Deck 10: Early Hominid Origins and Evolution: the Roots of Humanity

Question 1

Which of the following statements is true of hominid evolution?

A)Large brains preceded the appearance of bipedalism.
B)Bipedal locomotion preceded the appearance of large brains.
C)Tool use preceded the appearance of bipedal locomotion.
D)Fire use preceded the appearance of large brains.

Answer 1

Bipedal locomotion preceded the appearance of large brains.

Question 2

The fossil nicknamed "Lucy" is a member of which species?

A)Australopithecus anamensis
B)Ardipithecus ramidus
C)Australopithecus afarensis
D)Australopithecus africanus

Answer 2

Australopithecus afarensis

Question 3

Fossil remains of the pre-australopithecines are found in what part of the world?

A)throughout most of the Old World, from Africa to East Asia
B)throughout the entire globe
C)in Asia only
D)in Africa only

Answer 3

in Africa only

Question 4

The ravine in East Africa's Great Rift Valley where many early hominid fossils have been recovered (often referred to as the "cradle of humankind") is

A)Lake Turkana.
B)Olduvai Gorge.
C)Swartkrans.
D)Hadar.

Question 5

Each of the following traits is found in a bipedal hominid except

A)a wide, short pelvis.
B)a big toe in line with the other toes.
C)an angled thigh bone.
D)a foramen magnum far back on the skull.

Question 6

The oldest recognizable artifacts are simple stone tools dating to about 2.6 mya and are referred to as the ________ .

A)Acheulan complex
B)Mousterian complex
C)Oldowan complex
D)Clovis complex

Question 7

Which of the following traits characterize hominids as a group?

A)large canines
B)s-shaped spine
C)thinner tooth enamel
D)foramen magnum set back on the skull

Question 8

Dentally, which of the following best describes the earliest hominids?

A)They had very large canine teeth, similar to a male chimpanzee's.
B)They possessed a diastema.
C)They had small, nonprojecting canines.
D)They possessed a honing dental complex.

Question 9

In addressing bipedalism's origin, Darwin focused on

A)hunting.
B)females' ability to carry babies.
C)body temperature control (thermoregulation).
D)parasite reduction.

Question 10

Owen Lovejoy's model for the origin of bipedalism focuses on

A)dispersing heat away from the body.
B)males provisioning females and young.
C)reaching for food in high places.
D)making and using stone tools.

Question 11

The earliest australopithecines probably lived in which kind of environment?

A)dense tropical forest
B)complex hybrid habitats
C)open savanna grassland
D)arid, high-altitude uplands

Question 12

The only pre-australopithecine found outside the East African Rift Valley is

A)Orrorin tugenensis.
B)Ardipithecus kadabba.
C)Sahelanthropus tchadensis.
D)Ardipithecus ramidus.

Question 13

The oldest known possibly bipedal hominid genus is

A)Sahelanthropus.
B)Australopithecus.
C)Homo.
D)Ardipithecus.

Question 14

At which site would you be most likely to find fossil remains of Australopithecus africanus?

A)Sterkfontein, South Africa
B)Hadar, Ethiopia
C)Laetoli, Tanzania
D)Swartkrans, South Africa

Question 15

The first hominids appeared in Africa about ________ .

A)20-25 mya
B)10-15 mya
C)7-6 mya
D)3-5 mya

Question 16

What characterizes all the early hominids from Africa older than 2 million years?

A)They all possessed large brains.
B)They all possessed small brains, the size of apes'.
C)They all possessed large canines.
D)None were bipedal.

Question 17

In which of the following species would you expect to find a large projecting canine tooth with a sharp edge on its back?

A)modern human
B)Australopithecus afarensis
C)Australopithecus boisei
D)gorilla

Question 18

Using direct radiometric dating of ________ provides very accurate ages for many East African Rift Valley hominid sites.

A)volcanic rocks
B)trees
C)pottery
D)plants

Question 19

Early hominids display a relatively lower level of sexual dimorphism in body size than living gorillas and living orangutans do.What could be inferred from this finding?

A)that early hominids were more competitive
B)that early hominids were more cooperative
C)that early hominids ate meat
D)that early hominids existed in large sedentary groups

Question 20

Who of the following described the first specimen of Australopithecus ever discovered?

A)Louis Leakey
B)Tim White
C)Raymond Dart
D)Mary Leakey

Question 21

Which of the following is not considered a robust australopithecine?

A)Australopithecus boisei
B)Australopithecus anamensis
C)Australopithecus aethiopicus
D)Australopithecus robustus

Question 22

Which of the following hominids had a brain significantly larger than a chimpanzee's?

A)Australopithecus afarensis
B)Sahelanthropus tchadensis
C)Kenyanthropus platyops
D)none of the above

Question 23

The discovery of Kenyanthropus platyops was important mainly because

A)it had a small brain like an ape's.
B)it was discovered in Kenya.
C)it showed diversity in the hominid fossil record 3.5 mya.
D)it probably lived in woodlands.

Question 24

Which of the following would not be part of an Oldowan toolkit?

A)simple stone flakes
B)rounded and pitted hammerstones
C)crude core pieces
D)long, sharp blades

Question 25

The Laetoli footprints demonstrate that the foot of Australopithecus afarensis was humanlike in having

A)a rounded heel.
B)a nondivergent big toe.
C)a double arch.
D)all of the above.

Question 26

Some australopithecines are referred to as "robust" because

A)their cranial capacity had increased dramatically.
B)they were much taller than their ancestors.
C)they were probably much hairier than their ancestors.
D)they possessed very large molar teeth and chewing muscles.

Question 27

Which of the following species is a good candidate for being directly ancestral to Australopithecus afarensis?

