With all of the terms that we have learned in this week’s readings, lectures, and videos, it was somewhat difficult to choose which traits that I think could help us learn about modern human biology. Again, we have learned discussed many that could accomplish this task, however, I have chosen only a couple that stood out to me.

The first hominin trait that I think can be used to inform us about modern human biology is our brains, or more specifically, the foramen magnum. In the “Early Hominins” lecture, we learn that the foramen magnum is the hole in the base of your skull where the spina cord enters and attaches to your brain. The lecture continues on to teach us that depending on where the foramen magnum is located, it can reveal or suggest what kind of species is being looked at. The lecture gives us examples of how if the foramen magnum is located underneath the skull that would suggest that the species is bipedal and if the foramen magnum is located slightly behind the skull, then that would suggest that the specimen is of a quadrupedal species. I think that this is an important trait that we can use to learn about modern human biology because, due to us human beings being bipedal, it can help us learn more about which species we may be related to  and share characteristics with. As the lecture teaches us, these examples are some of the earliest examples of bipedalism. With that being said, I think that maybe we could also learn more about bipedalism by studying the foramen magnum.

Another hominin trait that I think can be used to inform us about modern human biology, still long the lines of learning about bipedalism, are limbs. Again, we learn in the “Early Hominins” lecture, we can look at the limbs (e.g. legs and arms) of species and compare them. We learn that species, such as Orrorin tugenensis, share the same shaped legs that we human beings have today. This is also a trait that can help learn more about the species that human beings share characteristics with. This can also help us learn more about how our non-human ancestors lived, hunted, and gathered; as the lecture teaches us that the long ape-like arms of the Orrorin tugenensis were used to move around on branches and through trees.

Along with these traits, the reconstruction of fossilized skeletal human remains can allow anthropologists to gather partial information, if not more specific information, about the changes and evolution of the species being looked at. We learn about this in the “General Concepts of Paleoanthropology” lecture, as the lecture discussed relative and chronometric dating; where relative dating tells us which fossils are older, but not specific times and chronometric dating which tells us somewhat of an exact date by giving us a range. I would assume that these two methods also play a role when the concept of mosaic evolution is being discussed because I think that learning when changes have occurred by looking at fossils helps helps strengthen the notion that evolutionary changes don’t all happen at one time.