9: Early Hominins
- Page ID
- 158769
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- 9.1: Hominins, Paleoenvironment, and Evolution
- It is through our study of our hominin ancestors and relatives that we are exposed to a world of “might have beens”. But in order to better understand these different evolutionary trajectories, we must first define the terms we are using. Hominin means everyone on “our” side of the line: humans and all of our extinct bipedal ancestors and relatives since our divergence from the last common ancestor (LCA) with chimpanzees.
- 9.2: Derived Adaptations
- This section looks at the derived adaptations of hominins. The ability to walk habitually upright is considered one of the defining attributes of the hominin lineage. Another adaptation can be found in the dentition of early hominins.
- 9.3: Australopithecus And Tool Use
- he Australopithecines are a diverse group of hominins comprised of various species. Australopithecus is the given group or genus name. It stems from the Latin word Australo, meaning “southern,” and the Greek word pithecus, meaning “ape.” Within this section, we will outline these differing species’ geological and temporal distributions across Africa, unique derived and/or shared traits, the fossil record as well as tool use.
- 9.4: Hominin Charts
- Hominins at a Glance
- 9.5: End of Chapter Review
- Discussion questions and key term definitions.