SOCA 105 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Orrorin, Foramen Magnum, Human Taxonomy
Document Summary
Paleoanthropologist: study human evolution through the analysis of fossil remains: hominid, hominin, species. Humans and their extinct relatives defined by habitual bipedality. Great apes including humans and their extinct relatives: sapiens is the only extant (not extinct) member of hominina (the branch of our family tree) Big toe in line with all other toes. Trends in hominid evolution (95-98: bipedalism (95, reduction of the face, teeth, and jaws (97, increase in cranial capacity (98, dna (115) Fossil evidence for hominid evolution: anatomical evidence for habitual bipedalism. Ardi: ardi has traits like modern ape, hands of a free climber, feet had a gripping toe, ardi has thats like modern human, flexible wrists, smaller canine teeth, pelvis shows evidence of bipedality. Australopithecus robustus: fossil date 2-1 may, rugged jaws and flat face, molars were enormous, evidence for bone digging tools, post cranial skeleton similar to gracile cousins.
