Name:

Hominid Evolution – Walking upright

In addition to brain size, being bipedal is another characteristic that separates us from other classes of organisms, and is
often hailed as the start of modern human evolution. Evidence of being bipedal comes from the weight bearing bones in
the body.

1. Go to http://www.becominghuman.org/node/interactive-documentary. Click on “Anatomy” at the top of the

screen. Move your mouse to the bottom of the screen, where a tab will pop up called “Related Exhibits.” Click
on #2 “The Anatomy of Bipedalism”
2. What three things must humans do in order to maintain balance?
a. _______________________________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________________________
c. _______________________________________________________________
3. The commonality between all of these is that they represent bones that bear weight when the human is
standing on one foot. The major bones associated with this task are: head, spine, pelvis, femur, knee and foot.
a. Based on this idea, what three bones do you think would be the most important to look at in terms of
walking upright? For each, justify your answer. Do this before you click on any of the terms.

b. Bone 1: ___________ Justification:

c. Bone 2: ___________ Justification:

d. Bone 3: ___________ Justification:

4. Click on the terms next to the skeleton of the Chimp and Human to fill in the chart below. Take brief notes
explaining why each bone relates to being bipedal.

Chimp Human
Head

Spine

Pelvis

Femur

Knee

Foot

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5. Go to “Related Exhibits” at the bottom and click on #1 – “How are we like other primates?”
6. In the chart below, briefly summarize the similarities that you see between the human and chimpanzee
(remember- the chimpanzee is your closest ancestor!)

What similarities do you see between the chimpanzee and the human?
Brain

Eyes

Nose

Teeth

Clavicle

Hand

Thumb

7. When done, search in YouTube HJURXIxM and watch the video The Evolution of Bipedalism- HHMI
BioInteractive Video (3:47mins).
Why is Ardi considered to be “a creature of transition?” How does Ardi show evidence for the evolution of
bipedalism? Be sure to discuss not only the fossil structure of Ardi, but the environment in which Ardi would
have lived.

8. Go to https://to.pbs.org/2IC72KP (PBS Library Walking Tall) and read through the article. What happened to
each of the weight bearing bones as the hominids became mainly bipedal? (note – you will also need to discuss
the muscles around these bones)

9. Although there is fossil evidence for bipedalism, there is a debate as to why hominids became bipedal. Propose
an explanation as to why Ardi would have begun to spend so much time walking upright as opposed to knuckle
walking.

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 The Use of Tools and other Milestones
There are many milestones in human evolution; including bipedalism, the control of fire and the use of tools. In addition
to these milestones, climate change seems to have played a major role in hominid evolution.

1. Go to https://s.si.edu/1uwCbl7 (or Google: Human Evolution Timeline Interactive Smithsonian) and look
at the interactive timeline. Click through the different sections to familiarize yourself with the layout of the
screen.
2. When done, look at the section labeled in Blue “Major milestones in human evolution.” Click and name the 6
major milestones in order (oldest to most recent) and when they occurred.
a. ____________________________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________________________
c. ____________________________________________________________
d. ____________________________________________________________
e. ____________________________________________________________
f. ____________________________________________________________
3. For each of the milestones listed above, provide a short explanation as to why it is a significant milestone.
a. ____________________________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________________________
c. ____________________________________________________________
d. ____________________________________________________________
e. ____________________________________________________________
f. ____________________________________________________________

4. When done, move the cursor to the top of the screen and click the purple bands on the top of the screen to look
at climate change throughout homind evolution.
a. Dscribe the overall trend in climate change?

b. Use the purple bands to find out at which point did Homo sapiens almost die out? Why did this occur?

c. Which climate change milestone matches up with the change in brain size milestone? Propose an
explanation as to why this may have occurred.

5. Stones were used as the earliest known tools created by humans. It is important to note the distinction between
using tools and making tools. Using a tool means that the item is already present in the world and will be used
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 for a new purpose; making tools means that items present in the world are fashioned into something and used
for a new purpose. For example, otters use rocks to bash open shellfish to eat, but they do not make a hammer
from the rocks to open the shellfish. Below is a diagram that indicates different tools found at different points in
human evolution.

a. What is the overall trend of the diagram below?

b. Why would stone tools be a pivotal moment for hominid evolution? Consider climate change and the
skull evidence in your explanation.

6. According to the timeline, many species of hominid ancestors didn’t “make it” to the present times. Scroll
through the red bands of these extinct species to get background information on them. After scrolling through,
see if there are any correlations between milestones, climate change, and extinction. Explain why below.

7. It also appears that there are stretches of time in which there is no evidence of hominid ancestors. What would
account for this void?