ANTH 1001 Final Exam Solved 2024
• Early Homo dates
between 2.4 & 1.6
mya.
• KNM-ER 1470 has
Australopith face, with
molars the size of A.
africanus, but with
bigger brain.
• KNM-ER 1813 has
more derived (more
modern) traits of
smaller face & smaller
teeth, but also smaller
brain. - ANSWER-
1st Out of Africa, best date currently
Hominin fossils at 1.78 mya - ANSWER-
Absolute or
Chronometric
Dating Techniques - ANSWER-Potassium- Argon
(40K-
40A) Dating
Dating volcanic sediments
from 10,000 years to 4.5
billion years 3
Radiocarbon:
• Materials: living
tissue that
incorporates
carbon.
• Range: 200 years
- 60,000 years
Another important
chronometric dating
technique:
Uranium/Thorium Dating: 238U to 230Th
- range 1,000 years - 500,000 years,
- Material: carbonate sediments like
stalagmites and flowstone in caves, also
bones & teeth.
,Thermoluminscence (TL)
Material: burnt
stone tools
Range: 5,000 to
1,000,000 years
Event? The
heating of the
artifact, not the
formation of the
rock or its shaping
by a hominin
Optically Stimulated Luminscence (OSL)
Adaptive
Radiations - ANSWER-a) Difference between habitat and niche.
b) Relatively rapid expansion and diversification of life
forms into new ecological niches (due to extrinsic or
intrinsic change).
c) Initial phenotypic diversity due to relaxed selection.
d) Radiations usually end with increased selection
pressures in the newly filled niches.
Ardipithecus - ANSWER-Found first in 1992 by White et al. but only
published in partial detail in 2009.
• Two species:
-A. kadabba: 5.8-5.2 Ma
- A. ramidus: 4.4-3.9 Ma
Similar to Sahelanthropus • Cranial capacity 300-350 cc • Foramen magnum placed
beneath the
cranium
• Base of cranium in evolutionary
direction towards hominins
• No canine honing facet - Reduced canine - Less sexual dimorphism than
chimp but more than humans
Ardipithecus ramidus
postcranial morphology* - ANSWER-• Short broad pelvis
• Abductable big toe but used as a
stabilizer in bipedal locomotion
• Primitive foot with some bipedal
features
• Intermembral index close to 1.0!
• No suspensory or knucklewalking
adaptations
,Ardipithecus ramidus reconstructed - ANSWER-• Suggested to be a facultative biped
terrestrially and a four-hand
climber/clamberer arboreally
• Unique combination not seen
in other apes, but includes
many features similar to
earliest apes (>12 million
years earlier)
• If all of these claims are true,
this suggests that many of the
similarities between gorillas
and chimpanzees, and
between these and modern
humans are convergences!
Gorilla Pan Homo
Ardipithecus ram
At the beginning - ANSWER--Sahelanthropus tchadensis, the earliest known hominin,
has a surprising mix of derived and primitive features
-Orrorin tugenesis is a second early fossil with similarities to humans
-The genus Ardipithecus includes two species, Ar. kadabba and Ar. ramidus, from the
middle Awash region of Ethiopia
-Another member of the same genus. Ar. ramidus, appears in the fossil record about a
million years after Ardipithecus kadabba
-ARA-VP-6/500, more commonly known as Ardi, represents most of the skeleton of a
single individual
-Ar. ramidus resembles Sahelanthropus and Orrorin in many features of its skull, face,
and dentition
Ar. ramidus provides a preview of a distinctive suite of dental traits that characterize
later hominins: thicker molar enamel, general reduction in the size and extent of sexual
dimorphism in the canines, and no honing by the premolars
-The postcranial anatomy of Ar. ramidus provides important clues about its locomotor
patterns. Characteristics of the feet and pelvis indicate that Ar. ramidus walked upright
-Characteristics of the hands and forelimbs suggest that Ardipithecus lacked some of
the locomotor specializations we see in modern apes
-The analyses of Ar. ramidus's morphology have surprised palaeontologists in a number
of ways
Australopithecus
sediba - ANSWER-• Malapa Cave, South Africa. 2.0-1.8 mya
• Cranial
- Small brain (430 cc) but with small
teeth.
, • Postcranial
- Long arms, primitive foot
- Derived pelvis and hand
Australopithecus afarensis - ANSWER-• Morphology: arboreal
- cranially-oriented scapular
glenoid
- curved phalanges
- long toes
- high intermembral index
• Morphology: terrestrial
- anteriorly placed,
downward directed
foramen magnum
- distinct foot arch
- distinct valgus knee angle
• Morphology: general
- 375-500 c.c.
- large procumbent
incisors
- prognathic face
- megadonty (very large
molars and premolars,
with thick enamel)
Australopithecus afarensis:
"southern ape from the Afar" - ANSWER-• Afar depression,
Ethiopia; also in Laetoli,
Tanzania, and Turkana
basin, Kenya (East
Africa)
• 3.9-2.9 Ma
The Hadar find
AL 288-1, called
"Lucy," an
Australopithecus
afarensis.
Australopithecus africanus:
southern ape of Africa - ANSWER-3.5-2.0 Ma
• South African sites of
Sterkfontein,
Makapansgat, Taung
• Morphology:
• Early Homo dates
between 2.4 & 1.6
mya.
