1 a) The research is essential in that it gives new different approaches that the ancestors employed in getting around. As much as this may contradict the initial information available about bipedalism, it gives another insight on how movement was achieved in the ancient times by the ancestors.
1 b) By saying that Australopithecus sediba had a combination of primitive and derivative features, the authors of the article aim to reveal how the Australopithecus sediba had a combination of qualities of both the modern man and the ancient man. Essentially, these features were in the upper limb, hand, foot, spine and others in the thorax (Bajd, 43). For instance, it contained a human-like pelvis, hence stressing on its relationship to the modern man. However, its mosaic was of a Homo, which was consistent with its anatomy. This tendency of having shared qualities is what gives it both primitive and derivative qualities.
1 c) There is a big difference in appearance between a human pelvis and a chimpanzee pelvis. In humans, for instance, the pelvis has undergone severe changes in its shape and orientation. This is so in order to adapt to the upright stance’s requirements. For instance, in humans, the ilium is shorter and broader. It also tends to curve around the trunk. This is very different from what happens in the apes.
1 d) The species was capable of habitual bipedalism. This is because the bipedalism of the species was mainly shaped depending on its movement habits and the activities that it engaged itself. The authors describe its skeletal morphology as adapting compromise extended knee bipedalism and another that had re-evolved.
2 a) The species discussed is a robust Australopithecine. This is because of the description that it has been given. For instance, it has been characterized to have robust jaw and skull bones.
2 b) This research gives important new information. The new information tends to suggest that the creature was built ruggedly. This is unlike what the researchers were thinking about it before the research. The creature also combined some arboreal behaviors to terrestrial bipedal locomotion.
2 c). The statement is very surprising. This is because most historical creatures of that period had either the terrestrial bipedal or arboreal behaviors. Having a combination of both, therefore, makes it a unique creature.
2 d) Being more adaptive to the environment does not guarantee that something will exist forever. There are several factors that can define a creature’s lifespan. For instance, diseases can play a role in ensuring that the creature became extinct. Other possible reasons may include accidents and hunger, making it difficult to survive.
3 a) Marcia Ponce Leon is a splitter. This is as a result of her tendency to look at the differences available to create new classifications rather than looking at the similarities to classify creatures. She insists of the fact that there are several subdivisions in species, something the researchers are looking.
3 b) According to Marcia Ponce Leon, there are ‘ as many subdivisions between species as there are researchers examining this problem. Essentially, there is no fixed method of classification. A single difference in the species potentially points to a different creature. As a matter of fact, there are several differences, and as such, it would be wrong to classify the species together even when the differences are there for all to see. This gives rise to the various sub-divisions.
3 c) The traits of skull 5 are rather primitive than derived. Its large face can be associated to the face that is found in the Dmanisi group (Leach et al., 63). The fact that skull’s 5 traits included small brain and massive jaws also points to the direction that its traits were primitive.
4 a) The sima de los Huesos population is expected to have certain anatomical and cultural characteristics. For instance, burying the dead with ornaments and households was a common characteristic during the time. The common practice was also to burry men more than children and women.
4 b) mtDNA simply refers to mitochondrial DNA. This is the DNA that is exclusively found in mitochondria. It is important in that it converts the chemical energy in food to a form that is used by the cells. MtDNA is used in this research to predict the feeding habits of the early species and classify them as such.
4 c) It is not surprising that many humans contain both Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA. Essentially, genetics involves transfer of DNA, and all these being in line to the emergence of the modern man; it is right to argue that traces of both DNAs are a possibility (Reed et al., 65).
5 a) Homins are believed to have buried their dead with their ornaments and basic households to the pits. This trait is thought to have been passed from one generation to another, although some burials were more lavish. Others were just simple.
5 b) The surprising aspect on the modern burials is that they are not the same. Some burials are of great significance while others are just as a means to dispose of the death.
5 c) Burials are fascinating to paleoanthropologists in that through studying their patterns, they can get the relevant information relating to a certain species. They can also learn about culture and behavioral traits of a given species.
Works Cited
Bajd, Barbara. "Australopithecus Sediba - Nova Najdba V Južni Afriki. Proteus. 2010.73 (2010) N.p., 30-132. Print.
Leach, Edmund R. Social Anthropolgy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. Print.
Reed, Kaye E, John G. Fleagle, and Richard E. Leakey. The Paleobiology of Australopithecus: Contributions from the Fourth Stony Brook Human Evolution Symposium and Workshop, Diversity in Australopithecus: Tracking the First Bipeds, September 25-28, 2007. Dordrecht: Springer, 2013. Print.
