When it came to explaining the origins of variation within species, Darwin
a. used Mendel’s theory of heredity
b. agreed with Lamarck that it was caused by an animal’s inner needs
c. argued it was caused by differential use of an animal’s body parts
d. had no idea of the true causes
e. used his research gathered while at Cambridge
Since abundant remains of animal bones are found at their sites paleoanthropologists
have described Neandertals as
a. successful hunters and therefore efficient mastodon hunters.
b. successful small game hunters, but not necessarily as successful large game hunters
as modern humans.
c. never gathering shellfish.
d. less prone to head and neck injuries.
e. possessing long-distance weaponry.
Tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans are placed together in which suborder?
a. Prosimii
b. Lorisoidea
c. Hominoidea
d. Haplorhini
e. Strepsirhini
Thus far, there is agreement that all hominins found outside Africa are members of
which genus?
a. Australopithecus
b. Ardipithecus
c. Paranthropus
d. Homo
e. H. erectus
Which are the largest of the living primates?
a. orangutans
b. chimpanzees
c. gibbons
d. bonobos
e. gorillas
Which of the following is not an important reason why primatology has become
increasingly important since the late 1950s?
a. Behavioral studies have implications for understanding natural forces that have
shaped human behavior.
b. The behavioral studies of any species provide a wealth of data on adaptation.
c. Nonhuman primates are our closest living relatives.
d. Many nonhuman primates are threatened or seriously endangered.
e. Recommendations can be made to better ensure treatment of humans
Of the sites listed below, which is the most important one for determining the
morphology of the earliest Homo sapiens in western Europe?
a. Cro-Magnon
b. Tabun
c. Katanda
d. Mladeč
e. Herto
_________ was an 18th century thinker who believed that living forms changed in
response to the environment yet still rejected the idea that one species could give rise to
another.
a. Alfred Russel Wallace
b. Georges-Louis Leclerk de Buffon
c. Erasmus Darwin
d. John Ray
e. Georges Cuvier
Which of the following would NOT be helpful in reconstruction the local
paleoecological setting in which early hominins lived?
a. animal bones washed into a stream bed
b. a piece of pottery found within a storage pit
c. an assortment of sharp stone tools next to a butchered carcass
d. wood charcoal found within a hearth
e. anatomical relationships between humans and contemporary nonhuman primates
Which of the following is not associated with the development of food production?
a. Measles
b. Tuberculosis
c. Influenza
d. Low populations
e. Malnutrition
_______ is a site in southern France dated to 28,000 years ago. Fossil material from this
site became the archetype for Upper Paleolithic Europeans.
a. Skhūl
b. La Chapelle-aux-Saints
c. Cro-Magnon
d. Qafzeh
e. Zhoukoudian
Darwin
a. was reluctant to publish his theories
b. wrote his theory of natural selection while still on board the Beagle
c. published his theories as soon as he returned from his voyage on the Beagle
d. was not concerned with public opinion and did not mind if his theories were
criticized
e. knew his friends and colleagues would not be affected by the publication of his
theory
The majority of countries and their leaders are not in agreement that global climate
change is a very serious and urgent problem.
a. True
b. False
Which of the following is not a polygenic trait?
a. stature
b. skin color
c. eye color
d. ABO blood type
e. hair color
Evidence for animal butchering is
a. lacking in Homo erectus sites
b. found only in African Homo erectus sites
c. found only in Asian Homo erectus sites
d. widespread in Homo erectus sites
e. found only at Dmanisi
By about 2 mya, which of the following was true?
a. All hominins were members of the same genus.
b. There were one or more species of the genus Homo present in East Africa.
c. Modern humans were living alongside australopiths.
d. All hominins still lived only in East Africa.
e. There was only one hominid species present in Asia.
Mendelian traits
a. are governed by more than one genetic locus
b. occur only in some people
c. are always dominant
d. are governed by one genetic locus
e. are always recessive
____________ is the study of anatomical and behavior human evolution as evidenced
by the fossil record.
a. Paleoanthropology
b. Osteology
c. Primatology
d. Anthropometry
e. Paleopathology
The archaeological record is typically contained within locations of past human activity,
called
a. features
b. sites
c. primary context
d. regions
e. ecofacts
Which of the following statements best describes the process of the adoption of
domestication in Mexico?
a. It occurred rapidly due to the productive potential of the plants.
b. It occurred gradually, largely because the crops offered greater predictability in
resources.
c. It occurred gradually, because maize required a long acclimation period.
d. It was largely the product of diffusion from South America.
e. It occurred rapidly as a result of the migration of farmers from South America.
