Evolution, Primitive Characteristics, and the Advantage of Bipedalism

ANSWER FOUR OF THE QUESTIONS. REMEMBER THAT THE ANSWERS TO THE MUSEUM QUESTIONS ARE ALSO PART OF THE TEST AND SHOULD BE HANDED IN BY WEDNESDAY. ADD THE MUSEUM QUESTIONS TO YOUR ANSWERS THAT YOU WILL SUBMIT IN THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENT.
PLEASE ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS COMPLETELY—THEY ARE WORTH 20 POINTS EACH AND DESERVE AT LEAST A LONG PARAGRAPH OR TWO, IF NOT MORE.
MAKE SURE TO ANSWER ALL PARTS OF THE QUESTIONS.
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Put the answers in your own words—do not simply copy the answers from the Canvas lectures or the videos you have watched. This is very important. It is better to have ungrammatical answers in your own words than to have perfectly worded copied answers.
1
►What is evolution?
►What is the Darwin/Wallace theory of evolution (i.e., how does evolution work)?
►What are the sources of variability in populations?
►Why is it more accurate to say that “reproductive success” is the important concept in evolution, not “survival of the fittest”.
2
►What are derived versus ancestral (“primitive”) characteristics?
►Are they the same as specialized and generalized characteristics?
►What are the derived characteristics of the hominins as a group?
►What are the derived characteristics of Homo sapiens as a species compared to other hominins?
►Why might our faces be more “primitive” (i.e., have more ancestral characteristics) than Neanderthal’s faces?
3
►What are some of the possible advantages and disadvantages of bipedalism?
►How can bipedalism be identified in fossils?
►What species was, as far as we know now, the first bipedal ape?
►How do we know this?
Note: if you have not done so already, be sure to watch or review this PBS Eons video “When We First Walked”
https://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=3bFtotU0of4 (Links to an external site.)
4
Discuss the different “grades” of hominins:
What are the different “grades”?
What are the characteristics of each “grade”?
What species belong in each “grade”?
5
What are the possible evolutionary and social relationships of the Neanderthals and modern man—how are we related to them and what happened when we met them? Include in this discussion the following points:
DNA evidence
Anatomical similarities and differences
specialized versus generalized characteristics
what sorts of interactions might have taken place between the two groups when they came into contact? What evidence is there for this?
6
Human body hair: (see the two articles assigned for asynchronous reading last week as well as the Eons video “When Humans Lost Their Fur”)
Why did humans lose their body hair (or more accurately, why do we have very fine body hair instead of the coarse body hair that the other great apes all have)?
When and why did this probably occur?
What do the types of human lice that exist today tell us about the loss of body hair and human and louse co-evolution?
Why do you think we still have hair on our heads and in our armpits and groins? (Bonus question--what might be reason(s) for the hair on our heads to grow so long?)
7
Early art:
What are some examples of portable art?
What are some possible differences in the uses and functions of cave art and portable art?
Pick one example of portable art or Paleolithic jewelry:
What is it?
What is it made of?
How might it have been used by the people who made it or what might it have represented to them?
What might be the advantages of visual art, including cave art, portable art, jewelry, and body painting, for human evolution?