Deck 9: Hominin Origins

Question 1

Where have Miocene hominoid fossils been found?

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

Answer 1

E

Question 2

When did the initial hominid divergence from the African hominoids most likely occur?

A) during the late Miocene
B) during the early Miocene
C) as late as 1 mya
D) 3 mya
E) 20 to 30 kya

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The Miocene hominoids

A) were distributed over much of the New World
B) were all members of the same species
C) displayed little to no morphological variation
D) were all about the size of a house cat
E) evidenced the "golden age of hominoids"

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Adaptive advantages of bipedalism include the following except

A) freeing the hands for making and using tools
B) early predator detection
C) more efficient way of covering long distances
D) further refinements to capabilities used for swimming
E) freeing the hands for carrying objects

Question 5

Which of the following methods are not used to identify hominin fossil sites?

A) aerial photography
B) satellite photography
C) geological surveys
D) water reside analysis
E) vertebrate paleontology

Question 6

The terms Sivapithecus, Proconsul, and Dryopithecus¸ applied to different groups of Miocene hominoids, refer to a distinction made at what taxonomic level?

A) species
B) genus
C) subfamily
D) family
E) order

Question 7

What is paleoanthropology?

A) It is defined as the study of early humans.
B) It is practiced by archaeologists ONLY.
C) It is concerned with fossilized skeletal remains ONLY.
D) It is defined as the study of fossilized non-primate mammals.
E) It is practiced by physical anthropologists ONLY.

Question 8

Hominins have been variably defined as having which of the following?

A) a large brain, toolmaking abilities, adaptations for bipedalism
B) toolmaking abilities but no adaptations for bipedalism
C) adaptations for bipedalism, but lacking a large brain
D) a large brain and no toolmaking abilities and adaptations for bipedalism
E) a small brain, no toolmaking abilities and no adaptations for bipedalism

Question 9

The earliest stone tools are dated to approximately

A) 2.6 million years old
B) 25,000 years old
C) 250,000 years old
D) 25 million years old
E) 50 million years old

Question 10

The fossil evidence indicates that the Eocene primates were

A) mostly extinct by the end of the Eocene
B) not widely distributed
C) likely provide direct evidence of a close connection to humans
D) ectothermic
E) water animals

Question 11

Anatomical changes in hominins indicative of habitual bipedal locomotion include
A) feet with opposable big toes for grasping

A) increased length of arms relative to legs
B) increased length of the spine
B) shortening and broadening of the pelvis
C) increased length of pelvis

Question 12

The current evidence indicates that hominins possessed all the major structural changes necessary for bipedalism by 4 million years ago

A) 5 to 7 million years ago
B) 8 to 10 million years ago
C) 3 to 4 million years ago

Question 13

Which genus is found in the Fayum and is probably close to the ancestry of both major groups of living Old World anthropoids?

A) Apidium
B) Sivapithecus
C) Australopithecus
D) Paranthropus
E) Aegyptopithecus

Question 14

Before hominins made stone tools, they probably

A) used sticks or other perishable materials
B) had weapons made of metal
C) made tools from ivory
D) used pottery
E) took tools from other nonhuman primates

Question 15

The earliest hominin traces

A) date to the beginning of the Miocene
B) are primarily full skeletons
C) are primarily dental and cranial pieces
D) date to the Eocene
E) are merely shattered bones impossible to identify

Question 16

For humans, culture integrates an entire adaptive strategy involving all of the following except

A) cognitive components
B) political components
C) economic components
D) social components
E) biological components

Question 17

The term hominin refers to a distinction made at what taxonomic level?

A) Tribe
B) Genus
C) Species
D) Subfamily
E) Genera

Question 18

Fossil evidence for early hominin foot structure

A) has come from South and East African sites
B) has come from North African sites
C) is totally lacking
D) indicates they were quadrupedal
E) is highly disputed and therefore insignificant in discussions of human evolution

Question 19

What have researchers concluded from the fossil remains of hominin feet from South Africa?

A) They indicate obligate quadrupedalism.
B) They indicate many forms of hominins spent considerable time in trees.
C) They were adapted for quadrupedalism.
D) They indicate the big toe could NOT have aided the foot in grasping.
E) Remains from hominin feet have not been found in South Africa

Question 20

Where have the fossil remains of the Miocene Hominoids not been found?

