Flashcards for Human Evolution
Topic 3:  Climate Change and Human Evolution
(10 cards)

Select the "Next Card" button to see a card. Select it again to view the answer.
"Delete Card" allows you to eliminate a card from the stack during this session.
Copyright © 2008-2012 by Dennis O'Neil. All rights reserved.

The geological epoch during which all human species, beginning with Homo erectus, evolved.

Pleistocene

Which epoch was warmer on average, the Pliocene or the Pleistocene?

Pliocene

The number of ice ages that occurred during the Pleistocene.

at least 4

When the last ice age ended.

about 10,000 years ago

What commonly happens to global sea levels during ice ages? Do they go up, down, or stay the same?

go down

The hemisphere that commonly has the most extensive glaciers during ice ages. (northern or the southern?)

northern

Another term for an ice age.

glacial

What commonly happened to the size of mammal bodies during the colder periods of the Pleistocene Epoch?

They got larger in response to colder conditions. More massive bodies produce and retain heat better than do small ones according to Bergmann’s rule.

What generally happened to the size of human bodies as they evolved in response to the climate changes of the Pleistocene Epoch?

got larger

What are we most likely living in now, a glacial or an interglacial climate?

interglacial