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Student Exploration: Human Evolution - Skull Analysis

Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and
prompts in the orange boxes.

Vocabulary: bipedal, canine, cranial capacity, cranium, evolve, foramen magnum, hominid, hominin, index,
maxilla, orbit, palate, skull

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

1. Label one of the skulls below as human and the other as a chimpanzee skull.

Human skull Chimpanzee skull

2. What features did you use to identify which skull was human and which was chimpanzee?

We identified which skull was which by comparing brain size, jaw size, teeth size, and the
location of their noses.

Gizmo Warm-up
In 1924, a fossilized skull that looked very similar to a chimp skull was
discovered. But the skull most definitely did not belong to a chimp. The
location of the foramen magnum—a hole in the skull where the spinal
cord exits—indicated that the individual was bipedal, or walked on two
legs. This fossil was some of the earliest evidence of human evolution.

Using the Human Evolution – Skull Analysis Gizmo, you will discover
some of the ways that skulls can be used to learn about human
evolution. Start by comparing two modern hominids: a human and a
chimpanzee.

1. Examine the Front view of the Homo sapiens (modern human) skull. Then, use the Select skull menu
to examine the same view of the Pan troglodytes (chimp) skull.

How do the skulls compare?

The chimp skull has an elongated jaw and large canine teeth. It also features smaller brain
size and no cheekbones. As for the human skull, it displays larger brain size, with high
cheekbones, and aligned teeth.

2. Now, examine the Bottom view of the two skulls. How do they compare?

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 The foramen magnum locations are different; the human skull features the hole directly in the
middle, while the chimp skull’s foramen magnum is farther back. Chimp skulls also have a
skinnier, rectangular shaped jaws and less prominent cheekbones. Not only that, their eye
holes are larger and farther away due to their longer snout.

Activity A: Get the Gizmo ready:

Foramen magnum ● Select the Homo sapiens (modern human) skull.

Introduction: Skulls, even from the same species,

can have a wide variety of shapes and sizes. To
compare skulls, scientists use measurements of
certain features to calculate indexes. An index is a
ratio of one measurement to another.

An important index for measuring hominid skulls is

the opisthion index. This index indicates the position
of the foramen magnum in the base of the cranium.
The opisthion index can indicate whether a hominid
species was bipedal or not.

Question: How does the location of the foramen magnum indicate if a

species was bipedal?

1. Measure: Select the Bottom view. To determine the opisthion index for
humans and chimps, follow the steps below and complete the table.
● Turn on Click to Measure Lengths. Measure the distance from
the opisthocranion to the opisthion, as shown at top right.
Record the opisthocranion-opisthion distance in the table below.
● Measure from the opisthocranion to the orale, as shown at
bottom right. Record the opisthocranion-orale distance in the
table.
● To calculate the opisthion index, divide your first measurement
by your second measurement. Multiply this number by 100.

Opisthocranion-opisthi Opisthocranion-ora Opisthion

Species
on distance (cm) le distance (cm) index
Homo sapiens 7 cm 20 cm 35
Pan troglodytes 2 cm 20 cm 10

2. Analyze: The opisthion index is an indicator of where the foramen magnum is situated. The greater the
opisthion index, the closer the foramen magnum is to the center of the cranium. This position is usually
found in species that stand upright. A low value for the opisthion index occurs when the foramen magnum
is situated in the rear of the cranium. This may indicate that the species walked on its knuckles or on four
legs.

Using the index values you calculated, what can you conclude about humans and chimps?

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 According to the index values calculated earlier, chimps are more likely to walk on four legs or
knuckles due to their low index number of 10. Humans, on the other hand, are more probable
to be bipedal, as they have a higher index number of 35.

3. Gather data: Humans, chimpanzees, and the other great apes are hominids. Hominids evolved from a
common ancestor that lived about 13 million years ago. Hominins are hominids that belong to the lineage
that led to humans.

Measure the opisthion index of the other hominids available in the Gizmo. (Note: the foramen magnum was
not preserved in the Homo naledi skull.)

Opisthocranion-opisth Opisthocranion-ora Opisthion

Species
ion distance (cm) le distance (cm) index
A. afarensis 2 cm 17 cm 12
A. africanus 3 cm 18 cm 17
P. boisei 5 cm 20 cm 25
H. habilis 5 cm 18 cm 28
H. erectus 5 cm 21 cm 24
H. heidelbergensis 7 cm 24 cm 29
H. sapiens
6.5 cm 25 cm 26
neanderthalensis
H. floresiensis 4 cm 17 cm 24

4. Analyze: Hominins are characterized by bipedalism.

A. Based on their opisthion indexes, which of the hominids in the Gizmo are hominins?

P. Boisei, H. Habilis, H. Erectus, H. Heidelbergensis, H. Sapiens neanderthalensis, and

H. Floresiensis are all hominins according to their opisthion indexes.
?

B. Based on opisthion indexes, which hominin skulls are most similar to human skulls?

P. boisei, H. erectus
?

4. Explain: Why do you think the foramen magnum is positioned near the rear of the cranium for
knuckle-walking species and near the center of the cranium for bipedal species?

