history era 2

LUCA

Last Universal Common Ancestor. The shared ancestor that all life diverged (came) from

* DNA

A complex molecule containing the genetic information that makes up the chromosomes

Mutation

the act or process of changing

Natural Selection

the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. The theory of its action was first fully expounded by Charles Darwin and is now believed to be the main process that brings about evolution.

* Hominins

Humans (past & present)

Bipedal

the ability to walk upright on two legs

* Australopithecus

lived in Africa 3 to 5 million years ago. earliest human. bipedal. smaller brain (⅓ size)

* Homo habilis

East African hominid. literally. 'handy man'/ 'skillful human'

* Homo erectus

hominid that stood upright. small brain. literally "upright human"

* Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthals)

hominid lived 230,000 to 28,000 years ago

* intelligent with human habits
* evolutionary dead end

Homo sapiens.

modern human

* hominids w/ larger brains, language & tools
* began about 250,000 years ago
* literally 'wise human'

BP

Before Present

Paleontology

the branch of science concerned with fossil animals and plants.

Louis and Mary Leakey

Discovered - IN AFRICA - a new form of hominid called homo habilis ('handy man' or 'skillful human') defined by the use of tools

Lucy

Australopithecus (hominid) skeleton found in 1974 in Great Rift Valley (Hadar)

Donald Johanson

Anthropologist who found Lucy

Jane Goodall

known for detailed, long-term research on the chimpanzees in Tanzania \n - set the standard for social & behavioral study of chimpanzees

Paleolithic Era

designating the earliest period of the Stone Age from about 2 million BCE to about 10,000 BCE, characterized by the use of primitive stone tools

archaeologist

a scientist who learns about ancient people by studying the things they left behind

anthropologist

A person who studies human societies and cultures and their development and human biological and physiological characteristics and their evolution.

Cognitive Revolution

the point in time when humans developed the necessary brainpower to acquire language, think abstractly, and learn collectively. This allowed humans to create music, art, dance, and technology (instruments, toys, tools, and weapons)

symbolic language

use of words, images, and movements to express complex ideas

collective learning

sharing, preserving and building upon ideas over time

artifact

object made by a human being often an item of cultural or historical interest

forager

one who searches for food by hunting or gathering

nomadic

to travel from place to place to find fresh food, water, and other resources for survival

migration

the act or process of moving from one region into another

race

groups that humans are often divided into based on physical traits regarded as common among people of "shared ancestry"; this is a social construct invented by humans; there is no gene for race

Skin Color

The "color of skin" which is complexly determined. Skin color depends on many factors including reddening caused by inflammation

Ethnicity

groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background.

pull factors

Factors that induce people to move to a new location.

push factors

a factor that causes people to leave their homelands and migrate to another region

obstacles

any challenges people face to migrating

refugee

A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster

asylum seeker

Someone who has migrated to another country in the hope of being recognized as a refugee