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Arch 131 > Final > Flashcards

Final Flashcards

1
Q

What is a Plesiomorphic trait? And what is an example

A

A primitive trait inherited by a species from their ancestor.

prehensile feet in living apes
no tail in humans

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2
Q

What is an apomorphic trait? What is an example

A

New or ‘derived’ trait. It first appears in the species in question.

no tail in primitive apes
non-prehensile feet in later hominins

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3
Q

What do researchers need to do when they dig up a new fossil

A

• just another example of something we’ve already found before?
• or a new species?
• or even a new genus?

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4
Q

What is Phylogeny and Taxonemy

A

Phylogeny refers to the actual evolutionary relationships between different organisms.

Taxonomy* is the process of classifying organisms, based on available data, about their phylogenetic relationships.

• With living organisms (and a few fossil species) we can use DNA to get a more accurate idea of actual evolutionary relationships (as we saw with the living primate taxonomy)
• This is mainly based on how different or similar two fossils are in their morphology – e.g., what plesiomorphies do they share and what apomorphies distinguish them?

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5
Q

Who serves as an analog for the earliest hominids and what were their traits

A

Modern chimpanzee as an analog for the earliest hominins
Chimpanzee post-crania:
• long arms
• short legs
• long, narrow pelvis
• legs widely spaced
• long narrow fingers/toes • prehensile hands and feet • narrow, deep rib cage

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6
Q

Explain the chimpanzee cranium

A

• brain size: 300-400 cc
• robust browridge
• alveolar prognathism
• canine pillars
• u-shaped tooth row
• small molars & premolars
• large incisors
• very large canines w honing complex

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7
Q

How long ago did hominins break away from gorillas and apes

A

8 million

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8
Q

What are the four Australopithecines

A

• Australopithecus anamensis
• Australopithecus afarensis
• Australopithecus africanus
• Australopithecus sediba ?

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9
Q

What is Australopithecus anamensis

A

≈ 4 mya
East African Species
370cc brain size

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10
Q

What is Australopithecus afarensis

A

≈4.0to3.0mya East Africa

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11
Q

What is Australopithecus africanus

A

≈3.0-2.4 mya
South Africa

U SHAPED TEETH

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12
Q

Who started our Homo genus

A

Homo habilis
≈ 2.8–1.5 mya
Mainly East Africa
… maybe South Africa too?

130 cm tall

Intermembral Index: Arm length/leg length x 100

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13
Q

What are 3 traits that seperate Homo habilis from the Australopithicines and Paranthropines

A
  1. Increased cranial capacity (650cc)
  2. Smaller teeth and more parabolic dental arc
  3. More advances precision grip

Homo habilis means handy man

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14
Q

Why is homo habilis handy man

A

Appearance of stone technology (lithic technology)

Suitable stone must be: • very hard
• very fine grained • homogenous

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15
Q

What is dual inheritance theory

A

Inherit gene Italy determined characteristics and then through social learning they inherit adaptive traits

Ex. More adaptable arms to bows and arrows

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16
Q

What are some theories as to why the homo genus has evolved much larger brains over the years

A

Socialization Theory: Group social interaction is more cognitively complex than most other types of behaviour

Requires us to monitor

1/ our relationship with every other individual
2/ the one to one relationships between all other individuals
3/ these relationships are always changing

Complex language theory: Language allows individuals to more accurately and directly express their desires and intentions

Advantages include:

• discuss things that are not present
• talk about past and future
• discuss abstract concepts
• store information collectively
– lock knowledge into the collective mind of a group

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17
Q

What are the theories about bipedalism

A
  1. Tool use
  2. Thermorégulation
  3. Efficiency of locomotion
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18
Q

What were the two main hunting traits

A

Bipedalism: Freed up the hands for the manufacture and use of hunting weapons?
Encephalization: A need for increased cooperation and communication to be successful hunters led to a larger brain?

