course hero why is the species "ardipithecus ramidus" important in the story of human evolution?

by Iva McLaughlin 8 min read

How did hominids evolve to live in the forest?

Ardipithecus ramidus, the earliest discovered hominin which existed 4.4 million years ago (Ma), also exhibits this morphology (Crompton 2010).

Was early hominin bipedalism an adaptation to a mixed woodland environment?

Mar 10, 2016 · Question 1 5 out of 5 points We can describe Ardipithecus ramidus ("Ardi") as a transitional species in human evolution because her _____ was/were more like a modern human's and her _____ was/were more like a non-human Great Ape (e.g. - a gorilla).

Did natural selection favor humans over apes?

Enamel thickness: Thick or thin (this is in the lab manual) thin Thick thin thin List two characteristics of Ardipithecus ramidus that are more like a human than like a chimpanzee. Two characteristics of Ardipithecus ramidus that are more like a human than like a chimpanzee are Enamel thickness and Foramen magnum.

How did the late australopithecines'heads differ from ours?

Dec 04, 2018 · According to evolution, we both evolved from the same ancestor,however, we evolved separately into different species. There is also a genetic difference between the two species. Supposedly, this genetic difference is the reason humans continued to evolve and apes did not. We did not evolve from chimpanzees .

Why is the species Ardipithecus ramidus important?

ramidus because at 4.4 mya, it provides the first extensive fossil evidence that extends our understanding of the last common ancestor we shared with chimpanzees. Scientists argue that the morphology of Ar.Jun 14, 2010

How is Ardipithecus ramidus similar to humans?

Over 100 specimens of Ardipithecus ramidus have been recovered in Ethiopia. Even though it has some ape-like features (as do many other early human species), it also has key human features including smaller diamond-shaped canines and some evidence of upright walking.Jan 22, 2021

Are Ardipithecus ramidus related to humans?

Summary: One of the most hotly debated issues in current human origins research focuses on how the 4.4 million-year-old African species Ardipithecus ramidus is related to the human lineage. New research confirms "Ardi's" close evolutionary relationship to humans.Jan 6, 2014

What did Ardipithecus ramidus evolve from?

The Pliocene (4.4 Ma) hominoid species Ardipithecus ramidus has been linked phylogenetically to the Australopithecus + Homo clade by nonhoning canines, a short basicranium, and postcranial features related to bipedality.

When did the Ardipithecus ramidus live?

Ardipithecus lived between 5.8 million and 4.4 million years ago, from late in the Miocene Epoch (23 million to 5.3 million years ago) to the early to middle Pliocene Epoch (5.3 million to 2.6 million years ago). The genus contains two known species, Ar. ramidus and Ar. kadabba.

What came after Ardipithecus ramidus?

In 1994, Ardipithecus ramidus (ca. 4.4 Ma) was announced (White et al. 1994, 1995, WoldeGabriel et al. 1994) and soon after, even older hominins were discovered: Orrorin tugenensis (6.0-5.7 Ma, Pickford & Senut 2001, Senut et al.

What species did humans evolve from?

Modern humans originated in Africa within the past 200,000 years and evolved from their most likely recent common ancestor, Homo erectus, which means 'upright man' in Latin. Homo erectus is an extinct species of human that lived between 1.9 million and 135,000 years ago.Jul 21, 2021

Why did Ardipithecus ramidus go extinct?

Ardipithecus ramidus may have gone extinct due to the climate becoming drier, reducing its habitat and making it easier for other species to survive....

Where did the Ardipithecus ramidus live?

Aramis, Ethiopiaramidus lived in a river-margin forest in an otherwise savanna (wooded grassland) landscape at Aramis, Ethiopia.Dec 20, 2011

Did Ardipithecus ramidus have culture?

Culture. There is no evidence for any specific cultural attributes, but they may have used simple tools similar to those used by modern chimpanzees, including: twigs, sticks and other plant materials that were easily shaped or modified.

Which statement best describes some important characteristics of Ardipithecus?

Which statement best describes some important characteristics of Ardipithecus? Ardipithecus had a transitional pelvis and lived in a woodland forest environment.

When did hominids start walking?

