Assignment 2: Functional Morphology AANT 110 Introduction to Human Evolution Ass
ID: 182058 • Letter: A
Question
Assignment 2: Functional Morphology AANT 110 Introduction to Human Evolution Assignment #2: Functional Morphology Background Functional anatomy (or morphology) is the idea that (in our case skeletal) anatomy, or morphology of structures (bones) is related to and influenced by its function (how it works). Functional anatomists use the phrase "form follows function" to summarize their theoretical perspective. It is based on the assumption that an organism's morphology serves a specific purpose, rather than being random For example, birds have wings. We assume that these wings (morphology) are an adaption for a function (flying). In modern contexts, we can observe this to be true as most birds use their wings to fly. Therefore, when we go to the fossil record and look at extinct animals such as dinosaurs where we similar morphologies to bird wings, we use the same assumption to interpret their behaviour. These dinasaurs.have wings Now, of course, there is always the caveat that there are some animals that do not follow these patterns for example, in the bird world there are several examples of flightless birds such as emus ostriches, and penguins. However, even with these anomalous cases, we can infer evolutionary relationships between all of these taxonomic groups, as well as use these cases to establish variations in morphology of particular anatomy to distinguish between wings for flight, and wings that are not for flight. With all that in mind, let's get into extant (living) primate and extinct hominin functional morphology Part 1: The evolution of bipedalism Bipedalism is a defining characteristic of the human lineage. This week you have learned about some of the evidence we see in the fossil record point toward the evolution of bipedalism in our early human ancestors. In your textbook and the lectures, bipedal adaptations in the modern human skeleton were briefly covered. In this section of the lab, you will Become familiar with the anatomical adaptations exhibited by modern humans and other hominins (human relatives) ZoExplanation / Answer
2. A facultative biped is a normally quadrupedal animal that is capable of walking or running on its hind legs, often for only a limited period of time. Well known examples include reptiles such as the Basilisk lizard (also called 'Jesus Lizards' because some species can run over water for a brief period of time).
Habitual bipedalism, or obligate bipedalism, is rare. This is the form of bipedalism that is assumed as a regular (i.e., habitual) means of locomotion. Today, very few mammals (e.g., humans and kangaroos) demonstrate habitual bipedalism.