Human Evolution

• what did the superorder of Euarchonta split into?

  prosimians and simians
• what are the key characteristics of prosimians?

  grasping fingers and toes for climbing, binocular vision, mostly nocturnal and most arboreal
• what are they key characteristics of simians?

  overlapping fields of vision, opposable thumbs, live in social groups, mostly diurnal
• what % was the overall similarity found when comparing human and chip genomes?

  96 %
• what are the key characteristics of apes?

  larger brains relative to body size, flexible behaviours, tail-less and highly social
• what happens to animals feet as they spend more time on the ground?

  they become flatter, with shorter toes, to allow them to move faster
• how is the skull attached in a chimpanzee?

  posteriorly
• how is the skull attached in a human?

  inferiorly
• what did the change in skull shape come hand in hand with and why?

  a change in pelvis shape as a larger skull comes with serious birthing complications
• how is the femur angled in chimpanzees?

  out
• how is the femur angled in humans?

  inwards
• why is the femur angled inwards in humans?

  to try and balance the centre of gravity so we can stand upright without falling over
• what is the name of the oldest fossil of human remains?

  Lucy
• where was Lucy found?

  ethiopia
• how old is Lucy estimated to be?

  3.2 million years
• how complete is Lucy's skeleton?

  40 %
• what are the two main hypotheses for the origin of modern humans?

  out of Africa (replacement / single origin hypothesis) and multiregional (model of parallel evolution)
• what is the out of Africa hypothesis also called?

  replacement / single origin hypothesis
• what is the multiregional hypothesis also called?

  model of parallel evolution
• which hypothesis suggested that Homo sapiens evolved in Africa and then moved out to colonise the rest of the world, replacing the homo Erectus population?

  the out of Africa hypothesis
• what does the out of Africa hypothesis suggest?

  that Homo sapiens evolved in Africa and then moved out to colonise the rest of the world, replacing the homo Erectus population
• what does the multi-regional hypothesis suggest?

  that homo Erectus left Africa first, colonising new continents, and then the Homo sapiens, and therefore anatomically modern humans, evolved independently outside of Africa simultaneously in different regions
• does the multi-regional hypothesis suggest that modern global populations are more or less closely related?

  less
• what makes us human and distinguishes us from chimps?

  bipedalism, permanent bisexual social groups, larger brains, capable of complex learning, use of language
• does the out of Africa hypothesis suggest the modern day populations are more or less closely related?

  more