Hominin

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/hominin

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is a hominin?A hominin is a member of the human family that split from chimpanzees and bonobos about 6 to 8 million years ago. It includes modern humans and extinct relatives that are more closely related to us than to chimpanzees.
2. Why did hominins start walking on two legs?Walking upright helped hominins use their hands for tools, carry food, and stay cool in open landscapes. It also made moving around forests easier.

Hominin: A member of the human lineage after splitting from the last common ancestor with chimpanzees, characterized by bipedalism.
Bipedalism: The ability to walk upright on two legs, a defining and crucial adaptation in hominin evolution.
Paleoanthropology: The scientific study of human evolution through the examination of fossil hominins and their associated artifacts.