Deck 4: Human Evolution

Question 1

Which of the following statements is most accurate?

A) primates have cultural and biological evolution to ensure biological success
B) because of culture, humans have progressed much further biologically than other animals
C) humans are more biologically successful than other animals
D) each species follows a distinctive evolutionary course to ensure biological success

Answer 1

each species follows a distinctive evolutionary course to ensure biological success

Question 2

Which of the following hominids is believed to be the first toolmaker as evidenced by the current fossil record?

A) Homo habilis
B) Homo erectus
C) Homo sapiens
D) australopithecines

Answer 2

Homo habilis

Question 3

For a hominoid fossil to be definitively classified as part of the human evolutionary line there must be certain evidence of:

A) bipedalism
B) an elongated skeletal frame
C) a large brain
D) meat-eating

Answer 3

bipedalism

Question 4

When did the first mammals appear?

A) about 40 million years ago
B) approximately 65 million years ago
C) over 500 million years ago
D) over 200 million years ago

Question 5

What significant event occurred during the Miocene?

A) the first diurnal anthropoids appeared
B) dinosaurs became extinct, allowing hominoids to appear
C) hominoids appeared and spread into North America
D) hominoids appeared in Eurasia and Africa

Question 6

Which of the following statements is considered to be true?

A) human biology has changed more than human culture
B) human culture has changed more than human biology
C) human culture and biology change at differing rates
D) human culture and biology change at standard, similar rates

Question 7

On a human skull, how is the foramen magnum positioned in order to demonstrate bipedalism?

A) it is opened at an angle so that the spinal cord emerges almost horizontally
B) it is primarily positioned on the right of the skull to indicate right-handedness
C) it is lower and positioned more forward on the skull
D) it is positioned on top of the skull

Question 8

Which kind of biological evidence is most often used to account for change in human species?

A) size and shape of pelvis
B) length of spinal column
C) size and shape of the skull
D) existence of a brain

Question 9

Which of the following is not a goal for anthropologists?

A) to develop a heroic narrative story of human evolution
B) to discover which human ancestors were the first to walk on two legs
C) to understand why human ancestors developed large brains
D) to study human tool use through time

Question 10

How does the spinal column differ between an adult human and a chimpanzee?

A) the chimpanzee spine is straight, while the human spine has one long curve
B) the human spine is straight, while the chimpanzee spine is curved
C) a chimpanzee spine has a series of convex and concave curves
D) a human spine has a series of convex and concave curves

Question 11

What was significant about the Laetoli site in Tanzania?

A) it was where the earliest human ancestors were found 7 million years ago
B) it was the site where the earliest biped was excavated in 1978
C) it was the site where volcanic ash preserved the remains of 36 human beings
D) it was the site where foot impressions of a biped were preserved from 3.6 million years ago

Question 12

Scientists date the split between human ancestors and the ancestors of African apes between:

A) 10 and 15 million years ago
B) 5 and 2 million years ago
C) 8 and 5 million years ago
D) 9 and 6 million years ago

Question 13

What is continental drift?

A) slow, gradual migration of the earth's surface due to the earth's rotation
B) movement of the continents due to catastrophic events
C) movement of the earth's surface over time due to magnetic north
D) movement of the earth's surface over time due to plate tectonics

Question 14

Which geological time period began about 23 million years ago?

A) Oligocene
B) Eocene
C) Pliocene
D) Miocene

Question 15

Which of the following is not an accurate depiction of the australopithecines?

A) females were larger than males
B) their brain size was comparable per body size to the modern African apes
C) they were quite muscular
D) they were not as large or tall as modern-day humans

Question 16

What continents were joined in the supercontinent of Laurasia?

A) North America, Asia, and Europe
B) Asia, Europe, and Africa
C) Africa, North America, and Asia
D) North and South America, Africa, and Asia

Question 17

When did diurnal anthropoids first appear?

A) about 40 million years ago
B) approximately 65 million years ago
C) over 500 million years ago
D) over 200 million years ago

Question 18

What is bipedalism?

A) a special form of locomotion on two feet
B) having two lobes in the skull
C) the separation of Homo erectus from Homo sapiens
D) the relationship between two species of apes

Question 19

When did Old and New World anthropoid species first diverge?

A) more than 200 million years ago
B) approximately 65 million years ago
C) less than 23 million years ago
D) about 40 million years ago

Question 20

What evidence is used for a hominoid fossil to be definitively classified as part of the human evolutionary line?

