The last 10,000 years is called the:
a. Cenozoic.
b. Quaternary.
c. Solutren.
d. Holocene.
In certain species of nonhuman primates there are groups where only one dominant
female has access to mates. The other females must wait until the opportunity to mate
presents itself. This will have direct impacts on “fitness,” influencing which of the
following?
a. reproductive success
b. aggressiveness
c. strength
d. age at death
In mammals, the male parent’s gametes determine the sex of his offspring because:
a. the X chromosome originates only from females.
b. sperm are more powerful than eggs.
c. the Y chromosome is present in males only.
d. the X chromosome determines sex.
The study of what happens to an organism’s remains after death is:
a. archaeology.
b. cryptozoology.
c. forensic biology.
d. taphonomy.
An index fossil is:
a. a fossil found in a particular site.
b. the ideal specimen of that species to which all later descriptions must refer.
c. a fossil used to categorize a stratigraphic layer.
d. the type specimen of a species.
Which genus is considered the ancestor to adapids and omomyids?
a. Notharctus
b. Proconsul
c. Carpolestes
d. Eosimias
High, pointed crowns indicate a diet of:
a. fruit.
b. leaves.
c. meat.
d. insects.
Compared to earlier hominids the increased body size in Homo erectus is likely due to:
a. stone-tool use that facilitated root and tuber processing.
b. increased protein in the diet.
c. larger teeth that permitted better food processing.
d. none of the above
The geneticist who studied the workings of fruit flies’ chromosomes was:
a. Charles Darwin.
b. Gregor Mendel.
c. Thomas Hunt Morgan.
d. Thomas Huxley.
The clinal decrease in type B blood from East Asia to Western Europe is probably the
result of:
a. the founder effect.
b. stabilizing selection.
c. mutation.
d. gene flow.
Thomas Malthus’s contribution to natural selection is the:
a. binomial taxonomic system of naming species.
b. theory that the earth’s old age is based on geologic evidence resulting from
cataclysmic events.
c. observation that an abundance of food would allow a population to increase
geometrically and indefinitely, but there simply is not enough food, so populations are
limited by food supply.
d. theory that environmental resources increase to population pressures.
Homologous chromosomes:
a. are genetically identical.
b. carry genetic information that influences the same traits.
c. are inherited only from the mother.
d. are members of different pairs.
Which of the following apes has been proposed as the last common ancestor of living
African apes and humans?
a. Ouranopithecus
b. Sivapithecus
c. Dryopithecus
d. Gigantopithecus
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) differs from ribonucleic acid (RNA) in that it:
a. was studied during Darwin’s lifetime.
b. is the so-called recipe for all biological characteristics and functions in animals.
c. was discovered by Mendel.
d. is stored in ribosomes.
Sociality among primates is likely the result of which of the following selective
pressures?
a. predation
b. niche competition
c. adaptive radiation
d. habitat
Cavities in the teeth are also called:
a. hypoplasias.
b. enamel defects.
c. dentin foramina.
d. dental caries.
Preadaptation is:
a. the series of apparent adaptations that are never actually used.
b. the use of an anatomical feature in a way unrelated to the feature’s original function.
c. an anatomical feature used in the manner for which it was originally selected.
d. a phenomenon that occurs before natural selection can occur.
How do primates communicate?
a. through a system of adaptation that varies among social groups
b. through the use of symbols
c. through speech learned from primatologists
d. through vocalizations that serve a range of functions and contexts
The mutation known as trisomy 21, in which an extra copy of chromosome 21 is
present, is more commonly known as _______ syndrome.
a. Turner
b. Down
c. Klinefelter’s
d. Williams
To reconstruct and interpret evolutionary changes, it is crucial to place each fossil in
time. This is called a(n):
a. chronological sequence.
b. era.
c. period.
d. phylogeny.
Catarrhines’ nostrils are:
a. far apart and face sideways.
b. close together and face downward.
c. large due to their heightened sense of smell.
d. wide and include a large nasal sinus.
As towns and cities began to compete for increasingly limited resources:
a. organized warfare developed.
b. cooperation among neighbors developed.
c. agriculture increased as well.
d. violence decreased.
The dog was the first animal to be domesticated by:
a. 15,000 years ago.
b. the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic.
c. the Lower Paleolithic.
d. the beginning of the Cenozoic.
Common types of plants exist mostly in areas of the world with temperate climates and
they include a range of crops and their wild ancestors such as:
a. rye and rice.
b. sorghum and millet.
c. wheat and barley.
d. both a. and c.
Over a period of two generations, the frequency of green dung beetles in a population
shifts from 75% to 71% while the frequency of brown dung beetles within this
population shifts from 25% to 29%. This is an example of:
a. minievolution.
b. microevolution.
c. millievolution.
d. nanoevolution.
Based on height calculations of Homo erectus fossils, physical anthropologists estimate
that their average height was:
a. more than 70% taller than Homo habilis.
b. similar to that of australopithecines.
c. tall, with males about five feet nine and females about five feet three.
d. three feet.
Fluorine dating is an example of what type of dating method?
a. chronometric
b. nonrelative
c. chemical
d. genetic
Sexual dimorphism refers to the:
a. onset of menarche.
b. reduction in bone growth rate with the fusion of epiphyses.
c. difference in sexual characteristics before versus after puberty.
d. difference in physical attributes of males and females.
Acclimatization:
a. occurs at the individual level throughout an individual’s lifetime.
b. occurs at the individual level during childhood.
c. involves using material culture to make living possible in certain settings.
d. occurs at the population level via natural selection.
The physical location of a gene within the genome is called the:
a. chromosome.
b. nucleus.
c. address.
d. locus.
Anthropoids differ from prosimians in that they:
a. have more teeth.
b. have better color vision.
c. are less dimorphic sexually.
d. have a smaller brain relative to body size.
Sexual dimorphism:
a. relates to sexual courtship rituals in primates.
b. is the study of sexual intercourse between primates.
c. tends to be lower than in groups where males disperse and compete with unrelated
males.
d. determines male and female social hierarchy.
Based on the archaeological record from various areas, the initial effect of agriculture
on height was that height:
a. decreased.
b. increased.
c. became more variable within the population.
d. stayed the same.