Evolution Mini-exam

Question 1

65 mil yrs ago

Archonta

Answer 1

Small arboreal animals.
Nocturnal, large eyes, ate insects.
Radiated to bats, tree shrews, and primates.

Question 2

65 mil yrs ago

Earliest primates

Answer 2

Arboreal and insect eating.
Prehensile - grasping hands and feet with opposable thumbs.
Finger nails, no claws.
Binocular vision - allows forward facing eyes and depth perception.

Question 3

40 mil yrs ago

Answer 3

Primates split into Prosimians and Anthropoids.

Question 4

40 mil yrs ago

Prosimians

Answer 4

Like a cross between a cat and squirrel.
Lived in N. America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Few left today.
Ie. Tarsier of tropical Asia, Lemur of Madagascar.

Question 5

40 mil yrs ago

Anthropoids

Answer 5

Higher primates.
Monkey, apes, humans.
Diurnal - active in the day. Eat fruit and leaves.
Larger brain. Extended care for offspring allows for longer brain development.
The group evolved in Africa to current day monkeys.
It’s unclear which was the first anthropoid. It could have been Eosimia or Catopithecus.

Question 6

40 mil yrs ago
Anthropoids
Eosimia

Answer 6

45 mil yr old fossil found.

Lived 25 mil yrs after dinosaur extinction.

Question 7

40 mil yrs ago
Anthropoids
Catopithecus

Answer 7

37 mil yr old Egyptian fossil found.

Lemur like primate.

Question 8

Monkeys

New World Monkey

Answer 8

30 mil yrs ago some anthropoids migrated to South America.
Arboreal, flat nose, prehensile tail.
Ie. Golden Lion Tameron, Spider Monkey

Question 9

Monkeys

Old World Monkey

Answer 9

25 mil yrs ago the anthropoids staying in Africa split into 2 groups: old world monkeys and hominoids.
O.W.M. - evolved separately from New World Monkeys for 30 mil yrs.
Ground and arboreal.
No prehensile tail.
Nose points down with close nostrils.
Some have sitting pads. Ie. Baboon.

Question 10

Hominoids

Answer 10

Apes and humans.
Living apes - gibbons, orangutans, gorilla, chimp, baboon were common in Asia and Africa, rare today. Never were in North and South America.

Question 11

Who was the first hominoid?

Answer 11

1932 - an 8 mil yr old jaw with teeth found in India. Named Ramapithecus after deity Rama. Never found this type in Africa.
1981 - more complete fossil found. Ramapithecus related to orangutan.

Question 12

Which ape is our closest relative, according to DNA evidence?

Answer 12

See packet.
Human DNA vs chimp - 98.4% identical.
Human DNA vs gorilla - 97.7% identical BC gorillas split off before chimps.

Question 13

Hominids

Answer 13

Are bipeda and walk upright.

Apes knuckle walk, monkey palm walk.

Question 14

Laetoli, East Africa

Answer 14

69 hominid footprints found in volcanic ash.
3.7 mil yrs old.
Strong heel strike indicate bipedal, up right walking.
Big toe not splayed to the side as in an ape footprint.

Question 15

Evolution

Charles Darwin

Answer 15

1871 published The Descent of Man
Based on comparative anatomy, development, and behavior.
He concluded humans descended from African apes, which are now extinct.

Question 16

Climate change

Answer 16

5-10 mil yrs ago the world climate cooled.
African forest becomes a savanna and grassland.
Bipedal apes evolve:
Australopithecus - older version, smaller brain.
Homo - more modern type, larger brain.

Question 17

1924 Australopithecus africanus

Answer 17

An odd rock was found in a mine.
2.8 mil yr old skull of a 5 yr old with milk teeth.
Some ape like features. Projecting face and small brain.
Some humans features - rounded jaw, foremen magnum on bottom of skull.

Question 18

1938 Australopithecus robustus

Answer 18

A stockier version of africanus found in South Africa. It had massive teeth and jaws.

Question 19

1959 Australopithecus boisei

Answer 19

Found in E. Africa by Mary Leakey. Named after Charles Boisei, who funded the dig.
Stockier the robustus.
2 mil yr old fossil nicknamed the Nutcracker Man bc of bony ridge on the chest of the head. It was an attachment site for jaw muscles.

Question 20

1974 Australopithecus afarensis

Answer 20

Founded by Don Johnson in the Afar desert of Ethiopia. Most complete so far - 40%. 3 mil yr old called Lucy. Female pelvis. Bipedal leg bones. Projecting face of an ape. Chimp size brain 400cm3 (avg student brain 1300cm3)
1990 - 3 more individuals found. This is diverse grp bc hominid evolution began in many places.
1994 - almost complete skeleton found in Ethiopia. 4.4 mil yrs old. More ape like than Australopithecus. Called Ardipithecus ramidus. Afar language: Ardi - ground, rami - root
1995 - Australio anamensis. Ancestor to A. Afarenses. Intermediate between Australio and Arde.

Question 21

Clads

Answer 21

Groups with traits in common to an ancestor

Question 22

Phylogenic tree

Answer 22

Lumpers and splitters

Question 23

Early homo

Answer 23

African origin. Many skeletons found in the last 30 yrs.

Question 24

Homo habilis

Answer 24

Stone tools and a crushed skull found near A. boisei.
Reconstruction produces a 680cm3 skull. Larger than Australio of 400-550cm3.
Bc of tools, called habilis or handy man.
1986 - partial Skelton found. Arms were longer than the legs, like Australio.
Many researchers questioned if it was human.

Question 25

Hmo habilis or homo rudolfenses

Answer 25

1972 Richard Leakey at Lake Rudoff in N. Kenya. Found 1.9 mil yr old skull 750cm3. Human, not Australio. Some call it habilis, others rudolfenses.

Question 26

Homo ergaster

Answer 26

``` Found by German worker. Homo skeleton - clearly not habilis or rudolfenses. Larger brain than rudolfenses. Modern human size teeth. Probably an ancestor to modern humans. ```

Question 27

Homo erectus

Answer 27

First fossil looking truly human.

Question 28

Homo erectus | Java Man

Answer 28

Long legs of an upright walker. Large brain 1000cm3. Old bones ~500,000 yrs old. 1969 nearly complete skull found.

Question 29

Homo erectus | Peking Man

Answer 29

1920s in Dragon Bone Hill, a cave on a hill about 40 Km South of Peking China, now called Beijing.Bones similar to Java Man found. 14 skulls, crude tools, ashes of a camp fire. 1941 at the onset of WWII a trunk of fossils was lost. Plaster casts sent around the world for safe keeping. After the war, 40 fossils were found. 1043cm3 skull. ~5 ft tall, brow ridges, modern round jaw.

Question 30

Homo migrates out of Africa

Answer 30

1976 complete erectus skull found in East Asia. 1.5 mil yrs old, older than Java or Peking Man. This was the beginning of human expansion.

Question 31

Life style of homo erectus

Answer 31

``` Social tribes or 20-25 people. Caves or crude wooden structures. Hunted large animals. Butchered them with flint and bone tools. Cooked over fires. Disappeared in Africa 500,000 yrs ago. Disappeared in Asia 250,000 yrs ago. ```

Question 32

Modern human

Answer 32

``` Appeared in Africa 600,000 yrs ago. There could've been 3 original species: Homo heidlbugensis, Homo neanderthalensis, Homo sapiens. Or just Homo sapiens. ```