← Trends in human evolution
1 Reading the notation
Anatomical vocabulary carries the marks in this standard. Use the correct term, not a description.📖 Key definitions: Human evolution (91606)
17 termsCover the right column and recite each one.
- Hominin
- The group containing modern humans and all our extinct bipedal ancestors, after the split from the chimpanzee lineage.
- Bipedalism
- Habitual walking upright on two legs: the defining early hominin trait.
- Foramen magnum
- The hole in the base of the skull through which the spinal cord passes. A central position indicates bipedalism; a rearward position indicates quadrupedalism.
- Carrying (valgus) angle
- The inward angle of the femur from hip to knee, bringing the knees and feet under the body’s midline for balance when walking upright.
- Prognathism
- The forward projection of the jaw and face. It decreases through hominin evolution.
- Cranial capacity
- The internal volume of the braincase (cm³), used as a proxy for brain size. It increases markedly over hominin evolution.
- Brow ridge (supraorbital torus)
- The bony ridge above the eye sockets; it reduces over time in hominin evolution.
- Sagittal crest
- A ridge of bone along the top of the skull anchoring large chewing muscles; lost as diets softened and jaws shrank.
- Opposable thumb
- A thumb that can be moved to touch the other fingers, allowing a precision grip.
- Stereoscopic vision
- Overlapping fields of view from forward-facing eyes, giving three-dimensional depth perception.
- Precision grip
- Holding an object between the thumb and fingertips, enabling fine tool use.
- Power grip
- Holding an object firmly in the palm with the fingers wrapped around it.
- Biological evolution
- Genetic change in a population across generations, inherited via DNA, a slow process.
- Cultural evolution
- Change in learned behaviours, technology and ideas transmitted by teaching and learning rather than genes: a much faster process.
- Oldowan tools
- The earliest simple stone tool technology: struck flakes and choppers.
- Acheulean tools
- More advanced, symmetrical hand-axes requiring greater planning and skill.
- Bipedal adaptation
- Any skeletal feature (S-shaped spine, bowl-shaped pelvis, arched foot, in-line big toe) that supports upright walking.