Genetic variation within local groups around the world contains about ________ of the
genetic variation in the human species.
a. 5%
b. 35%
c. 85%
d. 95%
Taphonomists believe that the Olduvai bone and stone-tool sites were not the result of
the death of a large number of animals because
a. mass deaths usually involve members of a single species, but the Olduvai sites
contain members of different species.
b. there is usually evidence of dehydration when mass deaths occur, but there is no such
evidence at Olduvai sites.
c. mass deaths are very rare among modern animals on the savanna.
d. there is little mixing of bones of different species.
Which of the following is evidence against the mismatch hypothesis?
a. Members of contemporary hunter-gatherer bands are not as closely related as
thought, and unrelated individuals in most societies cooperate often.
b. People frequently move between bands, so cooperation of any kind is impossible.
c. Individuals cooperate only with family members.
d. Cooperation is simply rarely observed among most human groups.
When individuals first meet someone they are attracted to, women are more likely than
men to
a. be cautious about their partner’s intentions.
b. make more false-positive errors.
c. overestimate men’s commitment.
d. minimize the chance of missing sexual opportunities.
Bridewealth among the Kipsigis
a. is tendered in cattle.
b. compensates the bride’s family for the cost of her move.
c. gives the groom rights to her labor and the children she bears during her marriage.
d. is higher for higher-status families.
Taphonomic analysis of stone-tool and bone accumulations shows that
a. moving water caused over half of the associations.
b. mass deaths of animals caused some of the associations.
c. hominins accounted for some of the associations.
d. these associations were preserved by volcanic eruptions.
Which of the following statements about social hypotheses for the evolution of
intelligence in primates is NOT true?
a. In larger groups, competition for food, mates, grooming partners, and other valuable
resources selects for intelligence.
b. In many primates, formation of social bonds used in coalitions, exchange networks,
and access to resources selects for intelligence.
c. The stresses of keeping track of social relationships in large groups select for
intelligence in monkeys that live in large groups.
d. The great apes are the most intelligent, have the largest brains, and live in the largest
and most complex social groups.
What kinds of studies established that most of the accumulated bones found in Olduvai
were NOT deposited by natural causes?
a. Taxonomic
b. Taphonomic
c. Palynological
d. Microscopic
When the Daphne Major finches reach a point where the costs of a having beak larger
than average size outweigh the benefits, beak size will begin to stay the same, and the
population will achieve a(n) ________ state.
a. direction
b. trend
c. equilibrium
d. drift
Under which circumstance does Mendel’s principle of independent segregation hold?
a. Only when traits are tightly linked (close together) on the same chromosome
b. Only when traits are on different chromosomes
c. Only when there is crossing over
d. Only when the traits are not influenced by selection
The reproductive success of primate females is constrained mainly by
a. the energetic costs of pregnancy and lactation.
b. the availability of males.
c. a female’s genetic makeup.
d. a female’s ability to attract mates.
Mendel’s second principle (of independent assortment) states that
a. eggs and sperm are formed independently of one another.
b. transmission includes both blending and particulate inheritance.
c. particles inherited from the mother and the father are equally likely to be transmitted
to offspring.
d. particles inherited from the mother are more likely to be transmitted to female
offspring and particles inherited from the father are more likely to be transmitted to
male offspring.
If predation pressure is very high, we can expect that natural selection favors animals
with
a. long life histories.
b. slow life histories.
c. intermediate life histories.
d. fast life histories.
Which of the following statements is true?
a. Patterns of courtship, mate choice, and parental care vary greatly within the primate
order.
b. The reproductive strategies of living primates are not influenced by their
phylogenetic heritage as mammals.
c. Studies of primate reproductive behavior cannot help us understand how evolutionary
forces shaped the reproductive strategies of our hominin ancestors.
d. The same factors limit male and female reproductive success.
Taboos about who is an eligible marriage partner are
a. influenced by inbreeding avoidance mechanisms.
b. influenced by culturally transmitted rules.
c. not common cross-culturally.
d. both a and b.
Hind-limb dominance refers to
a. a tendency in primates toward bipedal locomotion.
b. opposable toes and thumbs.
c. the fact that hind limbs do most of the locomotor work.
d. vertical clinging and leaping.
