The arboreal hypothesis proposes that defining primate characteristics were adaptations
to life in the trees, such as:
a. grasping hands and feet, developed vision, and greater intelligence.
b. grasping hands, tails, and intelligence.
c. developed vision, greater sense of smell, and tails.
d. developed vision, greater sense of smell, and grasping hands and feet.
The English scientist who independently codiscovered the theory of natural selection
was:
a. Charles Lyell.
b. Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck.
c. Alfred Russell Wallace.
d. Carolus Linnaeus.
Canadian primate paleontologist David Begun proposes that climate changes in Europe
prompted late Miocene apes to:
a. migrate to Asia from Europe following food sources.
b. take advantage of lower sea levels to migrate from Europe to South America.
c. spread to Europe from Africa following the expansion of tropical forests.
d. move from Europe back to Africa following food sources.
The relevance of the theory of uniformitarianism is that:
a. it supports the theory of catastrophism.
b. it proves that changes to the Earth were caused by cataclysmic events like
earthquakes and floods.
c. it proves that the Earth has a long history and supports the theory of natural selection.
d. it demonstrates that the Earth is 4.4 billion years old, based on geologic evidence
from stratigraphic layers.
Living lemurs are found only in:
a. Asia.
b. Africa.
c. South America.
d. Madagascar.
A(n) __________ is a scientist who studies plant remains in the archaeological record.
a. paleontologist.
b. paleoethnobotanist.
c. ethnologist.
d. zooarchaeologist.
Gigantopithecus:
a. stood four feet tall and weighed 300 pounds.
b. stood ten feet tall and weighed 660 pounds.
c. stood six feet tall and weighed 250 pounds.
d. stood five feet tall and weighed 400 pounds.
The genetic classification for apes and humans:
a. includes three subfamilies within hominids: pongines, gorillines, and hominines.
b. uses the term “hominid” to describe only humans and their ancestors.
c. divides hominoids into hylobatids, pongids, and hominids.
d. includes tarsiers, lemurs, and lorises.
For dating hominin fossils that go back 4 million years, what dating methods might be
used?
a. electron spin resonance
b. thermoluminescence
c. amino acid method
d. both a. and b.
Luca Cavalli-Sforza hypothesizes that skin color change came late because:
a. people used rudimentary umbrellas.
b. earlier populations had ready access to vitamin D from the foods they ate.
c. the Sun was not as powerful as it is today.
d. people were still migrating from a cold cloudy environment to a sunny environment.
Frameshift mutations are more likely to have an impact at the phenotypic level because:
a. frameshift mutations are the result of a change in a single nucleotide.
b. frameshift mutations are the result of exposure to radiation.
c. frameshift mutations produce a protein having no function.
d. frameshift mutations are mobile pieces of DNA.
Melanin:
a. is advantageous because it provides protection from solar radiation.
b. is a chemical that decreases the possibility of a tan.
c. occurs in individuals with light skin tone.
d. develops more with age.
The study of what happens to an organism’s remains after death is:
a. archaeology.
b. cryptozoology.
c. forensic biology.
d. taphonomy.
Some cases of anemia, which cause red blood cell production to increase in response to
iron deficiency or blood loss, may lead to:
a. cribra orbitalia in eye orbits.
b. expansion and porosity of long bones.
c. a parasitic infection.
d. a genetic disease.
How do primates acquire food?
a. through cooperation among kin groups, mostly by hunting
b. through a wide variety of food-foraging strategies
c. through a limited set of highly specialized foraging strategies
d. through the use of highly developed material culture
Owen Lovejoy’s Provisioning hypothesis proposes that:
a. bipedalism meant less body surface to expose to the sun, resulting in a smaller body
size.
b. monogamy and food provisioning created the necessity for bipedalism.
c. bipedalism arose in areas where the forest was disappearing.
d. bipedalism arose as a result of a shift to hunting as a primary source of food.
The earth’s age is:
a. 4.6 billion years.
b. 3.4 billion years.
c. 6,000 years.
d. 12 billon years.
Fossil evidence of cut marks made with stone tools at early hominid sites suggests that:
a. meat eating started only with the appearance of Homo erectus and stone tools.
b. big game hunting was the most common way early hominids obtained meat.
c. meat eating started before Homo erectus but increased with more advanced
technology.
d. none of the above
Rickets is the result of:
a. a lack of vitamin D.
b. a lack of melanin.
c. high UV exposure.
d. severe air pollution.
The presence of iridium in geologic deposits around the world supported the theory
that:
a. the impact of a giant meteor that struck the Earth produced mass extinctions of
dinosaur species across the planet.
b. alien material was a factor in the origins of species on this planet.
c. catastrophes occurred in the past and produced major changes in species, causing
dinosaurs to adapt and eventually become mammals.
d. Cuvier’s proposal of catastrophism as the theory explaining human origins is correct.
New World domesticated products include:
a. wheat.
b. rice.
c. cotton.
d. pigs.
Gametes are:
a. diploid.
b. haploid.
c. produced during mitosis.
d. somatic.
While observing primates at the zoo, you notice that the particular monkey you are
watching uses its hands, feet, and tail to move throughout the trees in its enclosure. This
is most likely:
a. an Old World monkey, because many of these species have a tail with grasping
abilities similar to those observed in nonhuman primate hands and feet.
b. a lesser ape, because many of these species have a tail with grasping abilities similar
to those observed in nonhuman primate hands and feet.
c. a New World monkey, because these are the only monkeys that live in trees.
d. a New World monkey, because many of these species have a tail with grasping
abilities similar to those observed in nonhuman primate hands and feet.
Primatologists:
a. explore the relationships between specific social behaviors and reproductive fitness.
b. study just one aspect of primates.
c. study cultural anthropology.
d. know nothing of primate bones.
The prenatal stage in humans consists of:
a. trimesters.
b. the neonatal period through the end of lactation.
c. infancy, childhood, juvenile period, puberty, adolescence, and adulthood.
d. the neonatal period, infancy, juvenile period, puberty, and adolescence.
Tooth size and jaw size have reduced in the last:
a. 17,000 yBP.
b. 10,000 yBP.
c. 6,000 yBP.
d. 3,000 yBP.
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium assumes:
a. strong selection pressure on the trait(s) being studied.
b. a significant mutation rate from generation to generation.
c. gene flow that is equal both into and out of the population.
d. no gene flow, mutation, or natural selection.
Agriculture resulted in:
a. higher-quality nutrition.
b. a stable, healthy food source.
c. population sedentism and crowding.
d. a shift in social dynamics, resulting in larger families.
Intermediate forms in the fossil record include:
a. Sahelanthropus tchandensis.
b. Australopithecus anamensis.
c. Ardipithecus ramidus.
d. all of the above
Fluorine dating is an example of what type of dating method?
a. chronometric
b. nonrelative
c. chemical
d. genetic