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19
Q

How did hunters work

A

Women cooked and cared for the kids and the men gathered the meat they shared the meet with their whole group

Sometimes they stole kill from other animals

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20
Q

Why did early humans begin eating meat

A

“Expensive Tissue” Hypothesis

The ‘Cooking Hypothesis’

21
Q

Homo Ergaster and erectus

A

Appeared in Africa ≈2 million years ago

H. ergaster appeared in Africa 2 mya and …
… H. erectus appeared in Africa 1.6 or 1.7 mya.
H. erectus continued in:

• Africa until 600,000 years ago
• Asia until 100,000 years ago??
• Europe until 500,000 years ago
However, today, all European fossils that were once called Homo erectus have been given different species names

Homo erectus is likely a direct ancestor of ours

22
Q

What are some typical features of ergaster and erectus

A

Average height for H. ergaster/erectus
• 165 cm for males
• 153 cm for females

Thicker cranial bone than modern humans

Cranium has a prolonged shape in the rear

Ergaster 950cc
Erectus 1000cc

23
Q

How did ergaster/erectus adapt to open environments

A

• Evolved large body with long legs&raquo_space; more efficient bipeds
• Evolved effective thermoregulation system and hairless bodies
• And an even larger brain

• Classic example of adaptive radiation

24
Q

How tall were hobbits

A

H. Floresiensis
1.1 meters tall!

25
Q

Explain the first humans in Europe and when they arrived

A

1/ some form of ‘H. erectus’ arrives by 1,400,000 bp - tooth and some stone tools
2/ H. heidelbergensis arrives ≈ 600-500,000 bp
heidelbergensis evolves into Neandertals
Atapuerca, Spain
3/ we modern humans arrive ≈ 45,000 bp

26
Q

What are the three dating methods

A

• Absolute, chronometric, or radiometric dating • Biochronology
• Paleomagnetism

27
Q

How can we date sites using paleomagnetism

A

When sediments slowly accumulate: tiny
iron particles orient to Earth’s magnetic field
The particles align with whichever pole (North or South) is positive at the time
When sediments become compacted, particle orientation becomes locked in
Sediments with particles oriented north could be relatively recent since that’s the current condition.
However, sediments with particles oriented south HAVE to be at least 780,000 years old

28
Q

European hominins from 1.4 mya to 600 kya

A

Don’t really know what these hominins look like since these are the only face bits we have
Likely they are similar to Homo erectus in Africa and Asia

29
Q

European hominins from 600 to 200 kya

A

These fossils probably represent a new wave from Africa. They look like Africa hominins that date to after 700 kya
• 600 kya Bodo cranium from Ethiopia and 500 kya Kabwe cranium from Zambia

30
Q

What did H heidelbergensis do

A

brought Acheulian handaxe technology with them from Africa – or it was re-invented in Europe
We’re in Germany Spain and Greece
600000 bp

Much more robust and had fractured skulls likely caused by violence
Likely lived in a cave as they did not have many stone tools

31
Q

What are the earliest discoveries of Neanderthals

A

1830
Engis Cave, Belgium

1856
Feldhofer Cave Germany

1886
Spy d’Orneau Cave
Belgium
(2 skeletons)

1890s–1930s
Lots of Neandertal discoveries

Krapina, Croatia
• 1899
• MNI of around 2 dozen
• all bones were fragmented
• cutmarks, burning = cannibalism?

La Chapelle-aux-Saints, France
• 1908
• mostly complete
• old man with arthritis • “Intentional Burial”

La Ferrassie, France
• 1907-1922
• 6 individuals
• “intentional burials”

Shanidar Cave, Iraq
• 1950s
• 9 individuals
• “intentional burials”

Infant remains:
Roc de Marsal, France
• 1960s-70s
• 3 year-old child
• “intentional burial”

32
Q

How long did Neanderthals last

A

250-40 kya

33
Q

Most recent fossil of Neanderthals

A

Mezmaiskaya, Russia
• 2 week-old infant • 40,000 ya

34
Q

What did neanderthals eat

A

Meat and more than you would expect. Hypercarnivores

35
Q

Neanderthals build

A

Wider stalkier build and they were slightly shorter than modern humans but not by much, they also used lots of stone tools

Rip cages were cone shaped

1450cc

Very strong hands

Big face with large eye orbits
Big nose

Ns seem to be a cold-adapted species:
• Apparent physiological adaptations to cold climate
• Never moved into warm regions: stayed above 30°north

Neandertals disappear around 40,000 years ago. But, why this occurred is not known:

Arrival of us modern humans?
• They disappear shortly after we arrived in Europe.
• We may have overlap with them for less than 2000 years – not very long.