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 The location of the foramen magnum indicates balance in a species. If the species is bipedal,
the foramen magnum will be located near the center of the cranium to support their balance.
On the other hand, the foramen magnum will be positioned farther back in knuckle walking
species to help them look straight for longer periods of time without straining their neck.

Activity B: Get the Gizmo ready:

● Select Side view.
Cranial capacity ● Turn off Ruler, and turn on Click to measure area.

Introduction: The brain is housed inside the cranium. The internal volume of the cranium is called the cranial
capacity. The larger an organism’s cranial capacity is, the larger its brain tends to be.

Question: How does the cranial capacity compare amongst hominids?

1. Measure: To estimate the cranial capacity of each skull in the

Gizmo, measure the area of the part of the cranium that
houses the brain. This part of the cranium is roughly behind
the red line in the diagram at right. You can also use the three
skull images below as a guide for measuring the rest of the
skulls in the Gizmo.

After you measure the area of each cranium, multiply the

result by 5. This will give you a very rough estimate of the
species’ cranial capacity.

Homo sapiens Pan troglodytes Australopithecus afarensis

Estimated cranial capacity

Species Area of cranium (cm2)
(cm3)
Pan troglodytes 96cm2 480cm3
A. afarensis 94cm2 470cm3
A. africanus 89cm2 445cm3

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 P. boisei 125cm2 625cm3
H. habilis 110cm2 550cm3
H. erectus 164cm2 820cm3
H. heidelbergensis 200cm2 1000cm3
H. s. neanderthalensis 231cm2 1155cm3
H. floresiensis 132cm2 660cm3
H. naledi 126 cm2 630cm3
H. sapiens 220cm2 1,100cm3

2. Analyze: Examine the estimated cranial capacities you calculated.

A. Which species probably had the largest cranial capacities?

Homo S. Neanderthalensis probably had the largest cranial capacities, with an

estimated capacity of 1155cm^3.

B. What do you think cranial capacity is a good indicator of?

Cranial capacity is a good indicator of a species’ overall intelligence.

C. Did any hominids have a larger cranial capacity than humans? If so, which species?

Yes, the H. s. neanderthalensis.

3. Compare: Turn off the Area tool. Using the Front view, compare the size and shape of the forehead of a
chimpanzee and the forehead of a modern human. How are they different?

A. How are they different?

The chimpanzee forehead is much smaller than an average human’s forehead.

B. Why do you think humans have such large foreheads in comparison to chimps?

Humans have larger foreheads to compensate for their large brains, while chimps have
smaller brains, so they have smaller foreheads.

5. Draw conclusions: Compare the data you collected in activity A with the data you collected in this activity.
Which evolved first in hominins: bipedalism or large brains? Explain.

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???

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 Activity C: Get the Gizmo ready:

Maxilla and ● Select Side view.

mandible ● Turn on Click to measure angles.

Introduction: Teeth and the bones around the mouth give a great deal of information about both a species’
diet and how it eats. Take a look at the skull features below.

Question: How do the mouths of hominids compare?

1. Measure: As shown at right, place one of the protractor’s circles on the

top of the zygomatic process. Place the vertex of the protractor at the
top of the nasal opening (Hint: You may have to look at the Front view
in order to see where the top of the nasal opening is in relation to the
orbit). Place the other circle on the edge of the maxilla. The resulting
angle is the maxillary angle. Complete the table. (Note: You will not be
able to do this measurement on incomplete skulls.)

Species Maxillary angle Species Maxillary angle

Pan troglodytes Homo erectus
Australopithecus Homo
—
afarensis heidelbergensis
Australopithecus Homo sapiens
—
africanus neanderthalensis
Paranthropus boisei Homo floresiensis
Homo habilis — Homo sapiens

2. Observe: Select the Bottom view and look at the size and shape of each species’ palate. How does the
maxillary angle and palate shape relate to the size of each species’ mouth?

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3. Compare: Compare the human’s and chimp’s teeth.

A. How many teeth are found in each species’ maxilla?

Pan troglodytes: Homo sapiens:

B. How do the size and shape of human canines compare with chimp canines?

4. Form hypothesis: Chimps and humans eat similar foods. What do you think could explain the differences
between the maxillary angle, teeth, and palate of these two species?

5. Infer: What is the relationship between the evolution of bipedalism, the increase in cranial capacity, and the
decrease in tooth and mouth size of hominins? (Hint: As cranial capacity increased, the use of
sophisticated stone tools became more common.)

6. Summarize: On a separate sheet of paper, record the age of each fossil. Then, look over all the data you
collected. Summarize how hominins changed as they evolved.

7. Evaluate: Of the fossils presented in this Gizmo, Homo floresiensis is the youngest. In what ways does this
species NOT follow the pattern of human evolution you described above?

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