Proteins consist of
a. genes.
b. RNA plus mRNA.
c. chains of DNA nucleotides.
d. chains of amino acids.
Wolff’s law
a. is the principle that the lengths of limb bones are related to environmental conditions.
b. applies to the maintenance of the endocrine system.
c. accounts for the remodeling of bone when it is under stress.
d. says that bone mass is taken away where it is needed and produced where it is not
needed.
An archaeological field school is announced in your anthropology course. The
description says that you will be able to travel to Belize to learn about the lives of the
ancient Mayans. What do you expect to learn during this field school?
a. the species of nonhuman primate that occupy this region
b. how current populations of immigrants have changed local dialects
c. how to excavate and study material culture
d. how to socially navigate life in a Central American setting
Polygynous societies
a. are groups where females have more than one partner.
b. are groups where males have more than one partner.
c. are rare in primate societies.
d. both a and c.
The Danish physician who developed the geologic principle of superposition, according
to which rocks (and fossils) higher in a sequence are younger than those buried farther
down, was
a. Charles Lyell.
b. Niels Stensen (aka Nicolaus Steno).
c. William Smith.
d. James Hutton.
Fitness trade-off refers to selection favoring which genotype?
a. homozygous dominant
b. homozygous recessive
c. heterozygous
d. no genotype is favored
How is culture defined?
a. Culture is genetically determined and therefore does not change.
b. Culture is too vague to be important for physical anthropologists.
c. Culture is a learned behavior transmitted from person to person.
d. Culture is the same worldwide and does not need to be studied.
Each of the following traits is found in a bipedal hominid except
a. a wide, short pelvis.
b. a big toe in line with the other toes.
c. an angled thigh bone.
d. a foramen magnum far back on the skull.
Homo erectus from Sangiran, Java, dates to
a. 800,000 yBP.
b. 1.2″1.0 mya.
c. 1.8″1.6 mya.
d. 2.2″2.0 mya.
Variability in female primate reproduction is usually related to
a. variation in access to high-protein, easily digestible food.
b. access to males.
c. dominance rank.
d. both a and c.
The large brain is often considered a hallmark of modern humans and our hominid
ancestors; however, it is not one of the characteristics thought to be obligate when
discussing hominids. An obligate behavior of hominids is
a. presence of material culture.
b. bipedal locomotion.
c. speech.
d. honing chewing.
How did Lamarck contribute to the theory of evolution?
a. He discovered genetic mutation through experiments with pea plants.
b. He proposed the concept of natural selection after his voyage to the Galapagos
Islands and his study of finches.
c. He did not but instead proposed an erroneous evolutionary mechanism known today
as inheritance of acquired characteristics.
d. He did not but instead proposed a concept known today as gene flow.
Why is the work of Alfred Russel Wallace considered when discussing the theory of
evolution?
a. He was an English naturalist who had arrived at many of the same conclusions as
Darwin.
b. His work is not considered as he was mistakenly credited with the theory of natural
selection.
c. He was a British dog-breeder who worked on artificial selection experiments.
d. Wallace was well-known and gathered even more evidence to support evolution than
Darwin.
Individuals whose blood type is A and who carry both dominant and recessive genes at
this locus have a genotype of
a. AA.
b. AO.
c. AB.
d. none of the above.
How do Darwin’s finches demonstrate the concept of adaptive radiation?
a. They are closely related species that have branched from one species.
b. They are no different than ancient species of lemurs.
c. They have radiated from ancient species of monkeys.
d. They show great cultural flexibility.
Nocturnal primates communicate through
a. complex facial expressions.
b. agonistic dominance interactions.
c. vocalizations.
d. gestures.
Which of the following is not one of the main hypotheses to explain primate origins?
a. arboreal hypothesis
b. angiosperm radiation hypothesis
c. aquatic ape hypothesis
d. visual predation hypothesis
Which of the following factors impacts the feeding success of female primates?
a. the cooperation of other females in the group in foraging activities
b. the distribution or location of food sources across the landscape
c. the cooperation of males in the foraging activities
d. more defined seasonality, increasing food availability and foraging success
Ocean-dwelling microorganisms called foraminifera are important in evolutionary
studies mainly because
a. the chemical composition of their shells records past temperatures.
b. they can be dated using uranium series methods.
c. primates use them as a key food source.
d. they are strong indicators of past changes in the earth’s magnetic polarity.
Functional adaptations in humans during their lifetimes are usually associated with
________ .
a. human linguistic changes
b. human genotypes
c. environmental conditions
d. contact between different populations
Homologous chromosomes
a. are genetically identical.
b. carry genetic information that influences the same trait.
c. are inherited only from the mother.
d. are members of different pairs.
Early fossil primates from the Eocene would most likely have shared their habitat with
a. rodents.
b. trilobites.
c. kangaroos.
d. dinosaurs.
A skull with a foramen magnum located on the back, which positions the skull in front
of the body, belongs to
a. an individual that is fully bipedal, such as a human.
b. an individual that is fully quadrupedal, such as a dog.
c. an individual that is fully quadrupedal, such as a human.
d. none of the above (this trait is only observed in prosimians).
The first domesticated animal was the ________ .
a. cow
b. sheep
c. goat
d. dog
In nonhuman primates, grooming relationships serve
a. as an aggressive behavior.
b. as a hygienic practice.
c. to find lunch.
d. to reinforce social structures and cement social bonds.
The first nonmodern human fossil to be discovered and recognized as such was the
a. Taung Baby from South Africa.
b. Homo erectus skull from Java.
c. Neandertal skull from Germany.
d. Cro-Magnon skull from France.
Which of the following prosimians spend considerable amounts of time on the ground?
a. lorises
b. bushbabies
c. ring-tailed lemurs
d. tarsiers
The plesiadapiform genus that had an opposable big toe with a nail at the end and
therefore may be ancestral to euprimates is
a. Paromomys.
b. Ignacius.
c. Plesiadapis.
d. Carpolestes.
The last 10,000 years is referred to as the
a. Pleistocene epoch.
b. Holocene epoch.
c. Pliocene epoch.
d. Anthrocene epoch.
There is a well-documented fossil record of Homo erectus occupation in Europe
beginning
a. 1.2 million yBP.
b. 1.5million yBP.
c. 2.0 million yBP.
d. 3.0 million yBP.
Improper alignment of the upper and lower dentition is called ________ .
a. hyperplasia
b. cribra orbitalia
c. malocclusion
d. Harris line
The type of iron found in some foods that provides all the amino acids humans require
in their diet is
a. heme iron.
b. nonheme iron.
c. flat iron.
d. raw iron.
Archaic Homo sapiens display several primitive features found in
a. Homo erectus.
b. Australopithecus robustus.
c. Australopithecus boisei.
d. none of the above.
The fact that Turkana children are often initially shorter than American children is
indicative of
a. the growth acceleration and deceleration associated with this life stage.
b. the fact that growth is often related to nutrition and other environmental factors.
c. the relationship between genes and the environment.
d. all of the above.