Evolution Test - 10

Human belongs to a species of Homo sapiens, where Homo represents genus and sapiens represent specific epithet under the class Mammalia.

Avetism is the tendency to revert to ancestral type. It is a kind of evolutionary throwback, such as traits reappearing which had disappeared generation before. Baby born with small tail is a case of atavism.

Vestigial organs are those organs which were functional in our ancestor but become functionless in present form of human beings.

Nail is not a vestigial organ of man as our fingernails are proportionately the same size as our wild counterparts, they are Not reduced structures. They still maintain their original function so they are Not atrophied or functionless.

The correct order of geological periods is Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Coenozoic. Each period have characteristic plants and animals evolved over the period of time.

Environmental variation is the change in traits due to environmental factors like temperature, humidity, soil water precipitation etc. Dying hair colour blue or any other colour is environmental variation.

The most significant trend in the evolution of modern man from his ancestors is the increasing cranial cavity. Bony cavity inside which bone is located is called cranium. Cranial capacity increased from 900cc to 1400cc in course of evolution.

Neanderthals are recognisably human but have distinctive facial features and a stocky build that were evolutionary adaptations to cold, dry environments.

This species lived between 28,000 and 300,000 years ago.

Key physical features :

• Body size and shape: Neanderthals were generally shorter and had more robust skeletons and muscular bodies than modern humans.
• Brain size was larger than the average modern human brain and averaged 1500 cubic centimetres.
• Skull : distinctive skull shape that was long and low, with a rounded brain case.  mid-face region showed a characteristic forward projection (this resulted in a face that looked like it had been ‘pulled’ forward by the nose). orbits (eye sockets) were large and rounded. Nose was broad and very large
• Jaws and teeth : jaws were larger and more robust than those of modern humans and had a gap called the retromolar space, behind the third molars (wisdom teeth) at the back of the jaw. jaw lacked the projecting bony chin that is found in Homo sapiens. teeth were larger than those of modern humans.

Home sapiens and Homo erectus in differ in their size of brain capacity. The size of brain of Homo erectus was smaller than Homo sapiens.

The average brain size of Homo erectus is estimated to have been roughly 900 cubic centimeters whereas the average brain size capof Homo sapiens is roughly 1300 cubic centimeters.

The first human like creature being hominid was called Homo habilis. Their brain capacity were about 650-800cc and probably do not eat meat.

Louis Leakey, the British-Kenyan paleoanthropologist who was the first to suggest the existence of H. habilis, and his wife, Mary Leakey, found the first trace of H. habilis in 1955: two hominin teeth.

Evolutionary process is totally different from human progress.

Evolution leads to creation of complex organism. It does not lead to creation of better organism.  For e.g, we are not better than the amoeba, we are just complex than amoeba.

There is no real progress in the idea of evolution which is biologically controlled to creation of variation.