Deck 2: Traits, Trends, and Taxonomy

Question 1

Which of the following traits does not distinguish primates from other mammals?

A) Nails instead of claws
B) Large brains relative to body size
C) Stereoscopic vision
D) Gestation and lactation by females

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The neocortex is associated with:

A) Color vision
B) Reasoning abilities
C) Brain development
D) Primitive limbic functions

Answer 2

B

Question 3

According to the Jarman/Bell principle, large bodied animals:

A) Can subsist on large quantities of poor quality foods
B) Require large quantities of high quality foods
C) Do not need much food, but what they eat must be high in quality
D) Need small amounts of low quality foods

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following is not allometrically scaled with body size among closely related organisms?

A) Lifespan
B) Basal metabolic requirements
C) Degree of sexual dimorphism
D) Gestation length

Question 5

The dental formula of catarrhines is:

A) 2-1-3-3
B) 3-1-2-3
C) 2-1-2-3
D) 2-1-3-2

Question 6

Which one of the following taxonomic groups does not include humans?

A) Platyrrhines
B) Catarrhines
C) Hominoids
D) Hominids

Question 7

The tapetum:

A) Is found only in nocturnal lemurs
B) Is found in all known lemurs
C) Is a trait that distinguishes all primates from mammals
D) Is an adaptation to diurnal lifestyles

Question 8

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is useful in molecular approaches to understanding evolutionary relationships because:

A) It is found in the nucleus of all cells
B) It is the only kind of DNA with noncoding regions
C) It is only inherited through the mother
D) It is similar to RNA

Question 9

Which of the following represent alternative taxonomic positions for tarsiers?

A) Anthropoids or Strepsirhines
B) Anthropoids or Haplorhines
C) Prosimians or Strepsirhines
D) Prosimans or Haplorhines

Question 10

The two main divisions of the Primate Order, at the level of suborders, are:

A) Catarrhini and Platyrrhini
B) Prosimii and Anthropoidea
C) Prosimianii and Strepsirhini
D) Platyrrhini and Anthropoidea

Question 11

Depending on the classification system used, the tarsiers have been classified in which of the following two taxonomic groups?

A) Prosimii or Haplorhini
B) Prosimii or Platyrrhini
C) Haplorhini or Anthropoidea
D) Strepsirhini or Haplorhini

Question 12

The only primates to possess fully prehensile tails are:

A) Some callitrichids
B) Some cebids
C) Some cercopithecines
D) Some lemurs

Question 13

The two superfamilies of the Catarrhini are:

A) Ceboidea and Cercopithecoidea
B) Ceboidea and Hominoidea
C) Cercopithecoidea and Colobinae
D) Cercopithecoidea and Hominoidea

Question 14

Which of the following types of primates possess cheek pouches:

A) Prosimians
B) Cercopithecine monkeys
C) Colobine monkeys
D) Hominoids

Question 15

The success of the colobines can be attributed to:

A) Their anatomical specializations for digesting leaves
B) Their large incisors, which permit them to bite into fruit
C) Their routine production of twins up to twice a year
D) Their flat molars for grinding seeds

Question 16

The only primates that lack tails are:

A) Catarrhines
B) Platyrrhines
C) Anthropoids
D) Hominoids

Question 17

When two species share the same trait that can be traced to their last common ancestor, the trait is known as a:

A) Dominant
B) Homology
C) Homoplasy
D) Convergence

Question 18

None of the extant apes live in:

A) Extended matrilines
B) Extended patrilines
C) Groups with nonkin
D) Pair-bonded family groups

Question 19

Societies in which males typically disperse and females remain in their natal groups:

A) Are found in all primates
B) Characterize the societies of most hominoids
C) Characterize the societies of most cercopithecines
D) Are found only in some species of lemurs

Question 20

The similarities in the fluid, fission-fusion grouping patterns of chimpanzees and spider monkeys can be explained by:

A) Their shared ancestry as primates
B) Their dietary preferences for ripe fruits
C) Their similar modes of locomotion
D) Their matrilocal, matrilineal societies

Question 21

List five traits that tend to distinguish primates from other mammals.

Question 22

List three life history traits.

Question 23

Describe three of the four different locomotor systems found in apes.

Question 24

Draw the phylogenetic relationships of the African hominoids, and indicate the position of last common ancestor between humans and apes.

Question 25

Name one nonhuman primate found in each of the following areas today: Madagascar, Japan, Indonesia, Brazil, India, Africa.

Question 26

Two primate species inhabit the same tropical forest, where logging operations have severely disturbed the habitat. There is no evidence that either species has been hunted, but in just a few years, the population size of one species declines. You know that one was a large, folivorous primate, and the other a smaller-bodied frugivore. Using your knowledge of body size energetics and life histories, explain which of the two species is most vulnerable to the kind of population crash described. (This may also be appropriate, with modifications, for Chapter 11).

Question 27

Discuss the significance of trichromatic vision and its distribution among Primates.