Exam 8: Early Hominins

Bipedalism has traditionally been viewed as an adaptation to open grassland or savanna country, although Ardipithecus lived in a humid woodland habitat. Perhaps bipedalism developed in the woodlands but became even more adaptive in a savanna habitat.

Although we now know that the various species of Australopithecus discussed in this chapter do not form a distinct subfamily within the order Primates,

Australopithecus sediba, a new fossil from South Africa, is considered by some paleoanthropologists to be a bridge between australopithecines and the human lineage. This is because

Northern Tanzania and the Afar region of Ethiopia have yielded some of the most famous and informative glimpses into hominin evolution. All of the following are true about fossil finds in these areas EXCEPT that

Bipedalism, considered a key defining characteristic that differentiated early hominins from other apes,

What are the major difficulties that arise in trying to interpret the hominin fossil record? How do these difficulties lead to conflicting interpretations of human evolution?

What is the significance of Kenyanthropus, a 3.5-million-year-old fossil that Maeve Leakey discovered in Kenya in 1999?

What was the major hominin group that lived from about 4 to 1 m.y.a.?

What are the most significant features of the split between the australopithecines and Homo? How does environmental specialization figure into the equation? What about cultural adaptation?

All of the following about A.garhiare true EXCEPT that it

As a result of the Kenyanthropus discovery in 1999, the place of afarensis in human ancestry has been and will be debated between the taxonomic "splitters" and "lumpers."

What is the most important difference between Australopithecus afarensis and the modern apes?

Although the first hominins appeared late in the Miocene, most hominin fossils have been dated to

The cranial features of Australopithecus afarensis were poorly adapted to chewing, grinding, and crushing.

Which of the following statements about australopithecines is true?

Fossils of Australopithecus afarensis are particularly significant because

Compared to the australopithecines, early Homo had larger cheek teeth and a larger cranial capacity.

As this chapter makes clear, there are many issues within hominin evolution that remain open to debate. One of them regards the Kenyanthropus fossil found by Maeve Leakey, who argues that at least two hominin lineages existed as far back as 3.5 million years (the other being A.afarensis). Taxonomic "splitters" tend to agree with her interpretation, while taxonomic "lumpers" disagree. These two interpretations highlight