Physical Anthropology and Human Evolution

Vocabulary flashcards covering core concepts, figures, theories, and fossil evidence in Physical Anthropology and Human Evolution.

Physical Anthropology

A major branch of anthropology concerned with human biological evolution, physical variation, early human ancestors, primatology, and paleoanthropology.

Carolus Linnaeus

An 18th-century explorer and scientist who developed a classification system for plants and animals based strictly on their physical characteristics, believing species were fixed and unchangeable.

Charles Darwin

A 19th-century naturalist who studied species variation on the Galapagos Islands during his 1830s Voyage of the Beagle and formulated the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection.

Theory of Natural Selection

The evolutionary process proposed by Charles Darwin stating that species must adapt to environmental changes or face extinction, passing advantageous survival traits to offspring over generations.

Gregor Mendel

A priest and biology teacher who performed plant cross-breeding experiments, establishing genetic proof for how physical traits are inherited from biological parents.

Paleoanthropology

The scientific study of human ancestors (hominins) through fossilized skeletal remains and stone artifacts.

Fossil

Preserved biological matter or trace remains of ancient organisms, such as bones or footprints, used by paleoanthropologists to trace human evolution.

Lucy

A 3.2-million-year-old partial hominin skeleton (40% complete) standing 3.5 feet tall, discovered in Ethiopia in 1974, providing crucial evidence of bipedalism and ape-human transitional traits.

Donald Johanson

The paleoanthropologist who discovered the 3.2-million-year-old fossil skeleton named Lucy in Ethiopia in 1974.

Mary Leakey

The anthropologist who discovered the Laetoli Footprints preserved in volcanic ash in Tanzania, dating back 3.6 million years.

Laetoli Footprints

Fossilized footprints preserved in volcanic ash dating to 3.6 million years ago, representing the earliest direct evidence of bipedalism.

Quadruped

A creature that moves or walks on all four limbs.

Bipedalism

The ability to walk upright on two legs, considered a key evolutionary strength of human ancestors.

Traits of Bipedalism

Specific skeletal adaptations required for walking on two legs, including an S-curved spine, wide flat pelvis, slanting thigh bone (femur), double-arched foot, and a big toe aligned with the heel.

Hominins

Early known human ancestors and modern humans that belong to the evolutionary lineage following the split from ape ancestors.

Homo habilis

An early hominin species recognized as one of the first to begin making and utilizing stone tools.

Stone Tools

Artifacts made by early hominins that evolved from crude forms to refined tools, enabling efficient food processing, improved nutrition, brain development, and social learning.

Hand Axe Production

The multi-step Stone Age process of creating a hand axe starting with a large rock, shaping it with a stone hammer, sharpening edges with wood or antler hammers, and trimming edges using a pointed stick.