Instruction:
Question #1. Jane Goodall's contributions to primatology 10 marks (150 words)
Question #2. Discuss the evolutionary significance of bipedalism and erect posture. 15 marks (250 words)
(Examiner will pay special attention to the candidate's grasp of his/her material, its relevance to the subject chosen, and to his/ her ability to think constructively and to present his/her ideas concisely, logically and effectively).
Question #1. Jane Goodall's contributions to primatology 10 marks (150 words)
Approach
Hints:
Jane Goodall is an English primatologist and anthropologist. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 60-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees since she first went to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania in 1960, where she witnessed human-like behaviours amongst chimpanzees, including armed conflict.
Her dedicated and pioneering research is now recognized as a milestone in primate ethology. Her two books, In the Shadow of Man and The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behaviour are major contributions to the scientific literature on pongid behaviour.
Goodall's pioneering research has resulted in original information on wild chimpanzee vocal communication, sexual activity, social hierarchies, facial expressions, greeting gestures, parental care, nest building, diseases, diet, grooming, and play. In general, chimpanzee behaviour bears uncanny similarities to human behaviour.
Findings after chimpanzee study:
-A chimpanzee group is dominated by the top-ranking or alpha male, and each sex has its own fluctuating dominance hierarchy
Significance/Inferences of these findings
Conclusion:
However, it is an important study in its own right. It has now become our responsibility to manage much of the life on this planet, and in order to preserve what we currently have, we need to understand what the animals require in terms of space, diet, group organisation etc.
Question #2. Discuss the evolutionary significance of bipedalism and erect posture. 15 marks (250 words)
Approach
Hints:
In the history of primate evolution man evolved from non-human primates. Gradual evolution from terrestrial quadrupedalism (pronograde) to semi-erect posture (clinograde) and finally to a fully erect posture (orthograde) with bipedal locomotion is the way how the evolution of locomotion from simians to man has been interpreted.
Man deserves its name when he could stand erect and walk bipedally. We stand with our back vertical, legs straight and our arms and hands hanging down freely on the side of the body.
On the other hand our primate relatives, even if they stand, they do it with a slopping back, bent legs and arms and hands hanging down in front of the body. The assumption of such an erect posture has consequences on our skeletal system. Anatomical modifications that took place on the skeletal system due to assumption of erect posture vary in magnitude in different parts of the skeleton.
Changes are observed to be more prominent on skull, vertebral column, pelvic girdle, femur and foot.
PELVIC GIRDLE:
FEMUR:
FOOT:
Evolutionary significance:
Impact on Physical evolution:
One of the things that makes our species unique is our exceptionally large brain relative to body size. A new analysis of the skull suggests that human brain evolution may have been shaped by changes in the female reproductive system that occurred when our ancestors stood upright. Bipedalism involved a major reconfiguration of the birth canal, which became significantly narrower because of a change in the structure of the pelvis.
Biological significance
Cultural significance:
Conclusion:
The talus bone is also enlarged and wedge shaped to serve the purpose of transmitting the weight to the great toe while walking. So these are some of the anatomical changes or modification that we have observed on the pelvic girdle, femur and foot of man due to assumption of erect posture. Evolution is a continuous and protracted process and we are still evolving under newer forces.
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