Hominin Word List

The Hominin Practicum will take place during your lab session. There will be a series of station, each with one or more hominin skull. At most stations you will be asked one or two questions. You will have a word list like this for your use during the practicum. Spelling does not count, unless I cannot tell which term was meant. For example: I would accept "Australopithicu", "Astralopithicus", or "Astraylopithcus", as correct answers, but I would not accept "Ardstralopithicus", because that could be either "Australopithicus" or "Ardipithecus".

For the practicum, you mus know know these hominin ancestors and groups:

(That is, if given a skull, you should know the species and the group of which it is a member):

• Basal Hominins

  • Ardipithecus ramidus

  • Sahelanthropus tchadensis

  • Early Australopiths:

    • Australopithecus afarensis

• Later Australopiths

  • Paranthropus boisei

  • Paranthropus robustus

  • Australopithecus africanus

• Habilines

  • Homo habilis

  • Homo rudolfensis

• Erectines

  • Homo erectus

  • Homo ergaster

• Middle Pleistocene Humans

  • Homo sapiens neanderthalensis

  • Homo heidelbergensis

    • Homo sapiens sapiens (early)

Also, you must be able to identify these traits:

• • Chin

  • Prognathism

  • Nuchal shape

  • Post-orbital constriction

  • Supraorbital torus

  • Location of greatest skull breadth

  • Foramen magnum