Grade 12
Term 3
Total: 100
Time: 2 hours
Assignment: Hominid evolution
Objectives




To list the characteristics that humans and African apes share
To compare the skulls of human ancestors, cousins and other African apes.
To draw conclusions about evolutionary trends.
Map out the phases in Homo evolution
1.1 Use the following diagram and list the characteristics we share with other African apes.
2
4
12 and 13
3
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
11
(13)
1.2 Study the diagram below and complete the table by describing the feature.
4
3
3
2
1
2
9
5
5 9
6
6
7
7
.
Feature
Humans (Homo sapiens)
African apes
Cranium (1)
Face (2)
Forehead (3)
Brow ridges (4)
Canines (5)
Chin (6)
Jaws (7)
Spaces between teeth (8)
Foramen magnum (9)
(18)
1.3 The diagrams in the Figure below represent the skulls of three organisms: Taung child
(Australopithecus africanus), a modern human (Homo sapiens) and a gorilla (Gorilla gorilla).
The arrow indicates the position of the foramen magnum (the opening that allows the spinal
cord to connect with the brain). Study the diagrams and answer the questions that follow:
A
B
C
1.3.1 Identify the organisms that are represented by each of skulls A, B and C.
(3)
1.3.2 Assuming that the diagrams were drawn to scale, list THREE observable
differences between the skulls of organisms A and B.
(6)
1.3.3 Which organism (A, B or C) represents a carnivore?
(1)
1.3.4 Explain your answer in Question 1.3 3 using features observable in the diagram.
(2)
1.3.5 By looking at the position of the foramen magnum (indicated by the arrows)
state which TWO organisms are best adapted for walking on two legs
rather than four legs.
(2)
1.3.6 Rewrite the letters A, B and C in the order that shows progressive trends
(from least developed to most developed) in evolution.
1.3.7 Explain, using observable features, why the organism to which skull C belongs
can be regarded as a transitional species (a species that is in the process of
changing).
1.4.
(3)
(3)
(20)
Read the following information and answer the questions:
Nine-year-old stumbled on new species
Dr Peter Schmid assembles the standing
skeleton of Au. sediba at the Evolutionary
Studies Institute. Credits: photo by Bonita
de Klerk, courtesy of the University of the
Witwatersrand
It is being called the most significant palaeontological find in nearly a century and it was discovered by a nineyear-old boy. The find is a new species of hominin that some scientists are saying is a direct ancestor of
modern humans. It has been given the name Australopithecus sediba.
Two skeletons were found by Professor Lee Berger, at a newly discovered Malapa cave site in the Cradle of
humankind.
The partial skeletons belong to a boy, probably aged between 9 and 13, and an older woman who was
probably 30, who lived between 1,95 and 1,78 million years ago. What has excited palaeontologists is that
Australopithecus sediba shows what Berger is calling a mixture of characteristics shared by earlier species of
ape-men like Australopithecus africanus and more recent ancestors of modern humans.
Features of this species are:
Primitive brow ridge like that of Australopithecus
Small brain
Length of the cranium, which was like that of later species of Homo
Long legs
A modern pelvis
They would have walked like humans(The lumbar vertebrae are wedged and help create a S-shaped
vertebral column)
Small teeth (the mandibles share some characteristics with australopiths and some with early Homo)
Powerful human-like hands (they had curved finger bones)
Conical shape upper ribcage (Apes have a narrow upper ribcage that allows a wide range of motion
of the scapula needed for climbing and hanging below branches)
But what is also exciting palaeontologists is the preservation and the completeness of the skeletons.
Scientists believe the two would have known each other; they might have been related. In time, DNA testing
could confirm this.
Source: Adapted from: http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/
Nine-year-old-stumbled-on-new-species-1.480011
http://maropeng.co.za/index.php/news/entry/
pertinent_questions_asked_about_a…
1.4.1.
1.4.2.
1.4 3.
1.4.4.
What features does Australopithecus sediba share with humans?
What features does Australopithecus sediba share with apes?
Why are these fossils important discoveries?
Why are the fossils kept in a glass box in the museum?
1.5
Study the diagram below and answer the questions that follow:
(6)
(4)
(3)
(2)
(15)
1.5.1 Identify the fossil.
1.5.2 List THREE examples of this fossils found in Africa.
1.5.3 Explain the scientific interpretation of the fossils found in the Cradle
of humankind.
1.6
(2)
(3)
(10)
(15)
The incomplete table represents famous scientists, the fossil they discovered
and the countries and the dates of discovery. Complete the table by writing down the
number and the answer.
Scientist
1
Raymond Dart
Robert Broom
8
11
14
Fossil
Toumai
3
5
Lateoili footprints
12
Karabo
Place of discovery
2
Sterkfontein caves
6
9
13
15
Year of discovery
2001
4
7
10
1994
2008
(15)
1.7
Study the table below and answer the question that follows:
Phase
Homo
SPECIES
TIME PERIOD
Homo habilis
2,5 to 1,6 mya
Homo erectus
1,8 to 0,4 mya
Homo sapiens
neandertalensis
0,5 to 0,2 mya
Homo sapiens
sapiens
0,4 to 0 mya
Copy the following time line and plot the different Homo species from 2.5 mya to the
present.
(4)
Million years ago (MYA)
2,5
2,0
1,5
1,0
0,5
0,0
TOTAL
[100]