Concept explainers
To define:
The given vocabulary term
Introduction:
The lineage that led to humans split off from the other African apes occurred sometime between 8 and 5 mya. Hominins include humans and all their extinct relatives. The evolutionary changes in hominoids led to bipedalism in hominins. The earliest fossils of species that show some degree of bipedalism are 6- 7 million years old.
Answer to Problem 12A
Australopithecines are the hominins that lived in in east- central and southern part of Africa between 4.2 and 1 mya and had apelike brains and jaws.
Explanation of Solution
An anthropologist Donald Johanson discovered an australopithecine skeleton named Lucy in Kenya in1974. The first hominins that were truly bipedal were the australopithecines.
The discovery of fossil of Lucy is very significant as it was the first complete australopithecine fossil to be discovered. She was a member of species A.afarensis which lived between 4 and 2.9 mya. Lucy was about the size of a chimpanzee and had a typical australopithecine skull and small brain. The structure of her skeleton suggested that A.afarensis had small brains and were bipedal.
Chapter 16 Solutions
Biology Illinois Edition (Glencoe Science)
Additional Science Textbook Solutions
Anatomy & Physiology
Fundamentals of Anatomy & Physiology (11th Edition)
Concepts of Genetics (12th Edition)
Study Guide for Campbell Biology
Campbell Biology: Concepts & Connections (8th Edition)
Microbiology with Diseases by Body System (5th Edition)
- Human Anatomy & Physiology (11th Edition)BiologyISBN:9780134580999Author:Elaine N. Marieb, Katja N. HoehnPublisher:PEARSONBiology 2eBiologyISBN:9781947172517Author:Matthew Douglas, Jung Choi, Mary Ann ClarkPublisher:OpenStaxAnatomy & PhysiologyBiologyISBN:9781259398629Author:McKinley, Michael P., O'loughlin, Valerie Dean, Bidle, Theresa StouterPublisher:Mcgraw Hill Education,
- Molecular Biology of the Cell (Sixth Edition)BiologyISBN:9780815344322Author:Bruce Alberts, Alexander D. Johnson, Julian Lewis, David Morgan, Martin Raff, Keith Roberts, Peter WalterPublisher:W. W. Norton & CompanyLaboratory Manual For Human Anatomy & PhysiologyBiologyISBN:9781260159363Author:Martin, Terry R., Prentice-craver, CynthiaPublisher:McGraw-Hill Publishing Co.Inquiry Into Life (16th Edition)BiologyISBN:9781260231700Author:Sylvia S. Mader, Michael WindelspechtPublisher:McGraw Hill Education