Deck 42: Humans and Evolution

Question 1

Which of the following is not an advantage of being bipedal?

A) The additional height gained by standing on two legs allowed humans to easily see approaching predators.
B) Standing up freed up human hands allowing them to carry and use tools.
C) Standing up makes it easier to climb trees.
D) Walking on two feet is faster than walking on four feet.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The development of an upright stance in human ancestors is thought to be linked to

A) a switch from life in water to life on land.
B) the loss of tool-carrying ability.
C) a switch from life in the trees to life on the ground.
D) the loss of a pronounced heel and arch in the foot.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Based on the "out-of-Africa" hypothesis, which of the following is the most likely reason why species like Neandertals and Homo floresiensis do not exist today?

A) Modern humans out-competed and replaced other populations as they migrated around the world.
B) Extensive gene flow between human populations led to a blending of traits that resulted in the evolution of modern humans.
C) As modern humans developed new and more accurate hunting skills they were able to hunt other "undesirable" populations to extinction.
D) Climate change in Africa caused the extinction of all human populations except for the ones that gave rise to modern humans.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The first members of the genus Homo arose approximately _______ years ago.

A) 200,000
B) 2 million
C) 1 billion
D) 3.5 billion

Question 5

Which of the following human activities could affect gene flow and genetic drift of other species?

A) a new housing development
B) intensive harvesting of marine life
C) building a new ski resort
D) all of the above

Question 6

If the Neandertals are not the direct ancestors of humans, is it still possible for humans and Neandertals to be related?

A) Yes, because we share a common ancestor.
B) Yes, but only if humans and Neandertals could have interbred.
C) No, because the human evolutionary tree is strictly linear and without branches.
D) No, because this means that Neandertals evolved from an entirely different branch of organisms than humans did.

Question 7

Populations of ancient humans

A) used random mating to increase the genetic differences between populations.
B) were very similar due to a large amount of gene flow between populations.
C) were essentially identical due to a high level of interbreeding.
D) had large differences due to genetic drift.

Question 8

Human activities

A) cannot affect the evolution of established pest species of insects.
B) have eliminated resistant strains of bacteria.
C) can change patterns of genetic drift.
D) have increased the size and shape of fish that are intensely harvested.

Question 9

Which of the following species arose first on our planet?

A) Australopithecus africanus
B) Homo erectus
C) Homo habilis
D) Neandertal

Question 10

Based on the extinctions of birds and mammals known to have occurred over the last 400 years, human actions seem to have

A) had little effect on the usual (or "background") rates of extinction found in the fossil record.
B) increased extinction rates in these groups by 100 to 1,000 times the usual (or "background") rates of extinction found in the fossil record.
C) actually decreased the usual (or "background") rates of extinction found in the fossil record.
D) increased biodiversity and gene flow in regions intensively developed.

Question 11

Living populations of humans are likely to become

A) more similar in the future.
B) less similar in the future.
C) extinct due to genetic drift.
D) smaller brained.

Question 12

The development of agriculture has had a positive effect on humans as it helped us increase our population size and develop complex societies. Has the development of agriculture had an equally positive effect on other species in our environment?

A) Yes, because they were also able to increase in population size and in complexity of society.
B) Yes, because all other species eat the same foods we do and benefited from its presence in mass quantities.
C) No, because any species that live near humans suffer a decrease in population size.
D) No, because as humans devoted large areas to a single crop, environmental complexity was reduced.

Question 13

Hominids adapted to life on the ground approximately _______ years ago.

A) 3.5 billion
B) 130 thousand
C) 600 million
D) 5-7 million

Question 14

The publication of Darwin's Origin of Species led scientists to

A) place our species into the hominid family.
B) realize that we descended from earlier animals.
C) realize that the evolutionary lineage leading to humans split from the lineage leading to chimpanzees over 30 million years ago.
D) combine the families containing apes and humans.

Question 15

Which word could not be included in a description of humans?

A) ape
B) mammal
C) quadruped
D) primate

Question 16

The human population today is large, highly technological, and mobile. Which of the following is not true?

A) Genetic drift is likely to play an increasing role in shaping human evolution.
B) Populations will tend to become more similar.
C) Technology will reduce selection pressure on characteristics such as poor hearing.
D) Genetic drift will have a weaker role in shaping human evolution.

Question 17

In 1883, Alexander Graham Bell (inventor of the telephone), after determining that deafness was hereditary in nature, suggested that two individuals who are deaf should not marry (and, therefore, produce children). This is an example of

A) genetic testing.
B) eugenics.
C) natural selection.
D) cloning.

Question 18

Early primates

A) were nocturnal (active at night).
B) had claws.
C) were bipedal.
D) left no descendants.

Question 19

What potential effect might the current amount of gene flow among human populations have on these populations?

A) It could cause different populations to become increasingly more different until they are reproductively isolated.
B) It could significantly reduce the amount of variation between different human populations.
C) None, because isolated groups of humans are actually separate species.
D) Gene flow does not occur between human populations.

Question 20

Archaic Homo sapiens gave rise to

A) Neandertals and modern humans.
B) Homo habilis and Australopithecus africanus.
C) Australopithecus africanus and Neandertals.
D) Homo erectus and Homo habilis.

Question 21

In the classification of Homo sapiens, which of the following is incorrect?

A) chordate phylum
B) mammal class
C) primate genus
D) hominid family

Question 22

Which of the following is true?

A) Genetic studies are not useful in constructing hominid evolutionary trees.
B) Breeding did not occur between various populations of Homo.
C) Only one species of hominids has inhabited Earth at any given time.
D) Different species of hominids probably coexisted on Earth at various times.

Question 23

Which of the following is true?