According to the biological species concept, a species is a group of organisms that
a. share morphology.
b. share the same geographical and environmental circumstances.
c. are reproductively isolated from other like groups.
d. share genetic information.
The postulates that make up Darwin’s theory of adaptation include all of the following
EXCEPT
a. any given environment can support only a certain number of individuals.
b. variation affects the ability of individuals to survive and reproduce.
c. individuals always compete with each other physically.
d. variation is passed from parents to offspring.
The logic of evolutionary psychology is based on which of the following precepts?
a. Brains are made up of many special-purpose subcomponents designed to solve
specific adaptive problems.
b. Brains are general-purpose machines designed to solve many adaptive problems.
c. Brains evolved through drift-like processes.
d. Brains of humans are capable of solving problems faced by all species of animal.
________ binds to complementary mRNA molecules and regulates the translation of
mRNA into proteins.
a. Transfer RNA
b. MicroRNA
c. Noncoding DNA
d. Mitochondrial RNA
Different species of baboons live all over Africa in very diverse habitats. This is an
example of ________ speciation.
a. non-Darwinian
b. parapatric
c. sympatric
d. allopatric
A South American marsupial cat and a North American placental cat existed 10,000
years ago and shared a tree shrew-like common ancestor about 120 million years before
that. Both of these animals evolved a saber-toothed adaptation. What does the presence
of this complex trait mean?
a. Tree shrews have saber teeth.
b. The same complex adaptation evolved twice independently.
c. Saber teeth are very common.
d. North American and South American cat populations were interbreeding.
What is the fundamental evolutionary trade-off between variables that constrains
reproduction in mammals?
a. Number of estrous cycles versus female’s life span
b. Number of adult males versus number of adult females in a group.
c. Sex ratio of offspring versus quantity of offspring
d. Quality versus quantity of offspring
Which of the following is the best predictor of mate preferences?
a. Sex
b. Age
c. Political views
d. Culture
You have just completed a study of chimpanzee tool use. You noticed that young
chimpanzees accompanied females to sites where tools and termites were available and
females practiced termite fishing. Young chimpanzees usually watched their mothers
carefully while they made tools and fed. If these chimpanzees grow up to termite fish
themselves, you can conclude that this behavior was passed on through which
mechanism?
a. Active teaching
b. Observational learning
c. Social facilitation
d. Imitation
During reproduction a female’s energetic costs
a. increase, especially during the first half of pregnancy.
b. increase, especially during the second half of pregnancy.
c. increase, particularly during lactation.
d. decrease after she gives birth.
Two unrelated male baboons work together to guard a female in estrus to keep away a
more dominant male. This is an example of
a. mutualism.
b. altruism.
c. reciprocal altruism.
d. kin selection.
Social facilitation
a. allows for the development of cumulative culture because individuals from every
generation learn each behavioral variant on their own.
b. allows behavioral variants to be copied and changed by succeeding generations.
c. results in very complex behaviors, skills, belief systems, and bodies of knowledge for
nonhuman primates.
d. occurs because individuals are in situations that allow them to experiment and solve
similar problems in the same way.
Imagine you are a paleoanthropologist. You have found a fossil that dates to 150 kya in
Africa and it has a chin. How would you classify this specimen?
a. Homo ergaster
b. Homo heidelbergensis
c. Homo neanderthalensis
d. Homo sapiens
Natural selection
a. increases genetic variation because adaptations are produced.
b. decreases genetic variation because the most adapted individuals transmit the most
characters to the next generation.
c. decreases genetic variation if selection is directional but increases genetic variation if
selection is stabilizing.
d. decreases genetic variation if selection is stabilizing but increases genetic variation if
selection is directional.
Primate females always invest in their young because
a. primate males do not have the appropriate neurological foundation.
b. they are committed to parental investment by their physiology.
c. they produce large, nutrient-rich gametes.
d. parenting effort is equal to mating effort.
Primates have longer gestation periods than other mammals relative to body size
because
a. they produce smaller offspring relative to body size than other mammals.
b. they have larger brains, relative to body size, than other mammals.
c. they have access to more nutritive resources than other mammals.
d. they do not possess the morphology for external gestation.
Homo ergaster
a. made Mode 1 technology only.
b. developed more slowly than the australopithecines, but more rapidly than modern
humans.
c. had an apelike postcrania with longer arms than legs.
d. lived in shelters made from various materials such as adobe.