PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Lab Report

ZL 1005: Anthropology

Title: Physical Anthropology Date: 08.06.2011

Objective: To study structural advancements seen in the skull and the skeleton of modern man compared to other mammals with special reference to the brain capacity, erect posture, bipedalism and maneuverability of hands.

Name: M.E.S.S de Silva Index Number: 10415

Question 1 Observe provided specimens of Rat (Rodent), Do (Carnivore), Deer (Herbivore), Gorilla (Primate), and Human Skulls. 1.) What are the common mammalian features of the provided skulls?

Des e the many diffe ences in the provided s s they also had some common features because they all belong to animals from the class Mammalia. The lower jaw of the s ulls was made from a single bone called dentary bone or the mandible. In none mammals the jaw consists of more than one bone. The teeth in all the provided s ulls were herterodont teeth embedded in soc ets of the jaw bone. Non mammals do not
-Skull of a common rat -

have heterodont teeth e cept for a few e ceptional cases.

Mammalians are also Diphyodonts even though that cannot be observed in the physical appearance of the provided s ulls. All five s ulls had a bony secondary palate to separate the nasal cavity from the oral cavity. This serves a very useful function in segregating airflow from the mouth, which allows mammals to breathe while they eat. All s ulls had two occipital condyles on the occipital bone.

Foramen magnum is in between them. Other vertebrates

- Skull of a dog-

only have one occipital condyle. Even though it cannot be observed in the given specimens having three bones in the ear is also a feature of a mammalian s ull.


- Skull of a deer-

- Skull of a gorilla-

-Skull of a human-

Both humans and monkeys are classified under the order Primata, so they have some features common to primates in their skulls. The eyes of monkeys and humans are shifted to anterior and set close to each other. Because of this they have a 3D (stereoscopic) binocular vision which helps them to determine the depth to an object as well as width and height. For monkeys this helps to determine the distance between branches when they jump from one branch to another and for early humans to determine the distance between their pray when they hunted. They both have a rather reduced snout compared to the rest of the skulls. Compared to other animals primates have less number of teeth in their jaws and their foreman magnum is inferior. Primate skulls (humans and monkeys) have larger brain capacity than other animal skulls provided.

3.) What are the Anthropoid features observed from the skulls of humans and monkey?

The incisors of Anthropoids are plate like. The skulls provided have a bony cover in the eye towards the posterior part. The foramen is shifted to the posterior side, compared to other primate skulls. Their snout is more reduced than other primates. From Anthropoids, monkeys have prominent brow ridges but when it comes to humans brow ridges are reduced. Anthropoid cranium is rounder than other primates and animals.

4.) Which features of the skulls distinguish humans and monkeys?

Monkeys have a narrow U shaped dental arcade while human dental arcade is parabolic/curved. Apes have a prognathus/ sloaped face while Humans have a orthognathus /straightened face. Ape Cranium is rather flat while human cranium is roundered.

- De t l ar ade of man and ape

 

2.) Which features of the s ulls are i portant in classifying humans and monkeys as Primates
 

Human snout is much more reduced than that of apes and humans have a far larger cranial capacity than apes. Monkeys have broad developed eyebrow ridges and when it comes to humans brow ridges are reduced.

Monkeys have a small space between the incissors and caninens called diastima while humans do not have any diastima. Apes canine and premolar teeth are large. Human premolar and canines are comparatively small.

Monkey skull do not have a chin while humans have a chin. Humans also posses far more larger brain capacity than monkeys. Human forevan magnum is more shifted to posterior side so that humans have a far better erect posture than monkeys.

-M - man, G - gorilla -

5.) What are the trends shown in skulls towards primate evolution?

As the photo shows as primate evolved the cranium capacity has increased and the foramen magnum has moved from the posterior to inferior side. Because of this while the earlier primates have a bent posture humans have an erect posture.

The snout has reduced as an evolutionary trend and humans has almost no snout. The slope of the face has changed from prognathus to orthognathus through evolution. All teeth have reduced in size and canines have reduced when it comes to humans. But they may vary according to the diet of each primate. The shape of the dental arcade has changed from the U shape to rounded shape.

