Question

Characteristics	Chimpanzee	Australopithecus africanus	Homo erectus	Homo neanderthalensis	Homo sapiens sapiens (Cro-Magnon)	Homo sapiens (modern human)
Cranial Breadth (cm)	9	9	13	14	14	13
Cranial length (cm)	15	16	19	21	19	18
Cranial Index (%)	60%	56.25%	68.4%	66.7%	73.7%	72%
Face Breadth (cm)	9	11	11	12	11	10
Skull Proportion Index (%)	100%	81.8%	118.2%	116.7%	127.3%	130%
Brow Ridges (very pronounced, pronounced, slight)	Very pronounced	Very pronounced	Very pronounced	pronounced	Pronounced/slight	Slight
Forehead (very sloping, sloping, somewhat developed, well-developed)	Very sloping	Very sloping	sloping	Somewhat developed	Somewhat developed	Well-developed
Foramen Magnum position	Towards the back of the skull base	Towards the back of the skull base	Towards the back of the skull base	Closer to the center of the skull base	Almost at the center of the skull base	In the center of the skull base
Cranial Capacity (ml)	300	450	750	1350	1650	1200
Notes (if any)

Based on the data in Table on p.7 what have been the major skull changes in hominids in the past 1 million years? and in the past 100,000 yearS?

Answer 1

MAJOR SKULL CHANGES IN HOMINIDS

OVER THE PAST 1 MILLION YEARS:

The changes over the past one million years deals with evolution from Homo Erectus to Homo Neanderthalensis to Homo Sapiens.

The major skull changes from Homo Erectus to Homo Neanderthalensis are

-Cranial Breadth has increased from 13 cm to 14 cm

-Cranial length has increased from 19cm to 21 cm

-Face breadth increased from 11cm to 12 cm

-Brow ridges got less pronounced

-Forhead got somewhat developed from sloping

-Position of the foramen magnum shifted from back of the skull towards the center of the skull base

-Cranial capasity increased from 750ml to 1350ml.

OVER THE PAST 100000 YEARS:

The changes over the past 100000 years deals with ethe evolution from Homo Neanderthalensis to Homo Sapiens.

The major skull changes from Homo Neanderthalensis to Homo Sapiens are:

-Cranial breadth remains almost the same at 14 cm

-Cranial length decreased from 21cm to 19 cm

-Face breadth decreased from 12 cm to 11 cm

-Brow ridges became more pronounced

-Forheads got somewhat developed

-Foramen magnum position almost got shifted to the center of the skull base

-Cranial capacity increased from 1350ml to 1650ml.