36
Q

Neanderthal inbreeding

A

Today, in the modern human genome:
• people of European and Asian ancestry have 1 to 2% Neandertal DNA
• people of strictly African ancestry have little or none
• interbreeding occurred before modern humans reached Asia – in the Middle East?

37
Q

Explain modern human skull and face

A

Circle head triangle cheek bone

widest point is high up on sides
more rectangular orbits

small nasal aperature

We lack a retromolar gap
… unlike this Neandertal

38
Q

Where were the earliest homo sapien fossils

A

Jebel Irhoud, Morocco

Omo Kibish, Ethiopia

39
Q

What happened to humans 40000 bp and what are the theories

A

Until 40,000 bp there was always a variety of hominin species around.
How did we, Homo sapiens sapiens, come to be the only hominin species left in the world?
Two hypotheses:
Complete Replacement or “Out of Africa” and
Regional Continuity

40
Q

Complete Replacement, or “Out of Africa” Hypothesis

A
  1. AMH evolved exclusively in Africa between 300,000 and 150,000 years ago
  2. Shortly after 100,000 bp, we spread out from Africa
    3.Between 70,000 and 40,000 bp, we replaced all other hominin species in the world (with little interbreeding)
41
Q

Regional Continuity Hypothesis

A
  1. AMHevolvedasmultiplepopulationsinmultipleregions across the Old World (Africa, Asia, and Europe) from the local archaic groups
    2/ Appeared more or less at same time in Africa, Asia, and Europe
    3/ This occurred through constant gene flow between regions: interacted like a single population - not parallel evolution
42
Q

Evidence in Support of “Out of Africa”

A

1/ The fossil record
2/ Genetics:
• esp. mtDNA and Y chromosome data
a/ Compared to most other animal species, modern humans have a very low degree of variability in our mtDNA

b/ Also appears to be a very low degree of variability in the Y chromosome among modern males.

43
Q

Cephalic index

A

breadth/length
X 100

≤ 75 = dolicocephalic
75-79.9 = mesocephalic
80-84.9 = brachycephalic
85+ = hyperbrachycephalic

44
Q

1960-80 human races

A

• Caucasoid ‘white’
• Mongoloid ‘Asian’
• Australoid Australasians
• Negroid ‘Africans’
• Capoid Bushmen of S Africa

45
Q

Biological Determinism

A

Cultural variability was seen as biologically determined and, therefore, inherited in the same way that physical characteristics were.

The idea that people of different geographic origin have biologically determined differences – that some are superior to others - is the definition of racism.

46
Q

What is the problem with the normative view of race

A

The normative view = members of different groups are characterized by discrete traits and so can be easily divided into discrete groups/categories.

Studying different people around the world, anthropologists were seeing continuous (not discrete) distributions of traits across “racial” boundaries and between geographic regions.
All the traits we can see (and those that are not visible, like blood type) have a clinal distribution – they grade across geographic space in either frequency or form.

47
Q

DNA and race

A

Furthermore, of the minor genetic differences between us, there is more difference within any one geographic population than there is between different populations.
Individuals with a common geographic ancestry will share some characteristics that may visibly distinguish them from individuals from other geographic regions (eye colour, head shape) …
… but, in fact, they typically have more genetic differences between them than either one has with individuals from distant geographic regions (blood type, eye colour, hair type, etc. etc.).

48
Q

evolution vs acclimatization

A

Temporary = acclimatization
Permanent= evolution

49
Q

Disease and the move from hunting-gathering to food production.

A

The change involved:
• settling in permanent villages (sedentism) • practicing agriculture (producing our food) • living in larger groups
Exposure to new disease vectors:
• more people living in close proximity
• human waste
• food refuse
• dogs
• rats and mice
• insects (fleas, lice)

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