THE ISSUE:
A report of the discovery of a new hominin, Kenyanthropus platyops, published in Nature (vol 410, 22 March 2001) indicated that the discovery of more hominin fossils might lead to more confusion rather than increased clarity about human origins.
“Until a few years ago, the evolutionary history of our species was thought to be relatively straight forward…Homo (was) presumed to have evolved between 2 and 3 million years ago from an early species in the genus Australopithecus, most likely A.afarensis made famous by the fossil Lucy. But lately, confusion has been sown in the human evolutionary tree. The discovery of three new australopithecine species – A. anamensis, A. garhi, and A. bahrelghazali, in Kenya, Ethiopia and Chad respectively – showed the genus to be more diverse and widespread than had been thought. The confusion (and enjoyment) now looks set to increase still further.”
THE TASK
Research aspects of human evolution using focus questions to establish your information base on the issue and include an evaluation of the sources you use in an annotated bibliography; these will be presented in a research task. You will then use your research to provide justified responses to questions under exam conditions.
Use in-text citations in your research log, keep a formatted reference list and prepare an annotated bibliography for at least 5 of your sources.
1. Write a general introduction to the topic. Cover the following:
• What is evolution?
• What was Charles Darwin’s contribution to ideas about evolution?
• What are fossils? How do they form?
• How does fossil evidence support the Theory of Evolution?
• When and where did human ancestors first evolve?