Please answer the following 5 questions.

Each answer should only use data as covered in modules or from the articles and web links shared in the modules. Do not do a general google search to find information.

Each answer should be between 300 and 400 words long. Please cite all your sources throughout the text using the APA format (Links to an external site.). Include a Reference List at the end of each essay, though it does not count as part of the word totals.

In your answers, be sure to use correct vocabulary, explain natural selection and evolutionary theory clearly and as appropriate to answer the question, and organize your essays using topic sentences, clear writing, and short paragraphs. Essays DO NOT need an introduction paragraph. Just start explaining what you have learned. Make it clear which hominin species you consider to be the first to count as “human”.

*You should write about the same ONE hominin species for all 5 essays.

*If you consider only Homo sapiens as human, then compare them to Neanderthals or H. heidelbergensis and argue why the other hominin is NOT human.

*The hominin you select as the first human MUST BE Homo erectus, or a more recent species. Don’t pick any species that lived before 1.5mya.

As a guide to grading, each essay will be worth 8 points (3 points for the hominin species and 3 points for the Homo sapiens data. Points are based on accuracy of data and theory. Plus 2 points for clarity, grammar, length, and organization of the essay. Each essay can be organized such that you write 1 paragraph per species.

Fifth Essay: 8 points: Pulls data together to set up coherent argument about why X is the first hominin. Uses appropriate & relevant data for each of the three species. 6 or 7 points: Discusses some relevant data but is missing key features, argument is not a good fit for the data or species being discussed. Less than 6 points: argument is not explained and no evidence to support choice of X hominin as first human.

1. Compare the pelvis, and two other anatomical features related to bipedal locomotion betwee Homo sapiensand your choice of ONE other hominin species from the genus Homo. How has natural selection affected the shape of these features in these two species?

2. Compare the skull and teeth between Homo sapiens and your choice of ONE other hominin species from the genus Homo. Relate the features of the skull and the teeth to behavior and diet and how natural selection has shaped these features in the two species.

3.Compare the social organization and interpersonal relationships found in Homo sapiens and your choice of ONE other hominin species from the genus Homo. Relate the social lives of these species to anatomy and the selective pressures favoring these behaviors in the two species.

4.Compare the artifacts (tools, art, material culture) created by Homo sapiens and your choice of ONE other hominin species from the genus Homo. Relate these artifacts to the mental abilities of the two species, and the selective pressures as they relate to diet, social structure, and selective pressures experienced by these two species.

5.What are the key traits of Homo sapiens that you think make them “human”? Which hominin species from the genus Homo do you think first qualifies as “human”? Summarize the evidence from your previous four essays to support your argument. The hominin species you select as the first “human” should be the ONE hominin species you discuss in all 5 essays. The hominin species you chose to write about must be a member of the genus Homo.