Essays on Bipedal

[Class Title] The human species is believed to have come from hominids, a member of the primate family where the human species is believed to have originated from after a lengthy process of evolution. The Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins present this unique history of human evolution through fossils. The exhibition covers millions of years of human evolution presented through innovative displays. One of its notable exhibits is the famous ‘Lucy’ skeleton, which was unearthed in Ethiopia by a joint American and French paleoanthropologist team sometime in 1974. The museum also showed partial skulls of the ‘ ...

Abrigo do Lagar Velho is a rock-shelter in the Portuguese valley that is famous for the stratigraphic range of the Upper Paleolithic human occupations within that area.

Absolute dating technique (chronometric dating) refers to the process of revealing the age on a certain time scale.

Acclimatization is the response of an organism to a gradual change in environmental conditions by adjusting and sustaining within these changes. Acheulian (Acheulean) is a tool made of stone that had round cutting edges and was used during the Lower Palaeolithic era.

Adolescent growth spurt refers to the sharp growth in height and weight rates t during adolescence.

Aegyptopithecus refers to the extinct primate of the Oligocene Period, resembling a modern-day lemur, whose fossils were found in Egypt. Afar Triangle is the region that is part of the ...

Bipedality is an adaptation that enables human beings to walk using two legs, therefore, differentiating humans from the other animals (Wu et al. 2). However, other animals do it sometimes like birds when on the ground, kangaroos, and apes. Humans are a perfect example of bipedalism because they use two legs always unlike other animals that do it partially. Certain body structures are necessary for bipedality. These body parts include; The pelvis of humans has blades that are not twisted and hold the internal organs when the humans are upright. Humans have more muscles in the pelvic region that ...

Describe which general fossil primate groups appear and radiate during the following geological epochs: Eocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene. For each of the geological epochs, identify the general primate group that first appears and radiates during that epoch. In addition, give the time range in millions of years for each epoch and provide at least one example of a specific primate genus and/ or species that is representative of each general primate group. 2. List and briefly describe at least five elements of the post-cranial anatomy found in humans, but not in apes, that facilitate efficient bipedal locomotion. Provide specific ...

What was Homo erectus like? What were they like physically, and what do we know of their behaviors, tools, etc.?

Homo erectus, also referred to as the “upright man” was the earliest known early human to possess the characteristics of the modern man. Unlike its predecessors, Homo erectus was bipedal, that is, they were the first humans in the evolution line to walk in two legs with an upright posture (Science & Technology). They had the biggest brains, in proportion to their body sizes, as compared to their predecessors. They also had longer legs and sorter arms. This was because they had reduced their adaptation towards tree climbing. They also had a larger variation in heights as compared to other ...

Question 1: Describe the basis of the principle of superposition as well as why we cannot date a 1 million year old hominid with radiocarbon dating. According to Hull (191), the principle of superposition states that for any layers or sequence of surface-deposited material, a bed is older than the one above it and younger than the one below it. However, this is not always the case since rocks and beds can buckle causing younger rocks to go underneath older bed. Therefore, the principle should be applied critically. Basically, the principle states that younger rockers lie on older rocks ( ...

Introduction

Even though the concept of evolution is a typical narrative, it remains one of the most highly contentious of the topics. Major disagreements persist in the field, particularly when the evolutionary origin and physical modification of primates are the subject matter of discussion. Because of these differences, lots of significant finds in the field have attracted considerable amounts of opposition from experts depending on the species, or the side angle of evolution one recognizes (Ravosa and Dagosto). Disputes often center around locomotion and posture – whether a particular species was fully upright or could walk bipedally, brain size (intelligence), sexuality ...

Did Human Bipedalism Evolve from a Knuckle-walking Ape Ancestor Did Human Bipedalism Evolve from a Knuckle-walking Ape Ancestor

Introduction

The narratives of human evolution are one of the oft-told scientific stories whenever the topic of the origin of man crops up. However, this topic is also one of the thorniest and most highly contentious. There are major disagreements in the manner in which man first came to be, and every interpretation of almost every new find on the matter will be sure to find opposition among scholars on the field (Harcourt-Smith & Aiello, 2004). While there are numerous causes of disputes ...

Question 1

Cultural leveling describes how people from different cultures approach each other and try to reach common grounds regarding communication and interaction. This process is evident in Lee’s ethnographic fieldwork. Coming from white society, the researcher exhibited arrogance and considered himself superior, both intellectually and culturally, to the !Kung bushmen. He did this by extending to or cutting off the supply of tobacco from the Bushmen since he was the only source of the commodity in 1000 square miles (Lee). Besides, he neither shared his food with the Bushmen nor participated in their food-gathering activities. For this reason, the ...