study primate behavior?

We study primate behavior because it can give us insights into not only
the behavior of our ancestors but also into our behavior as humans.

What have we discovered about tool-using in chimps?

Chimps are the most frequent tool makers and users in natural
settings. For example, they modify sticks for insect fishing or honey
extraction. They use rocks like hammers to break open nuts or other
objects. They even build their own sleeping nests and modify objects
to use as ladders.

Tool making in our ancestors spans 2.5 million years and is grouped
into 4 major categories. List the 4 major categories, their dates, and
the type of tools in each.

1. Oldowan: 2.5 Million B.C.E. – 1.5 Million B.C.E.

a. Simple implements

i. Cores, hammers, and flakes

ii. Manuports, choppers, spheroids, polyhedrons and

scrapers

2. Acheulean: 1.4 Million B.C.E. – 200,000 B.C.E.

a. More precise tools that required manufacturing steps to

make

i. Standardized hand axes

ii. Cleavers and picks

3. Mousterial: 300,000 B.C.E. – 35,000 B.C.E.

a. Wide range of tools that show fine retouching and re-

sharpening

i. Hand axes, side scrapers, spear points, blades,

knives denticulates, notches, burins, and perforators

4. Aurignacion: 40,000 B.C.E. – 16,000 B.C.E.

a. Diverse assemblages with many tool innovations

i. End scrapers, blades, points, knives, burins, bone

points, and ivory pendants.

ii. Needles, fishhooks, harpoons, snowshoes, nets,

weights, bows, arrows, and spear throwers.