Question

Among human ancestors, brain size was more than 1000 cc in
A) Homo erectus
B) Homo habilis
C) Homo neanderthalensis
D) Ramapithecus

Answer 1

Hint: Homo neanderthalensis are believed to be immediate ancestors of modern humans. Ramapithecus, Homo habilis and Homo erectus all these three are primitive to Homo neanderthalensis.

Complete Answer:
- Ramapithecus is an extinct ape species from the Miocene era. Their body size was similar to that of orang-utans. They spent most of their time like terrestrial as well as arboreal animals. The cranial capacity of Ramapithecus was about 500 to 600 cc.

Homo habilis was a human ancestor from the early Pleistocene era. It evolved directly into Homo erectus which are direct ancestors to modern humans. They were the first human-like beings. They were short heighted but had upright body posture. They were partially arboreal. The cranial capacity of Homo habilis varies between 500 – 900 cc.

Homo erectus is an extinct species from the Pleistocene era. They are known to be the direct ancestors to many human species, such as Homo neanderthalensis, and also to modern humans. H. erectus had a human-like upright posture and body proportions. It was the first human species that exhibited a flat face and prominent nose. The cranial capacity of Homo erectus ranges between 546 to 1,251 cc depending upon its population,

Homo neanderthalensis is an extinct species of ancient humans who used to live in eastern and central Asia. As compared to Homo sapiens, they had a stronger physique and comparably shorter limbs. H. neanderthalensis had cranial capacity from 1300 to 1600 cc which is within the range of the brain size of the modern human. They had significantly larger brains than Ramapithecus, H. habilis and H. erectus.

Thus, the correct answer is C, i.e., Homo neanderthalensis.

Note: The average brain size or cranial capacity of Neanderthal man (Homo neanderthalensis ) was larger than the modern human being.