Light-skinned people, when compared to dark skinned people
a. produce too much melanin
b. have rickets
c. lack melanin
d. have no melanocytes
e. are not found in African populations
_________ is seen in some New World monkeys, but not in any Old World monkeys.
a. A grasping hand
b. Quadrupedalism
c. An arboreal lifestyle
d. Color vision
e. A prehensile tail
Some of the deliberate nonhuman primate behaviors that serve as communication
include all of the following except
a. spoken language
b. facial expressions
c. vocalizations
d. displays
e. relationships
Categorizing people on the basis of skin color
a. is mostly a twentieth century phenomenon
b. has been practiced only by Western Europeans
c. is a valid approach to racial taxonomy
d. has a long history and has been practiced by many peoples
e. began with Christopher Columbus
Maize is far from an ideal crop. Why?
A. the presence of lysine and niacin
B. the ability to produce and store a surplus, thus leading to hoarding and warfare
C. the increase in protein, at the expense of carbohydrates
D. an increase in a chemical leading to iron deficiency
E. need for specialized technology associated with maize agricultural activities
The proposition that increased aridity in the Near East at the end of the Ice Age led to
the development of domestication around permanent water sources is known as the
a. Water storage model
b. Oasis theory
c. Neolithic revolution
d. Dry zone model
e. Marginal Zone model
When assessing evolutionary relationships, one approach is to focus on derived
(modified) characteristics. What is this approach called?
a. taxonomy
b. phylogeny
c. classification
d. cladistics
e. homoplasy
Biological systems are balanced systems maintained by the interaction of physiological
mechanisms that compensate for both external and internal changes. Such a balanced
system is in
a. hypoxia
b. homeostasis
c. heterostasis
d. acclimatization
e. polystasis
The order Primates is traditionally divided into two suborders:
a. Platyrrhine and Catarrhine
b. Strepsirhini and Haplorhini
c. Pongidae and Hominidae
d. Cercopithecoidea and Hominoidea
e. Pongo and Homo
What does the term endothermic refer to?
a. mammalian tooth shapes
b. the loss of heat in animals without fur
c. using metabolic activity to maintain a constant internal body temperature
d. staying warm by laying in the sun
e. energy is generated externally
Discuss the fossil finds at Dmanisi in terms of their morphology and in terms of the
information they provide about the dispersal of hominids out of Africa.
Answer:Will vary
Where have the fossil remains of the Miocene Hominoids not been found?
a. Africa
b. Europe
c. Asia
d. North America
e. Turkey
Which of the following contributes most to skin color?
a. hemoglobin
b. melanin
c. carotene
d. vitamin D
e. short-term acclimatization
Discuss the development of domestication in the Old World. What domesticates are
developed, and what seem to be the underlying motivations for the shift from a hunting
and gathering lifestyle to one based on food production?
Answer:Will vary
Cite several specific examples of “corporate construction” projects carried out in
prehistoric Peru. What do such activities reveal about the nature of the ancient societies
that undertook them?
Answer:Will vary
Why are nonhuman primate populations endangered? Why is their extinction of grave
concern?
Answer:Will vary
Distinguish between domestication and agriculture. Begin with a careful definition of
each term.
Answer:Will vary
Discuss the value of dating techniques available to scientists. Compare and contrast
relative and absolute dating techniques: provide an example of each kind and describe
how they work.
Answer:Will vary
In a biological sense, what is adaptation?
Answer:Will vary
How have humans become a threat to themselves, to other living things and the earth
itself?
Answer:Will vary
Outline the general principles of Bergmann’s and Allen’s rules. Can we use these rules
to explain human phenotypic variation at the level of the population?
Answer:Will vary
How does the process of animal domestication differ from plant domestication?
Answer:Will vary
What features have been used to define a civilization?
Answer:Will vary
Many people in the United States believe in the biblical creation. What factors may
account for the fact that many people do not accept evolution as an explanation for the
origins and diversity of life?
Answer:Will vary
Discuss the two points upon which scientists agree concerning global climate change.
Answer:Will vary
What primate traits are likely to be adaptations to arboreal lifestyles?
Answer:Will vary
What challenges are present in tracing Africa’s Neolithic past?
Answer:Will vary
Discuss the possible role of humans in the Pleistocene extinctions.
Answer:Will vary
What traits distinguish Old World monkeys from apes and humans?
Answer:Will vary
Explain why a woman with type O blood and a man with type A blood could potentially
have children with either type A or O blood.
Answer:Will vary
What factors account for the rise and fall of early civilizations in Mesopotamia? What
aspects of the social, political, and economic organization?
Answer:Will vary
Discuss the factors that are contributing to the reemergence of infectious diseases that
used to be close to extinction.
Answer:Will vary