ANTH 148 - Human Origins Final Exam Review

The front to back orientation of the ilia in chimps facilitates efficient knuckle-walking?

False (B)

The Middle Awash region of Ethiopia, yielding early hominin fossils, is comprise of open-air localities.

True

Apes evolved independently in both the old world and the new world.

False

Jean Baptise Lamarch became convinced that species transmutation did not occur over time, but instantaneously.

False

Humans are the only ape known to engage in extensive reciprocal food sharing.

True

One of the evolutionary advantages of bipedalism is the reduction of heat stress experienced during locomotion.

True

Within the order Primates, humans are classified to the suborder Strepsihirini as characterized by a shorter snout.

False

The fossil ape species, Sivapithecus, exhibits strong similarities in facial anatomy to living orangutans (Pongo).

True

Encephalization refers to the infolding of neural tissue related to cerebral hemispheres.

True

Australopithecus afarensis has a large, human-like brain but was primarily quadrupedal.

False

The first hominins date to the late Oligocene.

False

Relative to other animals, all primates are long-lived with long juvenile learning periods.

True

Tail absence is a strait that Proconsul shared with living apes and humans.

True

Evidence of descent with modification can be seen in both animal and plant species.

True

Female humans have obvious signs of estrous.

False

The earliest stem catarrhine fossils are found in the Fayum region of Egypt.

True

Artificial selection can accelerate the prevalence if a species trait, like body size or skull shape, through the manipulation of preproduction and mortality in members of a species.

True

Paleoanthropologists use the position of the foramen magnum on a skull as one point of evidence for determining a species' primary mode of locomotion.

True

The selection of medium beak finches over small/large beak finches is an example of disruptive selection.

True

A classic example of adaptive radiation can be seen with the finch genus, Geospiza.

True

A major characteristic distinguishing apes from most other primates is?

Lack of tail

Which of the following is a key driver of all modes of speciation?

reproductive isolation mechanisms

Allopatric speciation is most likely to occur in which of the following scenarios?

A large lake is divided into two smaller lakes by a geological process, dividing a single species of fish into two different groups

You come across a set of hominin remains buried between volcanic formations in Ethiopia. Based on preliminary;y analysis of the remains, you estimate they date to the early Pleistocene. However, you want to confirm your estimation with an absolute dating technique. What would be most appropriate?

Potassium-Argon Dating

Which of these anthropoid fossil genera evolved prior to the Miocene geological epoch?

Catopitheucs

____ occurs when indviduals of a population of organisms are unable to successfully mate with closely related individuals outside of their population.

Reproductive Isolation

Which of the following is not a characteristics that distinguished living humans from living chimpanzees?

Predatory Behavior

Which of the following is not a haplorhine characteristic?

Enlarged Rhinarium

The Great chain of being denies all of the following except?

Creation

At the time of its publication, Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection lacked...

All of the above

Compared to Old World Monkeys, hominoids are characterized by..

Broader noses

Genetic distance data reveals that ___ are more genetically distant from humans than any of the other great apes.

orangutangs

Siamangs, gibbons, and orangutangs are members of the super family ___, but only the orangutang is a member of the ____.

Hominoidae; Pongidae

Which statement accurately captures a key difference between East and South African fossil hominin sites?

East African sites are better candidates for K/Ar Dating

At the end of the Cretaceous era, when dinosaurs died out, mammals diversified and filled a broad range of microenvironments. This is an example of....

Adaptive Radiation

Which of the following is a relative dating technique?

Biostratigraphy

Closely related species are similar to each other because they...

share a recent common ancestor

Darwin's finches have been intensely studied over the decades, particularly by Rosemary and peter grant. Which of these was NOT one of their findings after the drought in the mid-70s?

The drought rapidly decreased the prevalence of traits and showed the rate of evolutionary change

Which of the following environmental stressors DID NOT contribute to the decline of ape species in the late Miocene?

Dramatic Sea level rise

Carbon-14 is described as an unstable isotope because it...

decays into a different isotope over time

Potassium-argon dating is best used to date...

old fossils or rocks

All of the following observations have been used to argue that Australopithecus Afarenisis was bipedal except:

The high intermembral index

Which of the following is NOT a feature of reproductive fitness?

Who is the strongest and smartest

Which of the following does NOT characterize the human cranial region?

Reduced sensory feedback and fine motor skills in hands

Most primates rely more in visual stimuli and less on olfactory stimuli than do other mammals. Which of the following is one line of evidence for this?

The primate visual sense is highly developed while the olfactory structures are reduced, especially in dinurnal primates

Common in primate traits include all but the following...

Low EQ (encephalization quotient)

Which of the following statements is true of most primate species?

They live in social groups

During 1976 on the Galapagos island of Daphne Major, Peter and Rosemary Grant found evidence of natural selection by adaptation when they observed that...

finches with shallow beaks were less likely to survive and reproduce than finches with deep beaks

Why did natural selection act on the medium ground finch on Daphne Major?

a drought changed the environment where the finches lived

Which of the following is an example of stabilizing selection on size?

large and small indviduals are selected against to a similar degree

When the daphne major finches reach a point where the costs of having a beak larger than average size outweighs the benefits, beak size will begin to stay the same, and the population will achieve a ___ state.

equilibrium

The bicondylar angle describes the angle between which two areas of the body?

