Six Skulls

Morphology is the study of the structure and form of organisms. Six skulls were looked at to be determined identified using morphological characteristics. This can determine the genus and species and time the hominid was likely alive. It can also help anthropologists know more about what the living conditions were like in the time that that species was alive. Traits like a sagittal keel or large molars can show that the food that that species consumed was likely tough and required a lot of chewing. The molars that are present in older hominids would slowly go away as species adapted to softer foods, as would the sagittal keel. The brain size would show the intelligence that a species was likely to have, as well as its proximity to modern humans, who have rather large craniums. When analyzing these six skulls they were identified using similar characteristics to these, and looked at which ones continued on and which ones died out, and determined a timeline of when each species was likely to be alive. Cranium Aa was found to be Homo erectus. This was found through observing the walnut- shape of the head. The extreme sagittal keels on the skull is another identifying characteristic of the cranium this would ha’ve protected the rest of the skull from shock, similar to armor. The final feature observed was the large teeth in this skull which is consistent with their diet of them at this time. This is the third newest youngest of the skulls looked at. Cranium Bb was found to be Homo neanderthalenysis. This cranium has a football- shaped head. The brain case resembles displays a bun, which this was developed for the attachment of strong neck muscles. This was notn’t continued on to Homo sapiens because they were under less physical strain. It has a recessed chin, which makes the face look as though there is no chin. It also has a wide nasalose cavity, which would have’ve helped this species live in colder climates. This was eventually lessened as the Eearth’s environment began to heat up. This is the second newesyoungestt skull looked at. Cranium Cc was an Australopithecus apheresisafarensis. This skull has large dimorphic canines, due to the …show more content…
This was seen to have a prominent chin which is hypothesized to help the jaw stand up against the forces generated by chewing. They have a A very large skull . It also has no retro- molar space, showing the diet consists of softer foods that require less chewing. It is a house- shaped skull, tall but not wide. This is the youngestnewest, and only current form of the skulls looked at. Cranium Ff is an Australopithecus africanus. This species has no sagittal crest, but has maxillarynostril pillars, which are hypothesized to have aided in chewing hard foods. It [Grab your reader’s attention with a great quote from the document or use this space to emphasize a key point. To place this text box anywhere on the page, just drag it.] It hHas a human- like cranium, and a large human- like brain . Despite this, it has a very primitive jaw and teeth, likely due to a similar diet to primates rather than younger hominids. It has a flexed basicranium, which is a skull base that is more angulated in the center.(in-text citation needed for this complex info). This is the second oldest out of the six skulls looked