Brown Et Al The Table Is a Comparison of Several Characteristics of H

Multiple Choice

Brown et al. and Morwood et al. reported in 2004 that they had found skeletal remains of a previously unknown type of hominin, now dubbed Homo floresiensis, on the Indonesian island of Flores. These hominins were small (approximately 1 metre tall) with small braincases (approximately 380 cubic centimetres) as compared with other hominins. The remains of H. floresiensis were found alongside handmade stone tools and the remains of dwarf elephants that also inhabited the island, suggesting that H. floresiensis was able both to make tools and to coordinate the hunting of animals much larger than itself. H. floresiensis is estimated to have lived at the site where the remains were found from at least 38,000 years ago to 18,000 years ago.
$\begin{array}{|c|c|c|c|c|} \hline \text { Species } & \text { Location of Fossils } &\text{Estimated Average Braincase Volume \( \left(\mathrm{cm}^{3}\right) \) } &\text{Estimated Average Body Mass (kg) }&\text{Asso ciated with Stone Tools?}\\\hline\\\text { Australopitheaus } & \\\text { afarensis } & \text { Africa } &450&36&No\\\hline \text { A. africanus } & \text { Africa }&450&36&No \\\hline \text { Paranthropus boisei } & \text { Africa } &510&44&No?\\\hline \text { Homo habilis } & \text { Africa } &550&34&yes\\\hline \text { H. ergaster } & \text { Africa } &850&58&yes\\\hline \text { H. erectus } & \text { Africa, Asia } &1000&57&yes\\\hline \text { H. heidelbergensis } & \text { Africa, Europe } &1200&62&yes\\\hline & \text { Middle East, } \\\text { H. neanderthalensis } & \text { Europe, Asia } &1500&76&yes\\\hline \text { H. floresiensis } & \text { Asia } &380&16-36&yes\\\hline & \text { Middle East, } \\\text { H. sapiens } & \text { Europe, Asia }&1350&53&yes\\\hline\end{array}$
The table is a comparison of several characteristics of H. floresiensis to those of nine other hominin species (arranged roughly from oldest to most recent) . What do these data suggest?

A) A large brain is not necessarily required for toolmaking.
B) Body mass and braincase volume are completely unrelated.
C) Hominins first evolved in and then radiated out from Asia.
D) Homo floresiensis is most closely related to Australopithecus afarensis or A. africanus.