A) Africa
B) Europe
C) Asia
D) North America
E) Turkey

Question 21

Thermoluminescence can be used on which of the following?

A) Heated materials such as burned flint
B) fossilized plants
C) bone
D) sedimentary layers of dirt
E) petrified wood

Question 22

_______ make the best samples for the K/Ar dating method.

A) Bones
B) Stone tools
C) Ostrich shells
D) Teeth
E) Volcanic rocks

Question 23

Sahelanthropus has an unusual combination of characteristics, including

A) a small braincase, huge browridges, small vertical face, and lack of shearing canine/premolar arrangement
B) a large braincase and huge browridges
C) a small braincase and small muscle attachments in the rear of the cranium
D) a small vertical face and small browridges
E) a large vertical face and small browridges

Question 24

Recently discovered remains from the Tugen Hills, dated to about 6 million years ago have been placed in which genus?

A) Sahelanthropu
B) Australopithecus
C) Paranthropus
D) Ardipithecus
E) Orrorin

Question 25

Relative dating techniques

A) can provide exact dates of fossil material
B) are always accurate to within 500 years
C) are based on the radioactive decay of unstable isotopes
D) include biostratigraphy
E) rely upon stable isotopes

Question 26

Which of the following is not a chromometric dating method?

A) C-14
B) K-Ar
C) Fluorine dating
D) Thermoluminescence
E) stratigraphy

Question 27

Australopithecus afarensis specimens from Laetoli and Hadar are

A) the largest well-studied collection of early hominins
B) the oldest hominins discovered to date
C) the smallest least-studied collection of early hominins
D) only found in South Africa
E) forms of H. habilis

Question 28

Radiometric dating techniques

A) are not based on the phenomenon of radioactive isotope decay rates
B) can be used to determine the absolute age of organic materials
C) include the K/Ar but not carbon-14 methods
D) are a form of stratigraphy
E) are relative dating techniques

Question 29

Dating methods indicating that something is older or more recent than something else

A) are called chronometric dating methods
B) are called absolute dating methods
C) include the K/Ar method
D) never require stratigraphic information
E) are called relative dating methods

Question 30

Potassium-40 (⁴⁰K)

A) decays to the gas, argon-40 (40Ar)
B) decays to carbon-14
C) has a full-life of 1.25 billion years
D) is the same as carbon-14
E) is destructive and therefore not used by paleoanthropologists

Question 31

What is the dating method that uses the principle that undisturbed underlying geologic deposits are older than overlying geologic deposits?

A) stratigraphic dating
B) paleomagnetism
C) carbon-14 dating
D) K/Ar dating
E) fluorine analysis

Question 32

The oldest possible hominin found to date has been given which genus name?

A) Australopithecus
B) Sahelanthropus
C) Zinjanthropus
D) Ardipithecus
E) Orrorin

Question 33

Where was Sahelanthropus discovered?

A) South Africa
B) East Africa
C) the Rift Valley
D) Central Africa
E) Asia

Question 34

If an isotope has a half-life of 4 billion years, then in 4 billion years what will happen?

A) All of the original amount will have decayed.
B) A quarter of the original amount will still remain.
C) Half of the original amount will still be present.
D) All of the original amount will still be present.
E) The original amount will have doubled.

Question 35

Thermoluminescence dates

A) Water-logged artifacts
B) bone
C) wood
D) burned flint tools
E) thatch

Question 36

_______ is a radiometric dating method popular with archaeologists that can be used to date materials up to 75,000 years old.

A) Carbon-14
B) Paleomagnetism
C) Thermoluminesence
D) K/Ar
E) Biostratigraphy

Question 37

The fossil skeleton known as "Lucy" belongs to which species?

A) africanus
B) aethiopicus
C) habilis
D) boisei
E) afarensis

Question 38

The hominin fossils from Laetoli and Hadar are classified by most researchers as

A) Australopithecus africanus
B) Homo afarensis
C) Homo habilis
D) Australopithecus robustus
E) Australopithecus afarensis

Question 39

Which of the following would be best suited to the carbon-14 dating technique?