A) bipedalism
B) upright spinal column
C) large skull
D) forward-projecting eyes

Question 21

Remains in southern Africa suggest that Homo erectus may have learned to use fire by:

A) 2 million years ago
B) 1 million years ago
C) 750,000 years ago
D) 500,000 years ago

Question 22

The earliest discovered human tools are dated at about:

A) 4.4 million years
B) 1.0 million years ago
C) 7.5 million years ago
D) 2.6 million years ago

Question 23

Homo erectus placed a new emphasis on:

A) larger tools
B) smaller tools
C) more multi-purpose tools
D) pebble tools

Question 24

What did our early human ancestors use to consume meat?

A) razor sharp teeth
B) cooking pots
C) flaked stone tools
D) our early ancestors did not consume meat

Question 25

Which hominid was the first believed to use fire?

A) Homo erectus
B) Homo habilis
C) Neandertals
D) anatomically modern humans

Question 26

The earliest definite australopithecine fossils date back:

A) 3.6 million years
B) 4.3 million years
C) 23 million years
D) 2.4 million years

Question 27

Which of the following is not an advantage of bipedalism among humans?

A) an ability to use free hands for carrying objects and making tools
B) an increased exposure to ultraviolet sun radiation
C) an ability to walk efficiently and for longer distances
D) more visual acuity over distances

Question 28

Which of the following is not found characteristically in bipeds?

A) balanced skull
B) curved spine
C) arched feet
D) opposable big toe

Question 29

Which of the following statements about punctuated equilibria and Darwinian gradualism is best supported by the fossil record?

A) neither model clearly explains the changes we see in the fossil record
B) Darwinian gradualism is most supported in the fossil record
C) punctuated equilibria is most supported within the fossil record
D) both models of evolutionary change are in evidence in the record

Question 30

Why does your textbook classify early human ancestors using the genus "australopithecines"?

A) this was a transitional species in the fossil record
B) scientists have found very few specimens and are not sure if this is a category
C) there is little diversity in this group of human ancestors
D) it is unclear exactly how many species exist

Question 31

Bipedalism confers each of the following advantages over quadrupeds except:

A) make and use tools
B) walk distances with less exhaustion
C) stand taller per body size
D) run faster

Question 32

While all of the following may have been critical to the development of an expanding brain; which of the following would have contributed most directly to brain growth?

A) the migration into colder and less known areas placing a premium on learning
B) a genetic mutation resulting in a smaller jawbone and smaller facial muscles
C) the detoxification of foods, allowing humans to live to significantly older ages
D) the ability to conquer predators, allowing humans higher meat consumption levels

Question 33

The Oldowan tool tradition is primarily associated with what group of early human ancestors?

A) Homo habilis
B) australopithecines
C) Homo erectus
D) Homo sapiens

Question 34

What is the primary problem with the "Man the Hunter" theory of human evolution from the 1960s and 70s?

A) the tools that humans had available prior to modern history were not effective in killing large-game animals
B) in most contemporary cultures it is women who do large-game hunting
C) it diminishes or ignores the contributions that women have made to human evolution
D) there were no animals that humans would have been capable of killing in Africa at the time of early human history

Question 35

Based on current evidence, Homo erectus first appeared in:

A) Europe, about 2 million years ago
B) Laurasia, about 4 million years ago
C) Africa, about 1 million years ago
D) Africa, about 2 million years ago

Question 36

In which geological epoch did Homo sapiens first emerge?

A) Oligocene
B) Pliocene
C) Pleistocene
D) Miocene

Question 37

Which of the following played a more significant role in the further brain development of early human ancestors?

A) longer femora
B) smaller jaw muscles
C) smaller and more compact pelvis
D) a higher foot arch

Question 38

Which of the following countries in Africa has not yielded australopithecine fossils?

A) Egypt
B) Chad
C) South Africa
D) Ethiopia

Question 39

Which australopithecine subsisted more on meat than the other?

A) gracile australopithecines
B) robust australopithecines
C) savannah australopithecines
D) Australopithecus ethiopeansis

Question 40

Which of the following best illustrates human childbirth?

A) human infants today are much less likely to die during childbirth because the birth canal is significantly larger than it was 200,000 years ago
B) human infants are much more susceptible to death during childbirth now that human heads are comparatively larger
C) biological evolution is completely dependent on cultural practices
D) cultural beliefs and practices mark every aspect of birth

Question 41

What tool did Irven DeVore fashion for his own surgery?

A) a diamond scalpel
B) a pebble tool
C) a steel blade
D) an obsidian scalpel

Question 42

Which of the following best represents Mousterian tools?

A) digging sticks
B) smaller flake tools in a variety of forms
C) pebble tools and microliths
D) large hand axes and few other forms

Question 43

North America and Europe were joined once into a supercontinent known as Laurasia.

Question 44

What fossil evidence was recovered in 1997 in Ethiopia and used to argue the veracity of the recent African origins hypothesis?