A)Australopithecus africanus
B)Kenyanthropus platyops
C)Sahelanthropus tchadensis
D)Australopithecus anamensis

Question 28

The hyoid bone of the juvenile Australopithecus afarensis fossil suggests that this species probably could not

A)speak like a modern human.
B)walk on two legs over long distances.
C)climb trees very effectively.
D)eat tough, fibrous foods.

Question 29

In an ape, the space between the upper lateral incisor and the canine that accommodates a large, projecting lower canine, is a

A)dental gap.
B)gingival space.
C)mesial bridge.
D)diastema.

Question 30

Australopithecus (Kenyanthropus) platyops is distinct from contemporary Australopithecus afarensis in having

A)a much larger body size.
B)greater cranial capacity.
C)a flatter face.
D)bigger molar teeth.

Question 31

Evidence indicating that Orrorin tugenensis was bipedal comes mainly from which part of the skeleton?

A)femur (thighbone)
B)skull
C)foot
D)pelvis

Question 32

Fossils attributed to Australopithecus garhi were found at the Bouri site, in Ethiopia, along with

A)abundant stone tools.
B)animal bones with cut marks.
C)evidence for early Homo.
D)fossil footprints.

Question 33

Among living nonhuman primates, which is Homo sapiens' closest relative?

A)baboon
B)gorilla
C)orangutan
D)chimpanzee

Question 34

The first person to demonstrate the detailed anatomical similarity between human beings and African apes through careful comparative studies was

A)Charles Darwin.
B)Thomas Huxley.
C)Georges Cuvier.
D)Richard Owen.

Question 35

The only early hominid that lacks the thick enamel coating on its teeth typical of other hominids is

A)Australopithecus.
B)Sahelanthropus.
C)Ardipithecus.
D)Orrorin.

Question 36

Which early hominid genus differs from all others in having a thin layer of enamel on its teeth as apes do?

A)Kenyanthropus
B)Ardipithecus
C)Australopithecus
D)Orrorin

Question 37

Rodman and McHenry's hypothesis to account for the success of the bipedal adaptation in early hominids involves mainly

A)keeping cool in the heat of the day out on the savanna.
B)males provisioning females and young.
C)energetic efficiency in moving between patches of forest.
D)freeing of the hands to make stone tools.

Question 38

In examining the bones of AL-288 ("Lucy"), which trait would you not expect to find?

A)a brain the size of a chimp's
B)long, curved finger bones and toe bones
C)long legs
D)large molar teeth (as compared to a modern human's)

Question 39

The australopithecine lineage went extinct about

A)0.5 mya.
B)1 mya.
C)2 mya.
D)3 mya.

Question 40

The Laetoli site, in Tanzania, is most famous for

A)the discovery of "Lucy."
B)preserving fossil hominid footprints.
C)huge caches of stone tools.
D)a collection of robust australopithecine fossils.

Question 41

Which hominid has the largest molar teeth?

A)Kenyanthropus platyops
B)Australopithecus afarensis
C)Sahelanthropus tchadensis
D)Australopithecus boisei

Question 42

Describe in detail three theories aiming to explain the adaptive success of bipedal locomotion.

Question 43

A pre-australopithecine most likely has which of the following characteristics?

A)nonhoning chewing, vestigial apelike traits, increased brain size
B)modified honing chewing, vestigial apelike traits, increased brain size
C)modified honing chewing, vestigial apelike traits, small brain size
D)nonhoning chewing, loss of apelike traits, small brain size

Question 44

The earliest australopithecines first show up in the fossil record more than

A)1 mya.
B)2 mya.
C)500,000 years ago.
D)4 mya.

Question 45

You find a fossil that you are sure shows evidence of bipedalism.You know this because which of the following anatomical traits are present?

A)a narrow pelvis
B)posterior position of the foramen magnum
C)opposable hallux
D)thigh bones that angle in toward the knees

Question 46

Name and briefly describe five key traits of modern humans that the living great apes do not display.

Question 47

Your friend is asking your opinion on a recent hominid fossil he heard about on the news.He is unable to remember the species name but knows that it lacked the specialized teeth seen in living apes, had elongated toes, an opposable big toe, and was part of a multidisciplinary study that reconstructed the early hominids' habitat.The fossil he is referring to is most likely

A)Homo floresiensis.
B)Ardipithecus kadabba.
C)Sahelanthropus tchadensis.
D)Ardipithecus ramidus.

Question 48

Darwin proposed which of the following as the key to the divergence between apes and humans?

A)bipedalism
B)large brain size
C)hunting
D)nonhoning canine

Question 49

The early hominids from Chad (Sahelanthropus tchadensis) are very important because they

A)span a nearly 3-million-year period.
B)provide evidence of hominid evolution 2,000 km (1,243 mi) from the Rift Valley.
C)were small-brained, bipedal creatures.
D)lived in savanna environments.

Question 50

The large brain is often considered a hallmark of modern humans and our hominid ancestors; however, it is not one of the characteristics thought to be obligate when discussing hominids.An obligate behavior of hominids is

A)presence of material culture.
B)bipedal locomotion.
C)speech.
D)honing chewing.

Question 51

Geologically speaking, why is East Africa's Great Rift Valley such an important region for conducting paleoanthropological research?

Question 52

Imagine you are a paleontologist working in the field and you come across a skeleton of what you think might be an early hominid.What skeletal features would you look for to demonstrate that the creature walked bipedally?

Question 53

Compare and contrast Rodman and McHenry's Patchy Forest hypothesis with Lovejoy's Provisioning hypothesis.

Question 54

Australopithecus garhi has been proposed as an ancestor for Homo mainly because

A)it had a bigger brain than other australopithecines.
B)it had smaller molar teeth than other australopithecines.
C)it had longer legs relative to arm length than other australopithecines.
D)it was bipedal.