BSCS
Unit 4, Chapter 20
Human Evolution
1. Define hominid. Look at the photo of Australopithecus
africanus on p. 518 in your textbook. Now look at the photo
below of the same species.
which dates to approx. 2.7 my old
Now, study the diagram below.
Note the differences in each skull found. From which location
would you place the skulls in the photo in your textbook? What
did you base your decision on?
2. Describe what you would have been like as an
Australopithecene.
3. Go to http://www.asu.edu/clas/iho/lucy.html and read
about Lucy. She belonged to an older class of hominids called
Australopithecus afarensis. She is the oldest known fossil,
dating a little less than 3.18 my old.
After reading about her on the site, be able to explain how
scientists know she was a she, how old she was when she died,
and how they know she was bipedal. Here she is, what they
found of her…
4. What are the main characteristics of the order to which we
belong, Primate?
5. How does estrus differ from the menstrual cycle?
6. Define anthropology. How does it differ from paleontology?
7. Compare ape and hominid characteristics.
8. Study the figure 20.9 on p. 526. What differences can you
see?
9. The diagram below is the timeline of hominid development.
As old as Lucy is, there are older organisms as seen below.
.
Seven million years of hominid evolution is amazing. When you
study the diagram, about how long has Homo sapiens as a
species been on Earth?
10. How is molecular data more useful than anatomical
measurements in tracing our evolutionary history?
11. Who is Eve? (not the Biblical version)
12. Read Biological Challenge on p. 528. How would scientists
go about determining the original Eve?
13. Study Table 20.2 and 20.3 on p. 529 of your textbook. What
do these differences suggest to you in terms of evolutionary
relationships?
14. Study Figure 20.12 on p. 530. What differences do you
notice between the anatomical tree and the molecular tree?
How would these differences contribute to your understanding
evolutionary relationships? How would they confuse you?
15. How do scientists date human fossils? Why is it important
to date fossils?
16. Create a chart of the different hominid lines and indicate
the major advances in each one.
17. Create a chart of the different human lines and give major
achievements by each.
18. Now study Figure 20.21 on p. 538. How does it differ from
the one above?
19. Study the allele frequency map in Figure 20.23 on p. 540 for
the human blood group B. How are allele frequencies an
important tool in determining genetic relationships between
populations?
20. Summarize the major evolutionary changes in the hominids
since they last shared a common ancestor with any other
primates.
21. Compare he out-of-Africa and multiregional theories for the
origin of modern humans.