90719 907190 3SUPERVISOR S Level 3 Biology, 2011 90719 Describe trends in human evolution 2.00 pm uesday Tuesday 1 November 2011 Credits: Three Check that the National Student Number (NSN) on your admission slip is the same as the number at the top of this page. You should attempt ALL the questions in this booklet. If you need more room for any answer, use the extra space provided at the back of this booklet. Check that this booklet has pages 2 8 in the correct order and that none of these pages is blank. YOU MUST HAND THIS BOOKLET TO THE SUPERVISOR AT THE END OF THE EXAMINATION. Achievement Criteria Achievement Achievement with Merit Achievement with Excellence Describe trends in human evolution. Explain trends in human evolution. Overall level of performance Discuss trends in human evolution. New Zealand Qualifications Authority, 2011. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without the prior permission of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.
2 You are advised to spend 40 minutes answering the questions in this booklet. QUESTION ONE The diagrams below show Ardipithecus ramidus ( Ardi ), believed to be an early ancestral hominin, who lived about 4.5 million years ago. At this time the climate in the area where she lived was drying, reducing vast forests to scattered pockets of woodland. For copyright reasons, this resource cannot be reproduced here. http://attitudeadj.blogspot.com/2009/10/ardipithecus-ramidus-15-or-4400000.html (a) Explain how the skeletal evidence indicates that Ardi spent significant amounts of time on the ground bipedally as well as in trees (arboreal).
(b) Discuss the possible survival advantages and disadvantages Ardi would have had due to being bipedal. You should consider: key biological changes suitability for her niche the changing climate. 3
4 QUESTION TWO About 10 000 years ago many populations of Homo sapiens changed from hunter-gatherers to using agriculture. The change occurred in many places around the globe around the same time. Discuss how this change led to an increase in cultural evolution. You should consider: domestication of plants and animals benefits gained by the change key disadvantages of the change how new developments provided solutions to disadvantages.
5 QUESTION THREE Periodically the Sahara region of Africa has alternated from being a hot, dry, uninhabitable desert to being warm, moist and fertile. In times of good climate, hominins have inhabited the region. Then, when the Sahara has become desert, they have been forced to move back into Africa or into Europe / Asia. This has happened at least three times in the past: around 1.7 million years ago, 500 000 years ago and 60 000 years ago. The tools associated with these periods are Acheulian, Mousterian and Palaeolithic. (a) Explain how these three tool cultures may have differed from each other in terms of their design and manufacture.
(b) Investigations into the patterns of genetic variation in modern human populations have been used to support the view that the origin of Homo sapiens is the result of a recent dispersal event known as the Out of Africa model. Supporting evidence for this model has come from studies of mitochondrial DNA (mtdna), which is inherited through the maternal line. There are fourteen ancestral populations in Africa, but only one outside Africa. Discuss the pattern of dispersal this evidence supports and why the evidence has been used. In your answer: describe the Out of Africa model explain why mtdna was used to provide evidence for this model explain, using the Out of Africa model, why more diversity is found in the African Homo sapiens populations compared to those of Asia and Europe. 6
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8 QUESTION NUMBER Extra space if required. Write the question number(s) if applicable. 90719