Deck 9: Primate Origins and Evolution: The First 50 Million Years

Question 1

The Fayum desert has yielded fossils of which three primates?

A)Oligopithecus,Apidium,and Aegyptopithecus
B)Proconsul,Notharctus,and Adapis
C)Eosimias,Biretia,and Micropithecus
D)Proconsul,Eosimias,and Adapis

Answer 1

Oligopithecus,Apidium,and Aegyptopithecus

Question 2

Euprimates represent the first true:

A)anthropoids.
B)primates.
C)mammals.
D)catarrhini.

Answer 2

primates.

Question 3

Monkeys underwent massive ________ in the Pliocene and Pleistocene.

A)extinction
B)adaptive radiation
C)migration
D)diversification

Answer 3

adaptive radiation

Question 4

Which of the following genera did propliopithecids include?

A)Aegyptopithecus and Micropithecus
B)Propliopithecus and Aegyptopithecus
C)Micropithecus and Aegyptopithecus
D)Propliopithecus and Proconsul

Question 5

What does the visual predation hypothesis propose?

A)Better vision allowed for better access to fruits and small insects.
B)Primate traits arose as adaptations to preying on insects and small animals.
C)Primates could see predators from further away,thereby securing time to flee.
D)Predators had the ability to see primates better.

Question 6

What is a difference between Miocene apes and modern apes?

A)tail length
B)ribcage breadth
C)hand size
D)foot morphology

Question 7

Which genus is considered the ancestor to adapids and omomyids?

A)Notharctus
B)Proconsul
C)Carpolestes
D)Eosimias

Question 8

What do comparisons of tooth wear in living apes and extinct Miocene apes suggest that some extinct species of apes ate?

A)insects,fruit,and leaves
B)leaves,grass,and bark
C)leaves,nuts,and fruits
D)nuts,fruits,and small animals

Question 9

Which of the following have been proposed as the ancestor to the orangutan?

A)Gigantopithecus and Dryopithecus
B)Gigantopithecus and Oreopithecus
C)Khoratpithecus and Ouranopithecus
D)Sivapithecus and Khoratpithecus

Question 10

Gigantopithecus stood ________ feet tall and weighed ________ pounds.

A)four;300
B)ten;660
C)six;250
D)five;400

Question 11

Which explanation for the dispersal of African monkeys to the New World is supported by the evidence?

A)Platyrrhines evolved from anthropoids in Africa that migrated to South America in the Oligocene via North America.
B)Platyrrhines evolved from anthropoids in Africa that migrated to South America across the Atlantic,or via Antarctica.
C)Old World monkeys evolved from New World monkeys prior to the separation of Africa and South America.
D)Old and New World anthropoids evolved independently from different lineages in Africa and South America,respectively.

Question 12

Which of the following is the main reason Cartmill's visual predation hypothesis may be better than the arboreal hypothesis of primate origins?

A)Cartmill claims that other species,such as squirrels,are very arboreal and have many primate features.
B)Cartmill's visual predation hypothesis does a better job at explaining how primates acquire and consume fruit,a mainstay in many primate diets.
C)Cartmill's visual predation hypothesis explains a larger number of key primate features than the arboreal hypothesis did.
D)Cartmill's hypothesis best explains the shift from ground dwelling to tree dwelling in early primates.

Question 13

According to Canadian primate paleontologist David Begun,what did climate changes in Europe prompt late Miocene apes to do?

A)migrate to Asia from Europe following food sources
B)take advantage of lower sea levels to migrate from Europe to South America
C)spread to Europe from Africa following the expansion of tropical forests
D)move from Europe back to Africa following food sources

Question 14

What does the angiosperm radiation hypothesis propose?

A)Primates' unique traits are an adaptation to living in trees.
B)Primate traits arose as adaptations to preying on insects.
C)Certain primate traits were responses to the acquisition of fruit during the Cenozoic.
D)Primates could see predators in advance.

Question 15

What were Paleocene organisms that may have been the first primates?

A)adapids
B)proconsulids
C)dryopithecids
D)plesiadapiforms

Question 16

What are plesiadapiforms also called?

A)proprimates
B)dryopithecids
C)proconsulids
D)adapids

Question 17

The arboreal hypothesis proposes that defining primate characteristics were adaptations to life in the trees.Which characteristics did these include?

A)grasping hands and feet,developed vision,and greater intelligence
B)grasping hands,tails,and intelligence
C)developed vision,greater sense of smell,and tails
D)developed vision,greater sense of smell,and grasping hands and feet

Question 18

What are basal anthropoids?

A)Paleocene primates that may have been the first anthropoids
B)Paleocene organisms that may have been the first primates
C)Eocene organisms that may have been the first primates
D)Eocene primates that are the earliest anthropoids

Question 19

What is Chororapithecus considered?

