Describe the environment in which Ar. ramidus lived. What specific evidence is used to determine this, and how does that knowledge change former interpretations about human evolution?

Ardipithecus ramidus and the changing understanding of human evolution

The discovery of Ardipithecus ramidus has prompted a significant and wide ranging re-evaluation of human evolution, and by extension, chimpanzee evolution. The following readings come from Science (http://www.sciencemag.org/ardipithecus/ (Links to an external site.)) where they were published in early October 2009. Science undertook an unusual step of publishing a special issue devoted to this important fossil discovery, and engaged the authors of the scientific papers to provide one-page summaries of their articles that are written for the general public.

Your assignment is to read the introduction (A New Kind of Ancestor: Ardipithecus Unveiled), and each of the one-page summaries attached below.

Respond to each reading by addressing the questions below in to 1 full page, double spaced, 12 point font (i.e., your response should be about 2 to 4 total pages). Submit your assignment in one Word document. Please use clear and concise writing, and make sure to check your sentences for grammatical errors.

Questions

1) Describe the environment in which Ar. ramidus lived. What specific evidence is used to determine this, and how does that knowledge change former interpretations about human evolution?

2) What is the evidence for bipedality in Ar. ramidus and what is the implication/role of Ardi’s locomotion in our understanding of human evolution?

3) What are the social implications of the presence or absence of a honing canine in Ardi?

4) How does fossil evidence of the cranial remains (the skull) affect our interpretations of the early hominine lineage?

(Readings will be attached with this order.)

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