Baboon females
a. have strong affinities for both maternal and paternal half sisters.
b. are not able to distinguish maternal and paternal half sisters from unrelated females.
c. prefer maternal half sisters over paternal half sisters.
d. prefer paternal half sisters over maternal half sisters.
By searching DNA sequences for ________ that are common in a population,
geneticists can find sequences that have been subject to recent selection.
a. long haplotypes
b. instances of founder effect
c. candidate genes
d. balanced polymorphisms
Evidence for meat eating by Homo ergaster includes
a. vitamin A poisoning in the KNM-ER 1808 skeleton.
b. controlled use of fire at Homo ergaster sites.
c. carnivore tooth marks on their skeletons.
d. preserved stomach contents in some skeletons.
Neanderthal remains date to about
a. 1 million to 10,000 years ago.
b. 500,000 to 100,000 years ago
c. 130,000 to 30,000 years ago.
d. 30,000 to 10,000 years ago.
Mammals share certain traits, such as viviparity and lactation. Studying generalities
about many living mammals can give insight into particular mammalian species, such
as ourselves. This is an example of
a. reasoning by analogy.
b. reasoning by homology.
c. reasoning by convergence.
d. reasoning by divergence.
Environmental covariation refers to
a. the difference between genetic and environmental variation.
b. the similarity between parents and offspring.
c. the similarity between the environments of parents and offspring.
d. the difference between parents and offspring.
Compared with genetic evolution, cultural evolution
a. is slower.
b. is faster because it can occur in individuals and be passed on.
c. occurs at the same rate.
d. is faster because it alters the underlying genes, which then quickly spread through the
population.
Among the pre-4-mya fossils that some paleoanthropologists include in the hominin
family, ________ is thought to be a biped based on information from a single toe bone.
a. Sahelanthropus tchadensis
b. Ardipithecus kadabba
c. Orrorin tugenensis
d. Ardipithecus ramidus
Local adaptations are called ________ constraints.
a. optimal
b. fixed
c. developmental
d. genetic
Which of the following statements is true regarding the African range of Homo
ergaster?
a. H. ergaster specialized in the woodland forests of East Africa.
b. By 1.8 mya, H. ergaster had extended its range to the most northern and southern
parts of Africa.
c. H. ergaster could not colonize the high-altitude plateaus of Ethiopia or use the dry
edges of the Rift Valley.
d. This species’ range encompassed almost the entire continent, which means that it was
adapted to a broad range of environmental conditions.
Which of the following describes maternal rank and matrilineages in macaque, vervet,
and baboon groups?
a. Maternal rank is transferred to offspring, particularly daughters.
b. Maternal kin occupy dissimilar ranks in the dominance hierarchy.
c. Ranking within matrilineages is usually laterally transferred.
d. Female dominance relationships are unstable over time.
Many of Darwin’s contemporaries argued that discontinuous variation is the reason that
complex traits evolve. However, Darwin reasoned that discontinuous traits do not play a
major role because evolution
a. happens only in large leaps.
b. occurs by singular, chance events.
c. occurs very rapidly.
d. is a gradual process.
Imagine you are a paleoanthropologist. You have found a fossil that dates to 190 kya in
Africa, and it has a high, rounded skull, a cranial capacity of 1,400 cc, and long, thin
femora (thigh bones). How would you classify this specimen?
a. Homo ergaster
b. Homo heidelbergensis
c. Homo sapiens
d. Homo neanderthalensis
Taphonomic evidence suggests that hominins were
a. mainly hunters.
b. mainly scavengers.
c. sometimes hunters and sometimes scavengers.
d. neither hunters nor scavengers.
Mate guarding of females by males in soapberry bugs probably functions
a. to protect the females from harassment by other females.
b. to protect the females from predators.
c. to stop other males from mating with them.
d. to stop the females from eating.
The mismatch hypothesis holds that the psychological machinery that supports human
cooperation evolved in
a. agricultural societies.
b. industrial societies.
c. small hunter-gatherer societies.
d. pastoralist societies.
Gametes
a. contain both homologous chromosomes.
b. are responsible for normal body growth of organisms.
c. can be eggs or sperm.
d. are diploid.
Most cultural traditions in nonhuman primates can be accounted for by
a. social facilitation.
b. noncultural factors.
c. genetic differences.
d. the environment.
Flexible behavioral traits
a. cannot be shaped by natural selection because they are too sensitive to environmental
conditions.
b. can be shaped by natural selection because they are sensitive to environmental
conditions.
c. can be shaped by natural selection only if they are canalized.
d. both a and c.
Bridewealth is
a. the monetary worth of a bride.
b. the reproductive value of a bride.
c. the wealth of a bride immediately after marriage.
d. a payment to the bride’s family at the time of marriage.
Many primate females form dominance hierarchies because
a. they compete with one another over access to mates.
b. societies run more smoothly with dominance hierarchies.
c. some females do not need as many resources as others.
d. they compete with one another over access to food.
Environmental variation includes factors such as
a. differences in height.
b. differences in weight.
c. differences in genes.
d. differences in climate.
Data from Y chromosome studies
a. do not agree with the results of mtDNA studies.
b. support an Asian origin for modern humans.
c. indicate that African populations are older than populations in other parts of the
world.
d. indicate that African populations are younger than populations in other parts of the
world.
Studies of red howler monkeys have shown that coalitions of
a. fathers and daughters form enduring bonds that are the basis for social groups.
b. related males are more likely to experience rank reversals.
c. unrelated males last four times as long as coalitions of unrelated males.
d. fathers and their maturing sons are necessary to repel incursions into their group by
alien males.
Prepared core tools
a. are classified as Mode 2 technology.
b. include those made by the Acheulean technique.
c. include a variety of different kinds of tools made by modifying the shape of the
original core.
d. are associated with all Homo species.
Discontinuous variation is unlikely to lead to new species because
a. quick changes are never found in the fossil record.
b. complex adaptations are unlikely to occur in a single jump.
c. selection cannot act on discontinuous variation.
d. it allows for only small incremental changes.
The coefficient of relatedness (r) between full siblings is
a. 0.25.
b. 0.5.
c. 0.75.
d. 1.00.
The hallmarks of modern human behavior are partly due to cognitive ability and partly
due to what other characteristic?
a. Our large ability to transmit information and learn
b. Our large brain
c. Our large geographic range
d. Our large body size
Which of the following statements is true?
a. Estimated predation rates vary from less than 1% to 15% of the population per year
in primate populations.
b. Estimated predation rates per month are from 1% to 15% in primate populations.
c. Adults are 10% more susceptible to predation than are subadults.
d. Arboreal species are more susceptible to predation than are terrestrial species.
Reciprocal altruism requires
a. many interactions between kin.
b. the ability to count.
c. that there are no slackers or cheaters.
d. sufficient memory to keep track of altruistic and nonaltruistic acts.
Darwin believed that when a new species arises, it does so by
a. immediately achieving a distinct, discontinuous form.
b. achieving perfection through natural selection in the first try.
c. gradually accumulating small changes.
d. following God’s will.
The dense accumulations of stone tools and bones are thought to be
a. home bases of early hominins.
b. temporary camps of early hominins.
c. random natural accumulations.
d. processing sites where stone tools were cached.
In what ways was the transition to Upper Paleolithic technology and lifeways a result of
biological change? In what ways was it a matter of cultural change?
How has an understanding of artificial selection aided our current comprehension of
natural selection?
Why do geneticists think that there was some, albeit limited, interbreeding between
Neanderthals and early modern humans?
How are modern humans different morphologically from earlier species of hominins?
Why can cultural inheritance lead to outcomes not predicted by evolutionary theory?
How is continuous variation consistent with Mendelian inheritance?
Why did the radiation of hominoids come to an end?
Charles Darwin did not always agree with his contemporaries. What were some of his
revolutionary ideas? Describe how these ideas were different from the mainstream
beliefs of the nineteenth century. Lastly, discuss why we are still talking about these
ideas today.
How does culture differ between human and nonhuman primates? How is it similar?
Construct a hypothetical example to illustrate how a gene causing altruism in an
individual could increase in frequency through kin selection.
Compare altruism and mutualism in terms of the fitness effects on actors and recipients.
Discuss the effect of arranged marriages between minors in Taiwanese societies and
whether those unions are more or less successful than more modern-style unions.
What processes may have caused the changes in hominin morphology and technology
during the Pleistocene?
Explain the life cycle of diploid organisms in terms of meiosis and mitosis.
What is altruism? Why was it a puzzle for evolutionary biology before Hamilton?
Define social facilitation, observational learning, and emulation. How do these different
types of learning mechanisms play a role in shaping human culture?
Use a mathematical model to compare the probability of producing offspring who are
homozygous for a lethal recessive when matings are inbred or outbred.
Compare and contrast the characteristics of Sahelanthropus, Orrorin, and Ardipithecus.
What kinds of environments did they live in? How did the environment shape the
evolution of their morphology?