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#113253 10/07/03 10:57 PM
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Well, well, well. What have we here? Another list neither you nor I have memorized, but deep down inside we wish we had. [The MegaCusses here have probably long ago memorized all the lists, so this thread is just for the little cusses like you and me.]

Anyway, in procrastinating the dive into a stack of 200 student essays tonight, I came across an old National Geographic chart I've been meaning to read carefully for a long time. It is one of those charts that shows our ancestors with their huge thighs and lots of hair. The guy at the top--that's us!--has no hair. He's bald and looks like a Martian if you painted him green. They all have their arms akimbo with palms facing forward. If you put a bubble up from each of their mouths, they would appear to be asking, "Why me?"

Anyway, on the far righthand part of the NG chart, you can see what all these various homonid hairy guys (and gals) had been called.

Here's a little quiz that you might like to take. I don't know any of the answers, so I shall cheat since I have the chart in front of me:

Here is your word bank for the quiz:

Anatomically modern Homo sapiens
Australopithecus africanus
Neanderthals
Australopithecus anamensis {Doesn't 'amenuensis' come to mind?}
Australopithecus boisoi
Archaic Homo sapiens
Homo erectus
Australopithecus robustus

QUIZ:

1. How far back do our hairy homonid apey cusses go--and this is a 1997 chart, so the chart is probably outdated by now?

4. million years; name: Australopithecus anamensis

2. When do the earliest known tools appear in our cusses' history?

2.6 million years ago when the Australopithecus africanus cusses were around

3. When do we have the earliest evidence of 'controlled fire' among the cusses that had come along by the time of earliest evidence of this fire?

1 million years ago. Other cusses had died out by the time the first official controlled fire came along. For example: Australopithecus boisoi, which sounds like a Japanese tree to me

4. A-hem: When do we have the earliest evidence of shelters?

It looks like about 330,000 years ago. Australopithecus robustus and all related cusses had died out by then, but Homo erectus was going strong along with Archaic Homo sapiens making a grand entrance. Neanderthals hadn't hit the charts yet.

5. But: When do the 'anatomically modern Homo sapiens begin to appear?

100,000 years ago

There are many more cusses on the chart, but I think if you learn that handful, you'll know almost as much as the whiz kids on this board, who shall remain nameless, but not necessarily silent.


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All Those Cusses Ha--you got me on that one! I was expecting a VERY different kind of post!


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"2. When do the earliest known tools appear in our cusses' history?"

Well, "Homo erectus" sure enough sounds like somebody with a tool.



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"Homo erectus" sure enough sounds like somebody with a tool. Aughhhhhhhh...ok, ok, I'm still glad you're back.



#113257 10/10/03 10:19 PM
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I recall this guy from an article I wrote aboout my ineptness at accomplishing household repairs.
(translates to Handyman)

http://www.geocities.com/palaeoanthropology/Hhabilis.html



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