Question

1. Identify 3 taxa of hominin with standard binomial nomenclature, what specific sites those hominin have been found at, and who named those taxa.

2. Often referred to colloquially as “Lucy”, which species of early hominin was named after a famous song? What was the actual name of that song, which artist performed it, on what album, and in what year?

3. Which species was responsible for the Laetoli footprints?

4. How was the famous site of Zhoukoudian found? What were the fossils of early hominin thought to be before they were identified as hominin and what were they used for?

5. Which species of early hominin was thought to have first used fire?

Answer 1

Hominin – the group consisting of modern humans, extinct human species and all our immediate ancestors (including members of the genera Homo, Australopithecus, Paranthropus and Ardipithecus).

earliest known true hominins belonged to the genus Australopithecus. Commonly called australopithecines, they had evolved in East Africa by 4.2 million years ago and were also present in South Africa by three million years ago.

Lucy was named after the Beatles' song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” A huge Beatles fan, Johanson had the whole camp of scientists listening to the band during their archaeological expedition.

Laetoli Footprint Trails. The Laetoli footprintswere most likely made by Australopithecus afarensis, an early human whose fossils were found in the same sediment layer.

The crater Choukoutien on asteroid 243 Ida was named after the location. The caves are located in Zhoukoudian Town, Fangshan District, southwest of central Beijing.

There is even little consensus about which hominins—modern humans, a direct predecessor or a long-extinct branch—first acquired the skill. The oldest unequivocal evidence, found at Israel's Qesem Cave, dates back 300,000 to 400,000 years, associating the earliest control of fire with Homo sapiens and Neanderthals
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