The diaphysis (shaft) of the femur and aligned perpendicular to the infracondylar plane of the knee.

Which of the following skeletal elements would be the most useful for determining if an individual fossil species was bipedal?

Pelvis

Which of the following is not a basic component of the natural process of biological evolution?

Selective breeding

A key observation that Charles Darwin incorporated into his theory of adaptation by natural selection was that...

any given environment can support only a certain number of individuals

which of the following postulates makes up Darwin's theory of adaptation?

individuals vary in ways that can affect their survival or reproduction

Australopithecus Afarensis

species designation for the well-known Lucy specimen

Lamarckian evolution

inheritance of acquired traits

Koobi Fora

open-air hominin fossil area of northern Kenya

Laetoli

fossil bearing site associated with footprint trails of three early hominins

Afar Depression

Ethiopian badlands are associated with Miocene/Pliocene hominin fossils

Swartkrans

South Africa limestone cave associated with hominin fossils

Sahelanthropus

genus for an early purported fossil hominin from Chad

Adripithecus

early Ethiopian purported hominin fossil species discovered at Aramis

Olduvai Gorge

Tanzanian open-air fossil hominin bearing location

Start EXAM 2 - One derived skeletal feature of East Asian Homo erectus fossils is that they exhibit thick cranial vault bones.

True

Successful hominin extractive foraging and hunting methods are easy to learn.

False

Removing honeycombs from beehives is an example of extractive foraging.

True

Because larger-bodied primates have lower energetic needs, they can eat lower-quality foods.

True

Despite consuming more absolute energy than smaller-bodied primates, larger-bodied primates have lower energy needs per gram.

True

Homo erectus evolved an overall body morphology suggesting it was well-adapted for bouts of endurance running,.

True

Paranthropus Boisei is thought to have consumed high-quality foods requiring short bouts of mastication

False

Paleoanthropologist consider cut marks on the bones of prey animals as unequivocal evidence that hominins were hunting said animals

False

Paranthropus Boisei is a South African hominin form with a sagittal crest

False

There is adequate evidence that Homo erectus could both use and control fire

False

As noted in lecture and in the lab exercises, Paranthropus boises had larger anterior teeth relative to Au. Afarensis

False

Zhoukodian is a key Homo erectus cave site located near modern-day Beijing

True

Paranthropus Robustus had cranio-dental features specialized for carnivory.

False

The Acheulean stone tool industry remained unchanged for nearly 1 million years

True

The Oldowan tool industry began at a later time period than the Acheulean tool industry

False

Paranthropus Aethiopicus retains many primitive characteristics of Australopithicus afarensis.

True

The Dmanisi site [Republic of Georgia] pushes the earliest date for Homo Habilis to 1.8 million years ago

False

Dart argued that the roots of human aggression were seen in the osteodontokeratic culture of Au. Afarensis

True

Extracting food resources such as termites and tubers requires learned skills

True

A fossil individual [1.8 ma] found at the Dmanisi site is endentulous (lacks teeth)

True

Paranthropines (ie. Paranthropus Boisei and P. Robustus) became extinct about 1 million years ago, and thus, coexisted with Homo Erectus

True

Later forms of Homo erectus exhibit differences between specimens that are attributed to regional variation

True

Earlier appearing fossil species are always less specialized in their character states when compared to later appearing fossil species

False

Hypervitanminosis A describes bone pathology in which overconsumption of animal livers results in a buildup of disorganized bone

True

Which of the following aspects of hominin biology and behavior is probably NOT directly related to complex foraging?

Low Levels of Paternal Investment

Where have Homo Ergaster/ erectus fossils most commonly been found

Asia and Europe (A and B)

Which statement best characterizes Raymond Dart's "Killer Ape" or "Osteodontokeratic Culture" theory?

Australopithecine apes were hunters and murderers who extensively utilized bones, teeth, and horns as tools, and weapons

The cranio-dental features allowing paleoanthropologists to distinguish between robust Paranthropines and gracile Australopithecines include all of the following except...

The presence/absence of postorbital closure

Compared to earlier hominin species, what is a distinguishing feature of later Homo Erectus crania?

A significant increase in brain size

How might higher consumption of meat in the diet of human ancestors have influenced other aspects of hominid evolution?

By increasing energy availability, it may have relaxed selection pressures on gut size and freed up energy for brain expansion

Homo erectus used ___ tools

Oldowan and Acheulean

Based on experimental archaeology, Acheulean stone tools were probably used...

All of the above (dig for tubers, scrape bark from tree branches, butcher animals)

Which of the following is NOT a Homo Erectus trait?

Large Sagittal crest

The dates of Dmanisi [Republic of Georgia] hominin fossils indicate that hominins left Africa by...

1.8 Ma

Evidence for meat eating by Homo Erectus includes

vitamin A poisoning in the KNM-ER 1808 skeleton