DISCLAIMER:  This study guide does not necessarily contain all the information that may appear on the test.
 

SUMMARY OF TOPICS COVERED

• Human Derived Traits
• Australopithecines
• Hominins
  

  
TERMS      (don't spend too much time on these!)

• paleoanthropology
  
• derived trait
• savanna hypothesis
• savanna-woodland hypothesis
• gallery forest hypothesis
  
• aquatic ape hypothesis

• terrestrial
• division of labor
• home base
• living floor

• bipedalism
• quadrupedalism
• cranial
• post-cranial
• ilium
• femur
• rib cage
  
• arm:leg ratio
• vertebral column
• divergent toe
• foramen magnum

• cut mark or butcher mark
• disarticulate
• marrow

• primary tool
• secondary tool
• expedient tool
  
• curated tool
  
• simple tool
• complex / composite tool
• preadaptation
  
• manual dexterity
• prehensile
• power grip
• precision grip
• stereoscopic vision
• osteodontokeratic culture
• Oldowan
  
• Acheulian
  

• brain complexity
• brain size
• cortex and neocortex
  
• convolution
• endocast
  
• cranial capacity
• cubic centimeters (cc)

• abstract communication
• language
  
• spoken language / speech
• brain lateralization
  
• Broca's area
• Wernicke's area
  
• larynx
• skull flexure
  
• hypoglossal canals
• hyoid bone

• hominid
• australopithecine
• hominin
  
• Miocene Epoch
• Pliocene Epoch
• Pleistocene Epoch
• Holocene Epoch
  
• provisional australopithecine
• gracile australopithecine
• robust australopithecine
• adaptive radiation
• sagittal crest
• prognathism
• post-orbital constriction
  
• anatomically modern human

PEOPLE

• Raymond Dart
• Louis and Mary Leakey
• Richard and Meave Leakey
  
• Donald Johanson
• Eugene Dubois
• Alan Walker
• Michel Brunet
  
• William King
• Tim White
• F. Clark Howell
  
• Berhane Asfaw
• Sarah Tishkoff
• Svante Paabo
  

GENERA / SPECIES

• Sahelanthropus
• Orrorin
• Ardipithecus
• Australopithecus
• Paranthropus
• Kenyanthropus
  

• Sahelanthropus tchadensis
  
• Australopithecus afarensis
• Australopithecus africanus
  
• Australopithecus gahri
  
• Homo habilis
  
• Homo rudolfensis
  
• Homo erectus
• Homo neandertalensis
  
• Homo floresiensis
  
• Homo sapiens
  

SITES

• Toros-Menalla, Chad
  
• Taung, South Africa
  
• Laetoli, Tanzania
• Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
• Lake Turkana, Kenya
• Gona and Aramis, Ethiopia
• Hadar, Ethiopia
• Zhoukoudian, China
  
• Krapina, Slovenia
• Terra Amata, France
• Feldhoffer, Germany
• Herto, Ethiopia
  

DATES / NUMERICAL INFORMATION

• oldest cranial skeletal evidence of bipedalism
• oldest post-cranial skeletal evidence of bipedalism
• oldest trace fossil evidence of bipedalism

• average percentage of meat in the human diet
• oldest evidence of animal butchering

• date for oldest stone tools
  

• number of australopithecine genera and species
  
• time ranges for australopithecines
  

• number of hominin genera and species
  
• time ranges for hominins
  

• oldest evidence of controlled use of fire and cave dwelling
  

• oldest evidence of intentional burial of the dead

• four explanations for why human derived traits developed

• traits associated with terrestrial habitat

• significance of bipedalism
• anatomical changes associated with bipedalism
• four advantages of bipedalism over quadrupedalism

• significance of increased meat use
• types of evidence of increased meat use

• significance of tool use
• preadaptations for tool use

• evidence of increasing brain complexity

• evidence for capacity to speak

• distribution (continents) of australopithecines vs. hominins
• physical differences between gracile and robust australopithecines
• physical differences between australopithecines and hominins
  
• cultural developments of australopithecines vs. hominins

OTHER

These are topics you need to review from the Relethford text. Many of these topics were covered in lecture.

• Chapter 7: brain size and structure, bipedalism, is human behavior unique (all subsections), special topic: humans and apes - what genes are different
  

• Chapter 8: interpreting fossils, interpreting behavior

• Chapter 10: overview of human evolution, the first hominins, primitive hominins, hominin diversity, evolutionary trends, origin of bipedalism

• Chapter 11: origin of the genus Homo, Homo erectus (all subsections), Middle Pleistocene hominins (all sections), neandertals (all sections)
  

• Chapter 12: cultural traits,  modern human origins debate (all subsections)

1.   Which of the following statements about the australopithecines is false?

a.     They are all extinct.
b.     They lived in Africa and Asia.
c.     Twelve species have been identified.
d.     Six genera have been identified.
e.     Their dental traits became more modern looking before their brains.

2.    Which of the following is not an advantage of bipedalism discussed in class?

a.    frees the hands to carry things
b.    increases field of view
c.    efficient way to cover long distances in terms of energy use
d.    allows males to hunt and females to gather
e.    helps to prevent overheating in an equatorial environment

3.    The fossil Lucy was discovered by

a.    Donald Johanson.
b.    Mary Leakey.
c.    Louis Leakey.
d.    Raymond Dart.
e.    Eugene Dubois.

4.    Which of the following is not a preadaptation for human tool use?

a.    precision grip
b.    prehensile hand
c.    stereoscopic vision
d.    long opposable thumb
e.    post-orbital constriction

5.    The oldest evidence of tool use in the archaeological record is from the site of  ______  and is about  _____  million years old.

a.    Taung, 2.0
b.    Olduvai Gorge, 1.8
c.    Gona/Aramis, 2.6
d.    Laetoli, 3.25
e.    Sterkfontein, 3.75

6.    True or False:    Bipedalism requires a short broad ilium, inward-tapering femurs, closely set knees, and an s-shaped spine.
 

7.    True or False:    The site of Krapina, Slovenia is significant because it provides the oldest evidence of human burials.
 

8.    True or False:    Compared to gracile australopithecines, robust australopithecines had larger brow ridges, sagittal crests, larger jaws and teeth, and more prognathic faces.
 

9.    True or False:    The three subgroups of australopithecines are gracile, robust, and prognathic.
 

10.    True or False:    Compared to the australopithecines, hominins had larger brains, higher foreheads, orthognathic faces, projecting noses, and, in some cases, projecting chins.
 

11.    The Taung Child fossil was discovered in South Africa by ________  .
 

12.    The time range for australopithecines is  ________  while the time range for hominins is  ______ .
 

Click here for answers to the practice questions.