Trends in human evolution

Practice

Recall it first, then use it — testing yourself builds the memory, where rereading the notes above only feels easier.

Recall and application shuffled together — you have to work out what each item wants before you can answer it, which is the part the exam actually tests. Both kinds feed the same spacing schedule, so anything you miss comes back sooner.

Say the answer out loud before flipping — that attempt is where the learning happens, even when you get it wrong.

Exam-style only. Instant feedback, shuffled each attempt, best score saved on this device.

What actually comes up

Three extended "Discuss" questions every year, always in the same order: bipedalism/skeletal evidence, then a hands/tools/brain-expansion question (usually the positive-feedback loop), then Out-of-Africa dispersal. Marking is holistic evidence-point banding within each question (roughly Describes→Achieved, Explains→Merit, Provides detailed discussion→Excellence), transcribed here from the "include discussion of" bullets each paper actually gives.

Across 4 years

The pattern — what to prepare

The 2022 paper ↗ Marking schedule ↗

Question One — Homo bodoensis

A re-examined skull from Bodo D'ar, Ethiopia is proposed as a new species, Homo bodoensis, an intermediate between H. erectus and H. sapiens (endocranial capacity ~1250 cm³), with neither mtDNA nor nDNA yet sequenced.

• Homo bodoensis endocranial capacity: ~1250 cm³
• Estimated age: 770,000–126,000 years ago

• describe Describe what is meant by the terms hominin and endocranial capacity. Achieved
• explain Explain how new DNA evidence (mitochondrial and nuclear) can be used to approximate times of species divergence, and how this evidence might support the Out of Africa theory. Merit
• discuss Discuss how changes to the cranium and hand bones would benefit the lifestyle of Homo bodoensis compared with earlier hominins, as part of discussing how new knowledge can change human evolution theories. Excellence

Question Two — Neanderthals

Neanderthals ranged from Portugal to Siberia, developed the Levallois pre-shaped-core tool technique around 300,000 years ago, showed evidence of caring for injured group members, and became inbred and fragmented by climate fluctuations before going extinct around 39,000 years ago.

• describe Describe how the ice age influenced the movement of Neanderthal populations. Achieved
• explain Explain an advantage and a disadvantage to Neanderthal society of caring for injured group members. Merit
• discuss Discuss how, even though Neanderthals were advantaged by the Levallois tool-making technique, the species did not survive past approximately 39,000 years ago. Excellence

Question Three — Movement of hominins into the Pacific

Bipedalism preceded changes to teeth and jaws, which preceded the larger, more complex brain that enabled domestication of dogs (~10,000 years ago) and pigs (~8,000 years ago) and eventual movement into the Pacific.

• describe Describe how a cooler and drier Africa resulted in a selection pressure for bipedalism. Achieved
• explain Explain what smaller teeth can tell us about hominin lifestyle. Merit
• discuss Discuss how a more complex brain led to successful domestication of dogs and pigs, and how this enabled Homo sapiens to migrate through Europe and into the Pacific. Excellence

The 2025 paper ↗ Marking schedule ↗

Question One — Bipedalism

Figure 1 compares the pelvis and lower limbs of a chimpanzee, an australopithecine, and a modern human. Chimpanzees are quadrupedal knuckle-walkers that can walk bipedally under specific circumstances.

• describe Describe how skeletal changes in the pelvis, femur, and knees enabled efficient bipedal walking in australopithecines. Achieved
• explain Explain TWO advantages of bipedal walking for australopithecines in Africa, and a disadvantage. Merit
• discuss Discuss TWO possible selection pressures that biologists think led to the skeletal changes. Excellence

Question Two — Hominin hands

Figure 2 compares hand bones and skulls of a chimpanzee, an australopithecine, Homo habilis, and Homo sapiens; hand changes are thought to have occurred slightly before brain expansion.

• Cranial capacity: chimpanzee 384 g, australopithecine 435 g, H. habilis 600 g, H. sapiens 1,350 g

• describe Describe the relationship between biological evolution and cultural evolution. Achieved
• explain Explain how TWO changes to the hominin hand may have influenced hominin brain expansion, and how a change to the hand may have influenced the development of tools. Merit
• discuss Discuss the positive feedback relationship between the evolution of hominin hands, brain expansion, and cultural evolution, including an advantage and a disadvantage that biological evolution has had on cultural evolution. Excellence

Question Three — Dispersal of Homo sapiens

Modern H. sapiens migrated out of Africa around 60,000–70,000 years ago and lived alongside Neanderthals (probable range: Europe) and Denisovans (probable range: Asia) at the same time.

