ANTH 102: Exam 3, Pt. 2

Flexor pollicis longus

Muscle found in modern humans that makes the thumb our strongest finger

Abducted hallux

Big toe aligned with other toes for better balance and stride

Achilles tendon

Returns energy to ball of foot

Savannah Ape (Darwin)

Forest disappeared ->
Live on ground ->
Tools for hunting & fighting

Grassland Apes (Raymond Dart)

Grassy, distance hunters ->
Tools replaced canines ->
Became more peaceful

Threat & Display (Helen Fisher)

Bipedalism evolved due to sexual signaling

Hands to Carry

Benefit from bipedalism when asked to carry food, tools, young, etc.

Collecting Fruit Model (Kevin Hunt)

Seeds, fruit & pods high up -> facilitate standing

Energy Efficiency Model

Bbipedalism was more energy efficient than quadrupedalism for breathing while long-distance running

Thermoregulation Model (Peter Wheeler)

Humans shed heat better when further from ground

Provisioning Model (Lovejoy)

Natural selection selected for males to provision females so they could have more offspring

Relative dating

Geographic features (rock) found w/ fossil that creates bracket dates

Absolute dating

Dating the actual fossil which creates more precise dates (can't be done w/ most fossils)

Radiocarbon (C-14) dating

Determine the date/age of younger, organic artifacts using bone and charcoal

Potassium argon dating (K-Ar dating)

Dates layers around older fossils using argon crystals and potassium

Uranium dating

Dates layers around older fossils using uranium

Zircon dating

Used to determine the age of the Earth

Paleomagnetism

A dating technique relying on knowing the patterns of the Earth's polar field reversals

Biostratigraphy

Using animals as markers of certain time periods to date fossils

Earliest Primate Ancestor

Tree Shrew

Angiosperm Hypothesis

Primates originated with the arboreal predation of insects after expansion of the angiosperms (flowering plants)

Adapids

Lemurs

Ida

Ancestral lemurs

Omomyids

Galagos

Apidium & Branisella

NW Monkeys

Aegyptopithecus

OW Monkeys and Apes

Sivapithecus

Orangutans

Proconsul

Apes

Drypithecus

Oak ape

Ramapithecus

Ape-like jaw

Gigantopithecus

Big ape with huge teeth

Bipedalism Adaptations

Foramen magnum
S-shaped spinal curve
Barrel ribs
Bowl shaped pelvis
Valgus knee
Foot arch
Big toe is forward

Which genus was a long distance walker?

Australopithecus afarensis

Cranial changes for bipedalism

Foramen magnum
Wider occipital condyles
Larger mastoid process

Spinal changes for bipedalism

Lumber holds up waist
More lumbar vertebrae
3 spinal curves (cervical, thoracic, lumbar)

Hand changes for bipedalism

Smaller hands
Less curved fingers

Pelvis changes for bipedalism

Bowl shaped
Wide & flaring ilium
Reorientated gluteus maximus & medius

Femur changes for bipedalism

Denser femoral neck
Lower greater trochanter
Angled femur
Flattened distal condyles

Feet changes for bipedalism

Hallux moved in line with other toes
Arched

Running adaptations

Gluteus medius & minus
Achilles tendon
Smaller foot size
Striding gait

Human's Slow Life History

Larger brain
Long juvenile period
Increased longevity
Paternal investment
Reduced dimorphism

Homo heidelbergensis places

Stenheim, Germany
Arago, France
Petralona, Greece
China, Dali

La-Chapelle Aux Saints

First full neanderthal skeleton discovered
Led to stigma about people in mental hospitals

Mid-Pleistocene technology changes

Larger brains = better tools
Larger populations = rapid technology growth

Homo helmei

Archaic Homo sapiens

Homo heidelbergensis

Middle Pleistocene hominins from Africa and western Eurasia

Bodo, Ethiopia

Fossil showed transition from Homo erectus to Homo heidelbergensus with cutmarks on lips (defleshing)

Kabwe, Zambia (Rhodesian Man)

Poor oral health from eating sweets for large portion of diet

Sima del Los Huesos

First example of body disposal

Narmada, India

Big brain (1288 cc) H. heidelbergensis with a rounded skull but no forehead

Dorothy Garrod

Preserved a Neanderthal site in Devils Tower Cave, Gibraltar