OHS2020 Chap5
What are the main characteristics of the Homo genus?
Some characteristics specific to the Homo genre: - bipedalism: the ability to move on two legs only, which allows a wider field of vision and to be closer to food that may be found in trees. - Straighter posture - a very large cranial volume, a large brain - prehensile hands, which allow to make and use more and more complex tools - reduction in the size of the teeth and jaws, with the discovery of fire man was able to cook his food and therefore no longer needed "big teeth" because the food was softer -The face is flat with a relatively developed forehead. - ability to situate oneself in time - ability to represent abstract concepts - complex language, articulated language - longer childhood growth period than in other species --ChloeS (discussion) 29 avril 2020 à 16:38 (CEST)
Answer the question!--Pierre.brawand (discussion) 28 avril 2020 à 09:59 (CEST)
Where is the human behavioral complexity shown?
Humans today show great behavioral complexity compared to other animals and it can be seen in our reliance on tool-making and tool-using in everyday life.--MarioS (discussion) 7 avril 2020 à 17:37 (CEST) Humans have differed from other animals due to the use of other their environment. They created different tools to help themselves with day to day activities, such as hunting by creating spears. This craftsmanship was a big evolution in the human behavior throughout history. --IrisH (discussion) 5 mai 2020 à 10:29 (CEST)
What differentiates humans from apes?
Complex language is a defining feature of humans because we can deal with abstract concepts and talk about the distant past or future, while apes can only transmit basic information. Also our long-legged body shape with a human-shaped rib cage and the loss of climbing adaptations in the upper body is an important human characteristic.--MarioS (discussion) 7 avril 2020 à 17:43 (CEST) Humans also have a relatively large brain compared to their body size. --ColetteB (discussion) 23 avril 2020 à 16:26 (CEST)
How was the ancient climate ?
define first what is the ancient climate-Pierre.brawand (discussion) 28 avril 2020 à 10:01 (CEST)
Generally speaking, the "ancient climate" refers to the climate of a past geological period and gives indications about changes in climate conditions over time. --ChloeS (discussion) 29 avril 2020 à 17:21 (CEST)
The ancient climate is caracterised by lots of fluctuations that went from one extreme to the other.
The climate went from glacial area to a more warmer period depending on the time period. These fluctuations caused the loss of a lot of different species that then had to adapt themselves in order to survive. Our period which is a quite stable climate period is called the Holocene. There exists 3 factors behind the warming of the earth; first, "the degree of circularity of the earth's orbit around the sun", second, "the changing tilt of the earth's axis of rotation", and then, "the varying time of the year when the earth is closest to the sun.".
The ancient climate took a big role in terms of evolution of the species and also the losses and creations of new ones.--NoraM (discussion) 20 avril 2020 à 14:22 (CEST)
How did the climate influence human evolution?
Climate could trigger changes that could eventually become so big that the species would evolve. For example, the climate could be the reason for shifts in food availability, the appearance of new diseases, migrations, etc. It is interesting to see the graph on page 122-123. We can see that H. sapiens began to emerge from Africa during a warmer time or Neanderthals went extinct accompanied by cooler weather, suggesting the relationship between climate and human evolution.--AlinaM (discussion) 5 mai 2020 à 11:51 (CEST)
What type of fossils were found by Louis and Mary Leakey in 1960 and how were they different from the previous discoveries ?
In 1960 the couple of palaeoanthropologists found fossils, different from the P.bosei cranium previously discovered, they found a distorted mandible with teeth, parts of a braincase but also hand, leg and foot bones from young and adult individuals. The teeth at the front were larger and the back teeth smaller than the ones of the australopiths, therefore more human-like. The bones of the skull were thin and large in area, this suggested that the brain was larger here than in australopiths and modern apes. It was decided that these new fossils were part of a new species of the genus Homo, named Homo Habilis.
How is Homo georgicus different from Homo erectus and why is this relevant?
The fossils found at Dmansi (West Asia) suggested that while Homo georgicus's physiology was similar to Homo erectus, the former was a bit smaller, with smaller legs (resulting in a shorter adult size) and smaller brain sizes. Therefore experts concluded that these fossils had to belong to another species. This finding is relevant because, as Homo georgicus is thought to be a more primitive species of Homo erectus, it indicates the origins of the latter species, tracing it back to western Asia, before it moved more eastward. --GavinC (discussion) 27 avril 2020 à 12:56 (CEST)
Who were the Denisovans?
Denisovans are an extinct species of hominin. They are known to have lived in Asia. They lived during the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic era. The few remains found of Denisovans were through mitochondrial DNA and bone examination. They had some specific stone tools that were found to have belonged to this subspecies of hominin. Specialists found that Neanderthals and Denisovans could have created a hybrid species, this means that there was interbreeding between the Neanderthals and the Denisovans. --IrisH (discussion) 5 mai 2020 à 10:41 (CEST)
Who was Homo floresiensis?
Bone remains were found in a cave in Flores, an island in Indonesia, near Java. It was not known if Homo floresiensis is actually a species or just a diseased individual; the analysis of the fossils had shown that the individual was very small, measuring only a little bit more than one meter. From that, it got its nickname of "the Hobbit". Its brain size is also very small compared to the one of other species. Other remains were found soon after, allowing to date back Homo floresiensis' lineage back to at least 700'000 years ago. Since Flores is an island, the question of how they got there was still pending. The most likely explanation is that the currents must have accidentally transported some of them there. --AlixG (discussion) 5 mai 2020 à 10:53 (CEST)
Good! Maybe you could make a link with genetic drift mechanisms?-Pierre.brawand (discussion) 5 mai 2020 à 10:55 (CEST)
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