• describe Describe the Out of Africa (replacement) hypothesis. Achieved
• explain Explain how the ability to make clothing and shelter helped hominin species disperse into new environments. Merit
• discuss Discuss how specialised adaptations and inbreeding of Neanderthals and Denisovans may have affected their survival and ability to disperse, and how abstract thought and communication in H. sapiens helped them disperse across Europe and Asia. Excellence

The 2024 paper ↗ Marking schedule ↗

Question One — Movement of hominids and hominins

Chimpanzees forage arboreally and travel up to 5 km a day, using both quadrupedal and bipedal movement; their energy cost for each is similar. Habitual bipedalism favoured hip and lower-limb changes in hominins.

• describe Describe the terms "habitually bipedal" and "arboreal". Achieved
• explain Explain reasons for the differences between the modern human and the chimpanzee, related to the forms of the spine, pelvis, and valgus angle. Merit
• discuss Discuss why modern humans are bipedal despite a named disadvantage of this characteristic. Excellence

Question Two — Neanderthal fibre use

A Neanderthal stone tool was found with evidence of a 3-ply twisted bark-fibre cord — the basis for clothing, rope, bags, nets, mats, and boats — showing complex, multi-component technology and a mathematical understanding of pairs, sets, and numbers.

• describe Describe the Levallois technique. Achieved
• explain Explain the endocranial region that would have developed to allow understanding and use of mathematical rope-making, and TWO ways Neanderthals might have used tools leading to an increase in health. Merit
• discuss Discuss a reason how, and a reason why, the benefit of twisted fibre for food gathering helped Neanderthals succeed in the cold European climate. Excellence

Question Three — The island of Flores

Homo floresiensis fossils (60,000–100,000 years old) are found only on Flores, Indonesia; despite a small body and brain, they made stone tools, hunted small elephants and large rodents, and coped with Komodo dragon predators. Recent evidence suggests they did not use fire.

• H. floresiensis: ~110 cm tall
• Male Komodo dragon: ~85 kg average

• describe Describe how their small size might have enabled population success on the island. Achieved
• explain Explain the success of H. floresiensis despite not having controlled use of fire. Merit
• discuss Discuss TWO reasons why substantial brain development would be a selective advantage to early hominin species. Excellence

The 2023 paper ↗ Marking schedule ↗

Question One — The Laetoli footprints

Footprints discovered in 1977 at Laetoli, Tanzania (~3.66 million years old, thought to be Australopithecus afarensis) are the earliest clear evidence of bipedalism, compared here against a modern human footprint and a chimpanzee footprint.

• Laetoli footprints: ~3.66 million years old

• describe Describe TWO differences between the three footprints (modern human, Laetoli hominin, chimpanzee). Achieved
• explain Explain how the environment may have led to changes in the structure of the leg and foot, enabling more efficient bipedal locomotion. Merit
• discuss Discuss how being bipedal could have led to changes in the diet of early hominins, and how these contributed to their success. Excellence

Question Two — Tools

A power grip is often shown with Oldowan tool use (Homo habilis); a precision grip with later tools such as Acheulian and Mousterian, changes linked to changes in the brain.

• describe Describe TWO benefits resulting from early hominins' use of stone tools. Achieved
• explain Explain an advantage of both the power grip and the precision grip to the use of tools. Merit
• discuss Discuss TWO named changes to tools from the Oldowan tool culture to the Acheulian tool culture, and how these changes gave advantages to Homo erectus or Homo ergaster. Excellence

Question Three — Dispersal

Modern humans migrated out of Africa around 60,000 years ago.

• describe Describe the place and timing of the origin of Homo sapiens in both the Out of Africa hypothesis and the multiregional hypothesis of human dispersal. Achieved
• explain Explain why migration from the Middle East to Asia may have been easier and faster than the migration from Africa to Europe. Merit
• discuss Discuss how changes in abstract thought and brain development would have led to better shelter and food gathering for the migrating Homo sapiens. Excellence

Grades above follow each year's own Describes/Explains/Discusses ladder condensed to the actual task — the real cut is holistic across all three questions (roughly 8/13/18 of 24 marks), not a fixed mark per bullet.

Past exams & resources

⏱ Timed opens the paper and starts a countdown matching the exam length. Official NZQA PDFs. If a link 404s, that year’s paper may sit under a slightly different code: browse the NZQA subject page.