Human Evolution

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from the lecture on human evolution.

Monophyletic

Referring to a group of organisms that consists of all the descendants of a common ancestor.

Hominoids

Great apes and humans.

Bipedal locomotion

The ability to walk on two legs.

Ardipithecus

An early genus of hominids, characterized by a possibly partially arboreal lifestyle and an opposable big toe.

Australopithecus afarensis

A species of hominid that showed evidence of walking on the ground as well as climbing trees.

Homo heidelbergensis

A species believed to be descended from Homo erectus, existing 800,000 to 300,000 years ago in Africa and Europe.

Out of Africa Hypothesis

The theory that modern humans evolved in Africa and dispersed to other continents, replacing other human species.

Microbiomes

The collection of microorganisms living on and in the human body, which may outnumber human cells and contain many genes.

Denisovan hominids

An extinct group of hominids known from fossils found in the Altay mountains, adapted to a mountain environment, with genetic links to modern humans.

Hominoidea

The group of primates that includes all apes and humans, known to have originated around 20 million years ago.