Question

1. Let's explain the current distribution of hominins on planet earth A. Which hominin species are now alive? B. Please list their ancestors beginning about 4 million years ago 1. We define living taxonomic groups based on suites of shared derived features. But all creatures, living or extinct, have to fit into our phylogenetic classification systems. A. We discussed some derived features of hominins that set us apart from the other living great apes. What is the characteristic trait that indicates that a hominid is a hominin? What are some other traits that distinguish humans from other apes? C. What genus would you say is the earliest identifiable hominin and why? D. Chimpanzees make and use tools; does that make chimpanzees hominins? Why or why not? E. Was it ever the case that there was more than one taxon of hominin alive at the same time? If, so give at least one example. 2. The derived traits that separate us from our ape relatives presumably have an adaptive basis; different selection pressures were at work in shaping us. Anthropologists think that some key differences have to do with our ancestors' ecological niche (the way they made their living) A. What are the key ecological differences between chimps and early hominin foragers? B. What inferences can we draw from the fossil and archaeological records about the diets of fossil hominins? Explain the inference(s) and the evidence. C. As you learned in Lecture 10 (Chapter 10), contemporary humans are unusual animals in terms of how much reciprocal altruism we engage in. What selection pressures might explain that tendency, and what aspects of human ccology might have generated that selection pressure? D. Why do our closest relatives, chimpanzees, exhibit so much less reciprocal altruism?

Answer 1

1.
A. Our closest living relatives are the great apes, and there are six species alive today: chimpanzees, bonobos, two species of gorilla and two species of orangutan.

B. The Hominidae, whose members are known as great apes or hominids, are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: Pongo, the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan; Gorilla, the eastern and western gorilla; Pan, the common chimpanzee and the bonobo; and Homo, of which only modern humans remain, with several extinct relatives (e.g., the Neanderthal) and ancestors, such as Homo erectus.

1.A)The two main characteristics of hominids are bipedalism and big brains. The brain case, or the skull, has increased in size over time to allow for the enlargement of the brain. It has also changed shape.
And it's those smaller traits, they found that closely resemble the five main personality traits of humans: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. Chimps also tend to exhibit a similar mix of traits dominance, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and intellect.

C.Ardipithecus, the earliest known genus of the zoological family Hominidae (the group that includes humans and excludes great apes) and the likely ancestor of Australopithecus, a group closely related to and often considered ancestral to modern human beings.

D. One living ape, the chimpanzee, is famous for its range of habitual tool use and tool manufacture in the wild. But that doesnot make chimpanzees hominins. Because It is clear that chimpanzees do not make tools like knives or bows, but they use some stuff at their reach to solve some problems like obtaining food, personal care, and socialization. Chimpanzees make use of the objects they have at their disposal to address some needs such as getting food and socialization.