Exam 8: Primate and Hominin Origins

Discuss the combinations of anatomical characteristics found in Sahelanthropus, Ororrin, and Ardipithecus. Based on these characteristics, should these genera be considered hominins?

Radiometric dating techniques

Carbon-14 dating is a relative dating method used to date rocks and minerals.

Discuss the mechanics of walking on two legs in terms of four anatomical characteristics of a biped.

When did the initial hominid divergence from the African hominoids most likely occur?

The estimated average cranial capacity for Homo habilis is

What general conclusions can be drawn regarding the Miocene hominoids?

Draw your own phylogeny of the hominins discussed in Chapter 8. Explain the logic behind your phylogeny.

Recently discovered remains from the Tugen Hills, dated to about 6 million years ago have been placed in which genus?

Hominin emergence is characterized by the simultaneous appearance of bipedalism, toolmaking behavior, and a large brain.

The task of interpreting early hominin evolution

Sahelanthropus has an unusual combination of characteristics, including

Which genus is found in the Fayum and is probably close to the ancestry of both major groups of living Old World anthropoids?

If an isotope has a half-life of 4 billion years, then in 4 billion years what will happen?

Which of the following is not a chromometric dating method?

What is the contribution of investigations at Olduvai Gorge to paleoanthropological research?

The earliest hominin traces

Habitual bipedalism is the only form of hominin terrestrial locomotion.

What characteristics define a hominin? Discuss which aspects of your definition can be assessed in the fossil record.

Rates of development can be accurately reconstructed by examining dental growth markers.