It’s not until the emergence of H. erectus 1.89 million years ago that hominids grew tall, evolved long legs and became completely terrestrial creatures. While the timeline of the evolution of upright walking is well understood, why hominids took their first bipedal steps is not. In 1871, Charles Darwin offered an explanation in his book The ...

What is the oldest hominid fossil?

The earliest hominid with the most extensive evidence for bipedalism is the 4.4-million-year-old Ardipithecus ramidus. In 2009, researchers announced the ...

Who discovered the Taung Child?

That thinking began to change in the 1920s when anatomist Raymond Dart discovered the skull known as the Taung Child in South Africa. Taung Child had a small brain, and many researchers thought the approximately three-million-year-old Taung was merely an ape. But one feature stood out as being human-like.

How long ago did bipedalism occur?

Although difficult to study, the question of why bipedalism evolved might come closer to an answer if paleoanthropologists dig up more fossils of the earliest hominids that lived seven million to six million years ago . Who knows how many species of bipedal apes they’ll find.

Where were the art stolen during the Nazi occupation?

During the Nazi occupation of France, many valuable works of art were stolen from the Jeu de Paume museum and relocated to Germany. One brave French woman kept detailed notes of the thefts

Do chimpanzees walk bipedally?

But earlier this year, researchers offered some support when they found that chimpanzees tend to walk bipedally when carrying rare or valuable foods. Another theory considers the efficiency of upright walking. In the 1980s, Peter Rodman and Henry McHenry, both at the University of California, Davis, suggested that hominids evolved ...

Where did Australopithecus live?

Australopithecus anamensis may have been the earliest australopithecine species. They lived about 4.2-3.9 million years ago in East Africa. Unfortunately, little is known about them due to the scarcity of their fossils and the fact that the ones that have been found are highly fragmentary. This species apparently was descended from Ardipithecus ramidus, which lived around 4.4 million years ago, or an even earlier ape/hominin transitional species near the beginning of the Pliocene Epoch . Anamensis was bipedal but may still have been an efficient tree climber. The shapes of the arm and leg bones indicate that it was bipedal. The canine teeth are relatively large compared to later australopithecines and humans. The alignment of teeth in the jaw is somewhat rectangular, reminiscent of apes, rather than like the modern human parabolic dental arch (like the McDonald's golden arches sign). Anamensis remains have been found in what had been woodlands around lakes. Their diets were apparently mainly vegetarian with an emphasis on fruits and nuts.

When did the Australopithecus anamensis fossils come out?

There has been a gap in the fossil hominin record for the crucial period before 4.2 million years ago when Australopithecus anamensis appeared. New discoveries are now beginning to fill in the missing picture of evolution leading to the australopithecines at that early time. Beginning in 1992, Tim White and several of his Ethiopian colleagues found fossils of what may be the immediate ancestor of the australopithecines at the Aramis site in the Middle Awash region of Northern Ethiopia. The teeth of these very early fossils seem to have been transitional between apes and Australopithecus anamensis. Among the living apes, they were most similar to chimpanzees, however, they were not apes as we usually think of them today. These Aramis fossils date to about 4.4 million years ago and may represent the first stage in the evolution of bipedalism. Because of their primitiveness, White has given them a new genus and species designation (Ardipithecus ramidus , nicknamed "Ardi") rather than include them with australopithecines.

How many bones have been found of early hominins?

The bones of more than 500 early hominins have been found. From them, we have gained a broad understanding of these related species using an array of new technological aids.

Where were hominins found?

The majority of them were discovered in East and South Africa. However, some also were found in Chad, which is located in North Central Africa. Current evidence indicates that there were as many as 12 species of early hominins between 6 and 1.5 million years ago, but they did not all live at the same time.

How big were the hominins?

The early hominins were significantly smaller on average than modern humans. Adult male australopithecines were usually only about 4.3-4.9 feet tall and weighed around 88-108 pounds. Females were much smaller and less muscular. They were usually 3.4-4.1 feet tall and weighed only 64-75 pounds. This is greater sexual dimorphism than is found in human populations today. In some australopithecine species, sexual dimorphism may have been nearly as great as among the great apes. Female gorillas weigh about 61% that of males, while modern human females are about 83% the weight of males.