Question

Which of the following is the most primitive ancestor of man?
A) Homo habilis
B) Homo neanderthalensis
C) Australopithecus
D) Ramapithecus

Answer 1

Hint: The primitive ancestor of man appeared on earth in about 14-15 millions years ago and is now distinct.

Complete Answer:
A) Homo habilis, the ancestor of humans first appeared in the era late pleistocene. They are also called handy man and are believed to be an archaic human found in southern or eastern Africa about 2.5-1.7 millions years ago. Homo habilis was considered to be an ancestor who evolved directly into Homo erectus and later to modern humans. Early Homo habilis can scavenge meat. It was believed that early H. habilis society had some similar characteristics like baboons or chimps. They had a comparatively ape like body having hair in head.

B) Homo neanderthalensis are also called neanderthals. It is believed that Homo neanderthalensis are the extinct human species that are close enough to archaic humans. They appeared about 130,000 years ago and had known from several fossils.

C) Australopithecus, also called southern ape, first appeared on earth about 4.1- 1.9 millions years ago. It was believed that they were the ancestor of Homo habilis as there were many similarities found between them. They had about 35% similarity of their brain as compared to the modern human brain.

D) Ramapithecus also called sivapithecus was first evolved in the ancient period about 12-13 millions years ago in the miocene era. It is believed from archaeological evidence that they are the most extinct type of human ancestor and had very few similarities with orangutans.

Hence Option D: Ramapithecus is the correct answer.

Note: After attempting this question just look once in the flow chart of human ancestors that will be helpful to you in near future.
Ramapithecus(most extinct)- Australopithecus- Homo habilis- Homo erectus- Homo neanderthalensis- Cromaguan- Homo sapiens(modern human)