And the ridges on the cranium has reduced as it does not need that much support since the posture has become more and more towards erect. And when it comes to humans the cranium is smooth. The shape of the cranium has changed from flat to round.

Question 2 Structural adaptations of the skeleton bserve and compare ho the follo ing features support bipedalism in humans and apes. a.) Vertebral column Human vertebral column has 4 curves. Cervical, thoracic, lumber and pelvic of which thoracic and pelvic curves are primary curves and the other two secondary curves. These curves gives the human vertebral column a spring like shape which helps for movements and to bear weight. The cartilages in between the vertebrae work as a cushion and absorb shocks. From the anterior end to the posterior end the size of the vertebrae increases which helps to bear weight. This also shifts the central gravity point towards the anterior and thus giving humans an erect posture. Vertebral column of apes consists of same regions as humans except for the caudal portion but the sigmoid curvature of humans is not found in any of the apes. In apes the central gravity point is shifted above. So to shift it downwards they have a bent posture. Bones in the human head are reduced. Therefore the head is light and helps to maintain an erect posture, which in turn helps bipedalism. Atlas transfers the weight of head to the vertebral column.
  

-H man vertebral col mn-

- eleton of an ape-

b.) Pelvic girdle

Humans have a broad and short pelvic girdle. This helps to hold the weight of the organs. The pelvic girdle is broader in females and narrower in males. The weight from the vertebral column is transferred to femur via the pelvic girdle. Apes have a narrow and long pelvic girdle. This limits their movements. Because apes are bent more muscles are attached to the girdle for support. By being long the pelvic girdle produces more surface area for these muscles to attach.

-H man and Ape-

-Cladogram of Hominid Lumbar Spine Evolution-

-Human pelvic girdle-

"

c.) Leg anatomy

Humans femur form an angle less than 900 the knee while in the apes the angle is 900. Unlike the ape knee human knee has ability to be fully extended.

with nearly the

The lower leg bones are longer in humans compared to apes. Joint surfaces are enlarged in humans to bear the added of bipedal locomotion. In apes weight is properly transferred to legs as the bone the ball socket joint is smaller. d.) Curves of the foot

stress not inside

Human foot has three curvatures. Between these human can transfer weight to front or back. This makes the movements efficient. The three curvatures also help to bear the weight, which in turn facilitates the erect posture. All in all the 3 curvatures brings forth fine movements. Unlike humans ape feet are flat. Because they ate knuckle walkers the feet do not necessarily need to bear all the weight of the body.
-Foot of ape and human-

In humans the big toe (first toe) is

parallel to rest of the toes. This makes the weight to go front and thus the movement is strait. But apes have an opposable first toe which makes the weight to go to side. This causes the rocking movement of apes from side to side when they walk.

-Anatomy of human foot

Question 3 Advance Movement of the fore limbs. a.) Precision grip The human thumb is relatively long as compared with primate thumbs. There are differences in the length of the thumb among primate species, and some primates have longer thumbs. However, humans have the longest thumbs. The length of the thumb is linked with the precision grip, and human hands are better at performing the precision grip, allowing for fine motor control such as writing.

b.) Opposability

Humans have an opposable thumb, meaning that they are able to simultaneously flex, abduct and medially rotate the thumb (pollex) so as to bring its tip into opposition with the tips of any of the other digits. This ability is facilitated by a sellar (saddle-shaped) joint between the trapezium (the wrist bone that supports the thumb) and the first metacarpal, which allows an approximately 45 range of rotation of the thumb about its own long axis. Humans share pollical opposability with most other catarrhines (old world monkeys and apes).

c.) Supination Supination is a position of fore arm when the hand is facing anteriorly in the anatomical position.

d.) Pronation

Pronation is a rotational movement of the forearm at the radioulnar joint.

e.) Shoulder joint From the shoulder joint abduction and adduction movements can e carried out. Abduction is a movement which draws a limb away from the median (Sagittal) plane of the body. Adduction is a movement which brings a part of the anatomy closer to the sagittal plane of the body.