• KNM-ER 1470 has
Australopith face, with
molars the size of A.
africanus, but with
bigger brain.
• KNM-ER 1813 has
more derived (more
modern) traits of
smaller face & smaller
teeth, but also smaller
brain. - ANSWER-
1st Out of Africa, best date currently
Hominin fossils at 1.78 mya - ANSWER-
Absolute or
Chronometric
Dating Techniques - ANSWER-Potassium- Argon
(40K-
40A) Dating
Dating volcanic sediments
from 10,000 years to 4.5
billion years 3
Radiocarbon:
• Materials: living
tissue that
incorporates
carbon.
• Range: 200 years
- 60,000 years
Another important
chronometric dating
technique:
Uranium/Thorium Dating: 238U to 230Th
- range 1,000 years - 500,000 years,
- Material: carbonate sediments like
stalagmites and flowstone in caves, also
bones & teeth.
,Thermoluminscence (TL)
Material: burnt
stone tools
Range: 5,000 to
1,000,000 years
Event? The
heating of the
artifact, not the
formation of the
rock or its shaping
by a hominin
Optically Stimulated Luminscence (OSL)
Adaptive
Radiations - ANSWER-a) Difference between habitat and niche.
b) Relatively rapid expansion and diversification of life
forms into new ecological niches (due to extrinsic or
intrinsic change).
c) Initial phenotypic diversity due to relaxed selection.
d) Radiations usually end with increased selection
pressures in the newly filled niches.
Ardipithecus - ANSWER-Found first in 1992 by White et al. but only
published in partial detail in 2009.
• Two species:
-A. kadabba: 5.8-5.2 Ma
- A. ramidus: 4.4-3.9 Ma
Similar to Sahelanthropus • Cranial capacity 300-350 cc • Foramen magnum placed
beneath the
cranium
• Base of cranium in evolutionary
direction towards hominins
• No canine honing facet - Reduced canine - Less sexual dimorphism than
chimp but more than humans
Ardipithecus ramidus
postcranial morphology* - ANSWER-• Short broad pelvis
• Abductable big toe but used as a
stabilizer in bipedal locomotion
• Primitive foot with some bipedal
features
• Intermembral index close to 1.0!
• No suspensory or knucklewalking
adaptations
,Ardipithecus ramidus reconstructed - ANSWER-• Suggested to be a facultative biped
terrestrially and a four-hand
climber/clamberer arboreally
• Unique combination not seen
in other apes, but includes
many features similar to
earliest apes (>12 million
years earlier)
• If all of these claims are true,
this suggests that many of the
similarities between gorillas
and chimpanzees, and
between these and modern
humans are convergences!
Gorilla Pan Homo
Ardipithecus ram
At the beginning - ANSWER--Sahelanthropus tchadensis, the earliest known hominin,
has a surprising mix of derived and primitive features
-Orrorin tugenesis is a second early fossil with similarities to humans
-The genus Ardipithecus includes two species, Ar. kadabba and Ar. ramidus, from the
middle Awash region of Ethiopia
-Another member of the same genus. Ar. ramidus, appears in the fossil record about a
million years after Ardipithecus kadabba
-ARA-VP-6/500, more commonly known as Ardi, represents most of the skeleton of a
single individual
-Ar. ramidus resembles Sahelanthropus and Orrorin in many features of its skull, face,
and dentition
Ar. ramidus provides a preview of a distinctive suite of dental traits that characterize
later hominins: thicker molar enamel, general reduction in the size and extent of sexual
dimorphism in the canines, and no honing by the premolars
-The postcranial anatomy of Ar. ramidus provides important clues about its locomotor
patterns. Characteristics of the feet and pelvis indicate that Ar. ramidus walked upright
-Characteristics of the hands and forelimbs suggest that Ardipithecus lacked some of
the locomotor specializations we see in modern apes
-The analyses of Ar. ramidus's morphology have surprised palaeontologists in a number
of ways
Australopithecus
sediba - ANSWER-• Malapa Cave, South Africa. 2.0-1.8 mya
• Cranial
- Small brain (430 cc) but with small
teeth.
, • Postcranial
- Long arms, primitive foot
- Derived pelvis and hand
Australopithecus afarensis - ANSWER-• Morphology: arboreal
- cranially-oriented scapular
glenoid
- curved phalanges
- long toes
- high intermembral index
• Morphology: terrestrial
- anteriorly placed,
downward directed
foramen magnum
- distinct foot arch
- distinct valgus knee angle
• Morphology: general
- 375-500 c.c.
- large procumbent
incisors
- prognathic face
- megadonty (very large
molars and premolars,
with thick enamel)
Australopithecus afarensis:
"southern ape from the Afar" - ANSWER-• Afar depression,
Ethiopia; also in Laetoli,
Tanzania, and Turkana
basin, Kenya (East
Africa)
• 3.9-2.9 Ma
The Hadar find
AL 288-1, called
"Lucy," an
Australopithecus
afarensis.
Australopithecus africanus:
southern ape of Africa - ANSWER-3.5-2.0 Ma
• South African sites of
Sterkfontein,
Makapansgat, Taung
• Morphology:
