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Analysis of Homo erectus teeth found at Zhoukoudian suggests that controlled use of
fire allowed this species to
a. ward off predators.
b. expand into more temperate environments.
c. make foods easier to chew.
d. none of the above.
Modern human traits including increased brain size and dependence on material culture
first show up in
a. Homo erectus.
b. Homo sapiens.
c. Neandertals.
d. Homo habilis.
The Acheulean complex
a. emerged around 2.5 mya.
b. is used to describe simple pebble tools.
c. emerged around 1.5 mya.
d. is characteristic of Homo habilis.
The Nariokotome hominid (Homo erectus) from Lake Turkana is characterized by
a. shorter arms and longer legs than those of earlier hominids.
b. retention of an australopithecine-like body plan.
c. longer legs than later hominids.
d. a mix of arboreal and bipedal adaptations.
As recently as a few hundred years ago, most Westerners thought the earth was about
how many years old?
a. 60 million
b. 6 million
c. 60,000
d. 6,000
Which of the following traits characterize hominids as a group?
a. large canines
b. s-shaped spine
c. thinner tooth enamel
d. foramen magnum set back on the skull
The significant drying up of the Mediterranean Basin at the end of the Oligocene epoch
was probably due to
a. an intense period of global warming.
b. the African Plate rotating away from the Eurasian Plate.
c. the appearance of huge ice sheets in Antarctica.
d. the formation of the Alps.
A finger pad with primitive dermal ridges most likely belongs to which of the
following?
a. only humans
b. pottos, lories, and other similar species
c. Old World monkeys, which rely heavily on precision-grip foraging
d. none of the above
Transfer RNA
a. seeks complementary triplet strands of mRNA codons.
b. contains codons that correspond to specific amino acids.
c. brings amino acids together to form polypeptide chains.
d. all of the above.
Which of the following is not one of the eras within the Phanerozoic eon?
a. Mesozoic
b. Cenozoic
c. Protozoic
d. Paleozoic
Which fossil group is characterized by an eye orbit fully enclosed by bone?
a. adapids
b. plesiadapiforms
c. anthropoids
d. omomyids
Which hominid has the largest molar teeth?
a. Kenyanthropus platyops
b. Australopithecus afarensis
c. Sahelanthropus tchadensis
d. Australopithecus boisei
Research on primate vocalizations shows that
a. primates must learn to use and respond to vocalizations appropriately.
b. primate vocalizations are modified to reflect context.
c. primate vocalizations are fixed and innate.
d. a and b only.
Fossil evidence for the earliest members of the genus Homo have been found from
a. 0.5"present.
b. 2.5"1.0 mya.
c. 4.0"3.0 mya.
d. none of the above.
Like most of his contemporaries, Charles Darwin believed
a. that physical traits were passed from the father to the offspring.
b. that physical traits were acquired in an individual's lifetime.
c. that physical traits were passed down from each parent and then blended together in
the offspring.
d. that physical traits were passed from the mother to the offspring.
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach
a. discovered the existence of three races.
b. categorized skulls into five racial types.
c. used blood types and skin colors to create a racial taxonomy for humans.
d. showed that skull shape changed over time.
Which of the following is not an infectious disease?
a. AIDS
b. tuberculosis
c. Ebola
d. diabetes
When observing primates at the zoo, you notice a male and female gibbon quite similar
in size, unlike what you previously saw in the hamadryas baboon enclosure. You know
that
a. the lack of sexual dimorphism you see is due to the polygamous social structure
observed in gibbons.
b. the lack of sexual dimorphism is the result of unequal access to resources within their
environment.
c. the lack of sexual dimorphism you see is due to decreased competition for mates in a
monogamous social structure.
d. the lack of sexual dimorphism in gibbons is not related to social structure.
Archaeological evidence showing a shift from long and narrow skulls to short and wide
skulls, as a result of a change in diet linked to domestication, has been found in
a. China.
b. Mexico.
c. France.
d. Nubia.
Malaria is caused by
a. bites from infected mosquitoes.
b. a genetic mutation.
c. drinking bad water.
d. eating spoiled food.
Biostratigraphic dating relies on
a. the first and last appearances of species in the fossil record.
b. magnetic shifts in the earth's interior.
c. radioactive decay of carbon to nitrogen.
d. the concentration of fluorine in the soil and in groundwater.
Paleomagnetic dating relies on
a. dating unstable iron isotopes.
b. the periodic reversal of the earth's magnetic poles.
c. chemical reactions between iron-bearing rocks and acidic groundwater.
d. the use of hand magnets to draw sediments out of the ground.
The presence of a honing complex relates to
a. molar size.
b. canine size.
c. diet.
d. human reproduction.
The hominid skeleton (LB1) recovered from the Indonesian island of Flores
a. has a very small brain, less than 400 cc.
b. lived there about 18,000 yBP.
c. stood about three feet tall in life.
d. all of the above.
The ravine in East Africa's Great Rift Valley where many early hominid fossils have
been recovered (often referred to as the "cradle of humankind") is
a. Lake Turkana.
b. Olduvai Gorge.
c. Swartkrans.
d. Hadar.
Among living nonhuman primates, which is Homo sapiens" closest relative?
a. baboon
b. gorilla
c. orangutan
d. chimpanzee
Aborigines are an endogamous society. This means that marriage and reproduction take
place within the group leading to
a. increased genetic diversity through genetic drift.
b. migration without gene flow.
c. more genetic diversity than would be observed in an exogamous society.
d. decreased genetic diversity due to a lack of admixture.
Abnormal expansion of a bone's diameter as a result of infection is
a. osteoarthritis.
b. megaosteopathy.
c. periosteal reaction.
d. big-bone syndrome.
Reports show that in the last forty years, the average weight of six- to eleven-year-old
children has gone from 65 to 74 pounds. We know that
a. a weight increase can lead to physiological conditions that put the children at greater
risk of heart disease among other conditions.
b. a weight increase of this amount is likely related to increased consumption of foods
high in micronutrients.
c. these children will have no adverse effect from being overweight or obese.
d. none of the above.
Patrilocal societies are expected to display
a. greater mtDNA diversity than Y chromosome diversity.
b. roughly equivalent mtDNA and Y chromosome diversity.
c. greater Y chromosome diversity than mtDNA diversity.
d. no strong correlation between societal structure and genetic diversity (none of the
above).
Which of the following is not a genetic disorder that decreases susceptibility to malaria?
a. G6pd deficiency (favism)
b. sickle-cell anemia
c. Huntington's chorea
d. thalassemia
The absence of the A and B alleles in Native American populations is a result of
a. natural selection.
b. gene flow.
c. founder effect.
d. mutation.
How has the "molecular clock" aided paleontologists in testing theories about the
timing of significant evolutionary events?
Compare and contrast male and female primates in terms of reproductive strategies and
competition.
How does human life history (prenatal stage, infancy, childhood, juvenile stage,
adolescence, adulthood, old age) shed light on the interaction between genes and
environment?
Explain how the founder effect can lead to a descendant population that differs greatly
from its parent population over a relatively short period of time.
Discuss homeotic or Hox genes. What purpose do they serve in the genome?
Imagine you are a paleontologist working in the field and you come across a skeleton of
what you think might be an early hominid. What skeletal features would you look for to
demonstrate that the creature walked bipedally?