A) Homo floresiensis
B) Homo antecessor
C) Homo sapiens neandertalensis
D) Homo sapiens idaltu

Question 45

Scientific investigation is self-correcting.

Question 46

The development of handedness is associated most directly with:

A) bipedalism
B) language abilities
C) use of fire
D) stone tools

Question 47

The Mousterian tool tradition industries of Europe and Southwestern Asia date to:

A) 10,000-20,000 years ago
B) 40,000-125,000 years ago
C) 1 to 2 million years ago
D) the Upper Paleolithic Period

Question 48

Around 30,000 years ago in Europe:

A) features associated with the African ape lineage of humans disappeared
B) anatomically modern humans had the last biological transition
C) features associated with Neandertal begin disappearing from the fossil record
D) archaic Homo sapiens sapiens first emerged

Question 49

A normal human spine contains only one slight curve inward at the waist.

Question 50

Which species has been called the "end product of a long period of evolution on a comparatively small island where environmental conditions placed small body size at a selective advantage"?

A) Homo erectus
B) Homo habilis
C) Homo antecessor
D) Homo floresiensis

Question 51

Genetic studies have confirmed that the African apes are our closest living relatives.

Question 52

Which hypothesis argues that Homo sapiens originated through simultaneous transition throughout the inhabited world?

A) recent African origins hypothesis
B) multiregional hypothesis
C) both the multiregional and the recent African origins hypotheses
D) neither hypothesis argues this

Question 53

All of the following advantages are conferred by obsidian except:

A) it allows a surgeon greater control over cutting
B) it can be made sharper than conventional sources for blades
C) it is harder than conventional sources for blades
D) it is always very difficult to obtain

Question 54

Anthropologists have not fully resolved which human ancestors were the first to walk on two legs.

Question 55

Which hypothesis argues that humans originated in Africa some 2 million years ago and that ancient populations throughout the globe are all ancestors of modern humans with unity of a single species maintained through gene flow?

A) multiregional hypothesis
B) Eve hypothesis
C) recent African origins hypothesis
D) out of Africa hypothesis

Question 56

Which hypothesis argues that Neandertals were simply a regional variation of anatomically modern humans?

A) multiregional hypothesis
B) recent Africa origins hypothesis
C) Eve hypothesis
D) out of Africa hypothesis

Question 57

All of the following are advantages associated with cooking food except:

A) it kills parasites and makes foods healthier
B) it detoxifies foods
C) it softens food and makes it easier to chew
D) it makes most foods less nutritious

Question 58

Neandertals disappeared between:

A) 40,000 and 30,000 years ago
B) 75,000 and 50,000 years ago
C) 20,000 and 15,000 years ago
D) 5,000 and 10,000 years ago

Question 59

By what time period had the human brain reached it relative modern size?

A) about 100,000 years ago
B) about 20,000 years ago
C) about 200,000 years ago
D) about 10,000 years ago

Question 60

The Mousterian tool tradition is associated with each of the following except:

A) regional specialization
B) the development of a burin
C) pressure-flaking
D) the development of the earliest hand axe

Question 61

The integrating effects of gene flow have become so powerful that dramatic regional variations for suites of traits no longer exist.

Question 62

The 32,000 year-old images of Chavet Cave in France are associated with the Upper Paleolithic.

Question 63

In Europe, Neandertals and anatomically modern humans co-existed for about 10,000 years.

Question 64

_______________ separates humans from other evolving animals.

Question 65

Homo habilis is believed to have been overwhelmingly right-handed.

Question 66

Humans are more evolutionarily advanced than other animals.

Question 67

The evolution from australopithecine to Homo habilis is known to have occurred very gradually.

Question 68

The Neandertals inhabited Europe and Africa from approximately 125,000 to 30,000 years ago.

Question 69

The _____________________ is an opening in the base of the skull found in vertebrates.

Question 70

Homo sapiens is a homogenous species.

Question 71

Bipedalism is considered to be most adaptive in geographical areas known as _______________.

Question 72

Discoverers of Homo sapiens idaltu have used this fossil evidence to argue that Neandertal is part of the direct line of Homo sapiens sapiens.

Question 73

Humans sometimes scavenged food, but they were not known as tertiary scavengers.

Question 74

"Lucy" is an example of one of the species of _______________.

Question 75

_______________ change depends upon heritable traits.

Question 76

Continental drift is explained by the theory of ___________________.

Question 77

Neandertals were anatomically different from modern humans.

Question 78

Without isolation, gene flow tends to keep populations from differentiating into distinct species.

Question 79

Increased meat consumption by our early human ancestors was important for human evolution.

Question 80

For a hominoid fossil to be definitively classified as human there must be evidence of ______________.