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Human Evolution
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Bipedal | using only two legs for walking |
| Foramen Magnum | the hole in the base of the skull through which the spinal cord passes |
| Hominid | includes humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and their extinct ancestors |
| Cranial Capacity | the measured volume of the interior of the skull (braincase) |
| Body Fossil | the preserved physical remain of an ancient organism’s body |
| Primates | a diverse order of mammals including lemurs, monkeys, apes, and humans |
| Ancestor | an earlier organism, population, or species from which later individuals or species are descended from |
| Adaptation | a population becomes better suited to its habitat through changes in heritable traits over generations |
| Hominin | a member of the group that includes modern humans and all our extinct ancestors after the split from chimpanzees |
| Trace Fossil | a fossil of a footprint, trail, burrow, or other trace of an animal rather than of the animal itself |