Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In the species name Kenyanthropus platyops, what does 'platyops' mean?
2. The team that excavated and studied Kenyanthropus platyops believe that it lived at the same time as which species of early man?
3. Australopithecus anamensis fosslils were excavated at Kanapoi and at Allia Bay, just west of Lake Turkana. What is the major difference between Australopithecus anamensis and Australopithecus afarensis?
4. Sexual dimorphism is the difference in form between the male and female of the same species. For instance, human males are generally larger than women, and female whales are generally larger than male whales. What was the first fossil found of A. anamensis that supported the idea that it was sexually dimorphic?
5. Once upon a time in 1959, Mary Leakey found a robust australopithecine in Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. It was nicknamed "Zinj", and became world-famous. The skull which Louis Leakey called Zinjanthropus boisei is now designated as Paranthropus boisei. It is noted for its degree of megadontia. What is megadontia?
6. In 1985, Alan Walker and Richard Leakey found a fossil at Koobi Fora, on the western shore of Lake Turkana in Kenya. This fossil became very famous, and confirmed the validity of a new species, called Australopithecus aethiopicus. What is the fossil called?
7. Homo habilis, meaning 'handy man', is so called because of the tools found buried with its fossils. Homo habilis had a larger brain capacity than australopithecines, and a more humanlike brain. By the time Homo habilis came along, our ancestors were nearly five feet tall, although females may have been smaller. Of what did Homo habilis make its tools?
8. Since Bernard Ngeneo, a member of Richard Leakey's team, found a specimen tentatively named Homo rudolfensis near Lake Turkana in 1972, there has been much scientific debate about it. Some scientists believe that Homo rudolfenis is an australopithecine, others believe that it is a smaller Homo habilis. A more recent discovery of another Homo rudolfensis mandible [jaw] in 1993 opened the debate again. Where was this mandible found?
9. Kamoya Kimeu, a member of Richard Leakey's team made a remarkable discovery at Lake Turkana in 1984. He uncovered an almost-complete adolescent skeleton, only 300 yards from Leakey's breakfast table. Although there is not scientific proof, but only a theory to go on, how does the scientific community think that this adolescent boy died?
10. What was so unexpected about the skeleton of Turkana Boy?
Source: Author
alliefarrell
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