A) materials more than 100,000 years old
B) volcanic rock
C) sedimentary rock
D) metals
E) certain organic materials less than 75,000 years old

Question 40

_______ relies on identifying changes in the orientation of the earth's geomagnetic poles.

A) Stratigraphy
B) Potassium argon dating
C) Fluorine analysis
D) Biostratigraphy
E) Paleomagnetism

Question 41

The first Homo habilis fossils were found during the 1960's in
A) Olduvai Gorge

A) Tugen Hills
B) Toros Menalla
C) Sterkfontein
D) South Africa

Question 42

Carbon-14 dating is a relative dating method used to date rocks and minerals.

Question 43

What general conclusions can be drawn regarding the Miocene hominoids?

Question 44

Remains of early genus Homo have been found in both East and South Africa.

Question 45

Habitual bipedalism is the only form of hominin terrestrial locomotion.

Question 46

The A. afarensis hand, wrist, and foot bones are indistinguishable from those of modern humans.

Question 47

All researchers agree that Sahelanthropus is a definite hominin.

Question 48

The estimated average cranial capacity for Homo habilis is

A) 442 cm3
B) 631 cm3
C) 520 cm3
D) 350 cm3
E) 775 cm3

Question 49

Hominin emergence is characterized by the simultaneous appearance of bipedalism, toolmaking behavior, and a large brain.

Question 50

Because organic materials such as sticks and bones are usually well preserved in the archaeological record, we have good evidence of the earliest stages of hominin cultural modifications.

Question 51

The earliest australopith fossils come from

A) South Africa
B) Asia
C) East Africa
D) North Africa
E) Europe

Question 52

The task of interpreting early hominin evolution

A) is still not complete
B) does not require a chronological framework
C) does not require assigning taxonomic names to fossil materials
D) is almost impossible
E) is best left to geologists

Question 53

By using the designation Homo habilis, what was Louis Leakey not implying?

A) There were at least two hominin lineages present at Olduvai Gorge.
B) The Homo lineage was distinct from the australopithecines.
C) That Homo habilis was more closely related to modern humans than were the australopiths.
D) That Homo habilis was more closely related to australopithecines
E) Members of the group were the early Olduvai toolmakers.

Question 54

_________ may have been contemporaneous with australopiths but had a significantly larger brain.

A) A. afarensis
B) Aegyptopithecus
C) Homo habilis
D) A. africanus
E) Ardipithecus

Question 55

Some of the late Eocene primates have been found in Asia.

Question 56

A clear evolutionary picture is possible for organizing all the early hominins.

Question 57

By about 2 mya, which of the following was true?

A) All hominins were members of the same genus.
B) There were one or more species of the genus Homo present in East Africa.
C) Modern humans were living alongside australopiths.
D) All hominins still lived only in East Africa.
E) There was only one hominid species present in Asia.

Question 58

Except for some early Homo individuals, there is very little in the way of an evolutionary trend in increased body size or of marked greater encephalization.

Question 59

Although excavations at Olduvai Gorge have yielded abundant archaeological traces, no hominin remains have ever been found there.

Question 60

Rates of development can be accurately reconstructed by examining dental growth markers.

Question 61

What traits best distinguish Homo habilis from the australopiths?

Question 62

What characteristics define a hominin? Discuss which aspects of your definition can be assessed in the fossil record.

Question 63

Contrast obligate bipedalism with habitual bipedalism.

Question 64

Define the term mosaic evolution. List three different anatomical or behavioral hominid traits that demonstrate the nature of mosaic evolution.

Question 65

What is the law of superposition, and how is it related to the dating methods discussed in the text?

Question 66

You are a paleoanthropologist planning an excavation at a new hominin site in East Africa that is dated to about 2 mya. What fossil hominin species might you expect to find? What anatomical traits might you use to assign them to specific existing taxa?

Question 67

Explain the differences between relative and chronometric (absolute) dating techniques. Give an example of one relative technique and three chronometric techniques.

Question 68

Discuss the combinations of anatomical characteristics found in Sahelanthropus, Ororrin, and Ardipithecus. Based on these characteristics, should these genera be considered hominins?

Question 69

Draw your own phylogeny of the hominins discussed in Chapter 8. Explain the logic behind your phylogeny.

Question 70

Discuss the mechanics of walking on two legs in terms of four anatomical characteristics of a biped.

Question 71

What are some of the hypotheses purporting to explain the evolution of bipedalism?

Question 72

What is the contribution of investigations at Olduvai Gorge to paleoanthropological research?