A) Homo habilis could probably use, but not make, fire.
B) Homo erectus and Homo habilis probably used stone tools.
C) Homo habilis had a larger brain and skull than Homo erectus.
D) Homo erectus was the first bipedal hominid.

Question 24

Examine figure below.
What does the positioning of the toe indicated by the arrow suggest about the owner of this fossil hominid foot?

A) This hominid probably spent all of its climbing through trees.
B) This hominid was a hybrid produced from the mating of a Neandertal and an archaic human.
C) This hominid has a partially opposable toe. It probably walked upright and spent some time in trees.
D) This hominid was a member of an extinct line of human evolution that lived exclusively in water. It was probably the source of the myth of the mermaid.

Question 25

Homo sapiens is the genus and species designation for modern _______.

Question 26

An archeologist discovers several skeletons and a collection of stone tools of the same age in a cave. The individuals were clearly bipedal. The skull showed that the individual had a small brain (compared to modern humans) and ape-like teeth. Which of the following did the archeologist most likely discover?

A) Homo sapiens
B) Homo habilis
C) Neandertal
D) Australopithecus afarensis

Question 27

Overuse of antibiotics has led to the evolution of _________ strains of bacteria that are not killed by these drugs.

Question 28

Which of the following is a characteristic of hominids but not of other primates?

A) bipedal walking
B) five fingers
C) flexible elbow and shoulder joints
D) large brain compared to body size

Question 29

Those involved in the ___________ movement strive to breed better humans by discouraging people with "bad" genes from breeding.

Question 30

Which phrase does not describe an evolutionary trend in primates?

A) enhanced limb mobility
B) appearance of claws
C) improved daytime vision
D) increased brain size

Question 31

Why is the DNA of a human so similar to the DNA of a chimpanzee?

A) Although humans and chimpanzees have different ancestors, they faced the same environmental challenges and, therefore, evolved in similar ways.
B) Chimpanzees evolved as a result of the hybridization of Neandertals and the ancestors of modern humans.
C) Since all organisms evolved from the same original life form, they all have essentially the same DNA. The 1 percent difference in DNA sequences that exists between all organisms is responsible for the diversity of life on Earth.
D) Humans and chimpanzees share a very recent common ancestor.

Question 32

The term that describes the upright walking of humans on two legs is _______.

Question 33

The evidence of a partially opposable big toe in early hominid foot bone fossils suggests that early hominids

A) may have continued to use trees as a method of travel.
B) were not human ancestors.
C) could not walk upright.
D) were not primates.

Question 34

The first members of the genus Homo originated on the continent of ______.

Question 35

Humans split from the evolutionary line that led to chimpanzees 5 to 7 _______ years ago.

Question 36

According to the multiregional hypothesis,

A) Home erectus evolved into modern humans in Africa and then migrated all over the world.
B) Home erectus migrated throughout the world and then evolved into modern humans.
C) isolated populations of Home erectus and Homo habilis evolved separately into modern humans
D) different populations of Homo erectus migrated back to Africa and became a single population that evolved into modern humans.

Question 37

__________ have flexible arm joints, short snouts, opposable thumbs, and big toes.

Question 38

In the figure below, the arrows on the map indicate a hypothesis regarding the movement of modern human populations throughout the world.
In 2004, a set of human tools dated to 50,000 years old was found at the location of the star on the map (the Southeast United States). If the age of these tools is correct, which of the following is true?

A) This discovery disproves the out-of-Africa hypothesis.
B) This discovery confirms the multiregional hypothesis.
C) This discovery suggests that modern humans evolved in North America rather than Africa.
D) This discovery suggests that the human colonization occurred at a much faster rate than previously hypothesized by scientists.

Question 39

Which of the following is not true about archaic Homo sapiens species?

A) They have been found in Africa.
B) They developed ways of making tools.
C) Neandertal was an advanced type of archaic H. sapiens.
D) They were more primitive than H. habilis.

Question 40

On a trip to the rainforest, a scientist finds a new species of animal. It looks a bit like a mouse, but it has opposable thumbs and lives in trees. Which of the following terms is least likely to apply to this animal?

A) primate
B) hominid
C) mammal
D) chordate

Question 41

Based on the evolutionary tree in the figure below, Homo sapiens sapiens and Homo erectus both evolved from Homo habilis.

Question 42

For the first time in geological history the actions of a single species, ________________ [scientific name], may be causing a sixth mass extinction.

Question 43

There is extensive fossil evidence that early Homo sapiens interbred with more ancient Homo populations.

Question 44

Improved night vision has been an evolutionary trend in primates.

Question 45

To walk upright, humans first had to evolve larger brains.

Question 46

During the last 75,000 years human brain size appears to have decreased slightly.

Question 47

Scientists suggest that the differences that currently exist between different populations of humans (for instance, between the people in Africa and the people in China) may be much less obvious in future human populations. Why?

Question 48

All regions of our DNA are closer to the DNA of chimpanzees than to the DNA of gorillas.

Question 49

Humans became bipedal as a result of switching from life in the trees to life on the ground

Question 50

All primates are hominids and all hominids are primates.

Question 51

When comparing different species, brain size relative to body size provides a rough estimate of _______.

Question 52

Humans are animals, classified as members of the ________ phylum, the mammal class, the primate order, and the hominid family.

Question 53

Homo is the genus name for more than one species of primate.

Question 54

There is no evidence that genetic drift has ever played a role in causing genetic differences among human populations.

Question 55

By about a half million years ago, our human ancestors were probably hunting large game and using fire.

Question 56

The _______ hypothesis of human origins suggests that modern humans evolved from H. erectus populations located throughout the world.

Question 57

Humans evolved tool use before they became bipedal.

Question 58

Living humans evolved from ape ancestors without intermediate steps.

Question 59

Human actions lead to evolution in other organisms.

Question 60

The big toe is opposable in all primates.