During the Miocene epoch of the Cenozoic era, there was an adaptive radiation of
which kind of primate?
a. prosimians
b. monkeys
c. apes
d. humans
The following are complementary bases in DNA
a. adenine and thymine.
b. adenine and cytosine.
c. guanine and thymine.
d. guanine and uracil.
The Zhoukoudian fossils belong to which species?
a. Homo habilis
b. Australopithecus africanus
c. Homo erectus
d. Homo sapiens
Franz Boas
a. was a big supporter of the race concept.
b. created racial categories based on living populations in the United States.
c. showed that U.S.-born children had the same head shapes as their immigrant parents.
d. showed that U.S.-born children had different head shapes than their immigrant
parents.
Which of the following statements is false?
a. Neandertals buried their dead.
b. Neandertals were hunters and gatherers.
c. Neandertals were cold-adapted people.
d. Neandertal brains were notably smaller than those of modern humans.
A doctor finds that the mammary glands of a woman are not functioning due to a
genetic abnormality that influences the structural design of the thoracic cavity. This is
likely
a. the result of a mutation on the sex chromosomes.
b. the result of a mutation on a Hoxgene.
c. the result of a mutation in HSV-1.
d. none of the above.
DNA
a. is single stranded.
b. contains six different nucleotide bases.
c. is the template for every aspect of an organism.
d. contains the base uracil.
Which dating method would be most appropriate for establishing the age of a volcanic
ash layer from an early hominid site in eastern Africa?
a. 14C dating
b. amino acid dating
c. 40K/40Ar dating
d. electron spin resonance dating
The scientist whose work provided the foundation for later understandings of genetics
was
a. John Ray.
b. Gregor Mendel.
c. Charles Darwin.
d. Robert Hook.
You”re watching a show on TV about the history of scientific thought in Europe prior to
1800. The narrator correctly states that at that time
a. all species were believed to have evolved from a common ancestor.
b. all forms were thought to have been created by God and to remain constant over
time.
c. most species were thought to go extinct over time.
d. evolution was attributed to natural selection acting upon genetic variation.
The typical dental formula of lorises and lemurs is
a. 2 / 1 / 3 / 3.
b. 1 / 1 / 3 / 3.
c. 2 / 1 / 3 / 2.
d. 2 / 1 / 2 / 3.
The early hominids from Chad (Sahelanthropus tchadensis) are very important because
they
a. span a nearly 3-million-year period.
b. provide evidence of hominid evolution 2,000 km (1,243 mi) from the Rift Valley.
c. were small-brained, bipedal creatures.
d. lived in savanna environments.
Kin selection refers to
a. avoidance of selecting kin (related individuals) as mates.
b. only food-sharing among related individuals.
c. behaviors that increase inclusive fitness of the donor.
d. the selection of nonrelated individuals as mates.
Down syndrome can occur
a. as a result of translocation during mitosis.
b. because of nondisjunction, which yields an extra chromosome.
c. most frequently in the offspring of women under the age of 40.
d. all of the above.
Which of the following is not a typical primate trait?
a. sideways-facing eyes
b. grasping hands and grasping feet
c. relatively large brain size
d. a reduced snout
The scientific method
a. relies on making hunches about the natural world.
b. involves empirical data collection and hypothesis testing.
c. is used to support preconceived notions or theories.
d. seeks to establish the absolute scientific truth.
Gran Dolina adult hominids were similar to later Homo sapiens in their
a. ability to produce art.
b. large cranial capacity.
c. wide nasal apertures.
d. none of the above.
The ABO and MN blood-type frequencies of the Dunkers differ significantly from those
of current American and German populations due to
a. genetic drift.
b. natural selection.
c. gene flow.
d. mutation.
Regarding the Neolithic epoch, which of the following is true?
a. It is believed to have occurred first in Europe.
b. It is characterized by small, settled villages where the domestication of plants and/or
animals took place.
c. It occurred in one place initially, then spread everywhere else.
d. It first occurred approximately 25,000 yBP.
Anthropologist Chris Ruff’s research has shown that adaptation to heat and to cold is
strongly related to which of the following?
a. overall height
b. body width
c. leg length
d. arm length
Relative to people with a history of living in temperate climates, the Inuit and other
cold-adapted populations
a. have lower basal metabolic rate.
b. consume more carbohydrates.
c. reduce peripheral body temperatures to maintain core temperatures.
d. none of the above.
Different versions, or subunits, of the same gene are
a. chromosomes.
b. gemmules.
c. alleles.
d. blenders.
A point mutation that does not result in a change to the amino acid coded for is said to
be a
a. spontaneous mutation.
b. synonymous mutation.
c. selective mutation.
d. stabilizing mutation.
Darwin proposed which of the following as the key to the divergence between apes and
humans?
a. bipedalism
b. large brain size
c. hunting
d. nonhoning canine
When you enter your classroom you find a paper that a student has left behind from a
previous class. You want to return it to the correct department’s lost and found, so you
read a few of the questions. The topics of the questions center on the study of
humankind from multiple perspectives and time periods including Mayan temples,
coming-of-age rituals in the South Pacific, and human skulls from South Africa. The
paper should most likely be returned to which of the following departments?
a. sociology
b. entomology
c. anthropology
d. religious studies
Bipedalism is considered one of the hallmarks of hominid evolution because
a. it was the first evolutionary development that clearly distinguished us from other
animals.
b. it was possible only after the advent of simple material culture.
c. it followed brain expansion in human evolution.
d. it allowed hominids to come out of the trees and make tools 10 mya.
Which U.S. president reported the discovery of a fossilized ground sloth in Virginia to
the American Philosophical Society?
a. George Washington
b. James Madison
c. Thomas Jefferson
d. John Adams
Anthropoids differ from prosimians in that they
a. have more teeth.
b. have better color vision.
c. are less dimorphic sexually.
d. none of the above.
The suborder Prosimians includes
a. galagos and lorises only
b. tarsiers and lemurs only.
c. galagos and lemurs only.
d. galagos, lorises, tarsiers, and lemurs.
Osteoporosis is
a. less common in postmenopausal women with low amounts of estrogen.
b. more common in men than in women because of testosterone.
c. decreased susceptibility to bone fracture that comes with changes in bone mass.
d. a main cause of hip fractures in older women.
Physical anthropologists estimate that, on average, Homo erectus
a. was more than 70% taller than Homo habilis.
b. was similar in size to australopithecines.
c. was tall, with males about 5″9″ and females about 5″3″.
d. none of the above.
Which of these physical traits did not characterize the Adapids?
a. a tooth comb in the lower jaw
b. large eye orbits
c. grasping hands
d. grasping feet
Prokaryotes first appeared
a. 10,000 years ago.
b. 1 mya.
c. 3.7 bya.
d. 65 mya.