Another movement at the shoulder joint is Extension and flexion. Extension is a movement of a joint that results in increased angle between two bones or body surfaces at a joint. Extension usually results in straightening of the bones or body surfaces involved. From the shoulder joint the fore arm also shows a movement called circumduction. Circumduction means to move a limb in a circular manner.

f.) Wrist movement Metacarpus being separate with fine articulation brings forth fine movement from the wrist. Carpus keeps the joints connected. Wrist moves with the carus and metacarpus. Metacarpus has 8 bones in two rows.

If overall limb movement is taken into account there is increasing number of movements when it goes from the central axis to away from body. This is resulted bu the increasing number of bones away from body.

Question 4 bserve provided regenerated models of Neanderthal and Modern man. Compare on the follo ing features, and illustrate differences of the t o groups. Indicate the importance of each difference ith relation to their habitat, behavior, food habits, intelligence and other physical features.
y y y y
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Body size Cranial capacity Skull form Ja and the teeth features
%

Neanderthal has a short muscular body. Modern man s body is comparatively tall. The cranium capacity of Neanderthal is larger than modern human. This must be to control the musculature. But it is believed that Neanderthals must have not had as many folds in their brains as modern humans, so less clever than them.

Neanderthals mainly had a carnivorous diet while modern humans are omnivorous. They have much more prominent brow ridges where as in humans brow ridges are reduced. The shortness in the Neanderthal structure must have been a disadvantage in hunting because they cannot see far. However shortness has also got its pros. It must have helped them to move towards their pray fast and unseen.
-Skeletons of Neanderthal and Modern man-

Neanderthal foramen magnum is shifter a little to the posterior side of the skull than modern humans and they had a smaller chin angle compared with the prominent large chin angle present in modern humans. Modern humans have a reduced snout than Neanderthals and their face is much more developed. While modern humans have an erect posture Neanderthals are slightly bent from the erect posture. It is believed by some that this is because they lived in caves. Both Neanderthal and modern man have bipedal locomotion. Neanderthals possessed a rather larger jaw with larger teeth than modern humans which helped them with their carnivorous habit. But Neanderthal canines are not more prominent than that of modern humans.

-Neanderthal skull-

-First reconstruction of a Neanderthal male-

References:
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Robert Boyd, Joan B. Silk (1997) HOW HUMANS EVOLVED. New York: W.W. Norton & Company,Inc.3rd Edition Smith,Cameron M., Davies,Evan T. (2008) Anthropology for Dummies.Indiana,Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing Inc. Harold L. Levin, THE EARTH THROUGH TIME. 8th Edition URL : http://higheredbcs.wiley.com/legacy/college/levin/0471697435/chap_tut/chaps/chapter17 01.html Introduction to the Primates URL : http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/bindon/ant270/lectures/primates1.pdf Anthropoid Origins A Primer URL : http://blogs.scienceforums.net/evoanthro/2008/06/12/anthropoid -origins-a-primer/ Is there a difference between monkeys and apes? URL : http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/monkeys-vs-apes.htm Ape vs Monkey URL : http://sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/animals/mammals/apevsmonkey.htm Introduction to Paleoanthropology URL : http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Paleoanthropology/Bones Dental arcade of an ape Australopithecus africanus and a modern human URL : http://australianmuseum.net.au/image/Dental-arcade-of-an-ape-Australopithecus-africanusand-a-modern-human Taylor, Ion T.(2003) IN THE MINDS OG MEN, Darwin and the new world order. 5th Edition URL : http://www.creationism.org/books/TaylorInMindsMen/TaylorIMMi09.htm Bill Sellers (20 October 2000) Primate Evolution URL : http://homepage.mac.com/wis/Personal/lectures/human-origins/PrimateEvolution.pdf

Cladogram of Hominoid Lumbar Spine Evolution

URL : http://anthropology.net/2007/12/15/a-human-ancestor-for-the-apes/cladogram-of-hominoidpelvic-girdle/ The primate evolution URL : http://studentbiologist.blogspot.com/2010/05/hominid-story.html

How to Write References URL : http://library.bcu.ac.uk/references.pdf