A)the oldest primate fossil in Africa
B)the direct ancestor to Gigantopithecus
C)related to a common ancestor of African apes and hominins
D)the ancestor to Aegyptopithecus

Question 20

The evolution of apes began in Africa.Where did it continue?

A)Europe and Asia
B)Asia and South America
C)Europe and South America
D)Greece and South America

Question 21

The calcaneus (heel bone)of Eosimias suggests that it may be a very primitive:

A)primate.
B)anthropoid.
C)New World monkey.
D)ape.

Question 22

The similarity between the foot bones of ________ and the living anthropoids makes it likely the first true anthropoid.

A)Proconsul
B)Micropithecus
C)Dryopithecus
D)Eosimias

Question 23

A rapid temperature increase about 55 mya created tropical conditions around the world.What did these conditions cause?

A)the adaptive radiation of Euprimates
B)the development of Dryopithecus
C)the spread of Sivapithecus
D)the extinction of many primate species

Question 24

Based on genetic analysis of living primates calibrated by the fossil record,around when is it estimated that apes and Old World monkeys diverged into separate lineages?

A)5 mya
B)10 mya
C)15 mya
D)25 mya

Question 25

What is probably the reason that apes went extinct in southern Europe (including France,Spain,Italy,and Greece)during the late Miocene?

A)a meteor impact
B)a disease pandemic
C)climate change
D)early humans hunting them for food

Question 26

If you are examining the fossil remains of the genus Dryopithecus,they are most likely from where?

A)India
B)Bolivia
C)France
D)China

Question 27

How is a species that is adapted to a wide range of environments,climates,and diets described?

A)as highly specialized
B)as likely to undergo further evolution
C)as biologically diverse
D)as likely to go extinct

Question 28

What is the space between the canine and the first premolar in the lower jaw of some primates called?

A)a retrocanine space
B)an alveolus
C)a mandibular gap
D)a diastema

Question 29

Which fossil group is characterized by an eye orbit fully enclosed by bone?

A)adapids
B)plesiadapiforms
C)anthropoids
D)omomyids

Question 30

What is the most distinctive feature of ape dentition,which clearly distinguishes apes from Old World monkeys?

A)a 2-1-2-3 dental formula
B)a long canine tooth in males
C)a Y-5 molar pattern
D)bilophodont molars

Question 31

In what way does a modern gorilla mandible resemble that of the earlier genus Dryopithecus?

A)It has sharp,high crests on the teeth and reduced canines.
B)It has large canines but no diastema.
C)It has a Y-5 molar pattern and highly specialized molars.
D)It has a Y-5 molar pattern;low,rounded cusps;large canines;and a diastema.

Question 32

Old World anthropoid primates and New World primates have different dental formulae.What are they?

A)Most New World Monkeys: 2-1-2-3;Old World Monkeys and Apes: 2-1-3-3
B)Most New World Monkeys: 2-1-2-2;Old World Monkeys and Apes: 2-1-2-3
C)Most New World Monkeys: 2-1-3-3;Old World Monkeys and Apes: 2-1-2-3
D)Most New World Monkeys: 2-1-2-3;Old World Monkeys and Apes: 2-1-3-3.0

Question 33

About when do apes first appear in Europe and Asia?

A)17 mya
B)6 mya
C)10 mya
D)12 mya

Question 34

Which of the following groups of early primates had the most biological diversity?

A)Eosimias
B)Proconsul
C)Dryopithecus
D)Oreopithecus

Question 35

Which Eocene organisms had clear primate characteristics like a postorbital bar,opposable thumbs,nails,and a large brain?

A)proprimates and euprimates
B)adapids and omomyids
C)basal anthropoids
D)plesiadapiforms

Question 36

Which anatomical feature would you expect to find in the fossil remains of a nocturnal species?

A)long legs
B)pointy teeth
C)large eye orbits
D)short fingers and toes

Question 37

Which of the following distinguishes Khorapithecus from Sivapithecus?

A)Khorapithecus's molars are more similar to those of living chimpanzees than Sivapithecus's molars are.
B)Whereas Khorapithecus lived in the area now known as France and Spain,Sivapithecus lived in Thailand.
C)Khoratpithecus's broad front teeth and a flat surface on the tongue side of the canines make it more similar than Sivapithecus to living orangutans.
D)Sivapithecus has dental features making it more similar to modern orangutans,while Khorapithecus has postcranial bones that most closely resemble modern chimpanzees.

Question 38

Which of the following apes has been proposed as the last common ancestor of living African apes and humans?

A)Ouranopithecus
B)Sivapithecus
C)Dryopithecus
D)Gigantopithecus

Question 39

The northern African fossil primate called Biretia may be an early anthropoid,based on the morphology of its:

A)ankle.
B)skull.
C)lower premolar tooth.
D)pelvis.

Question 40

During the Miocene epoch of the Cenozoic era,there was an adaptive radiation of which kind of primate?

A)prosimians
B)monkeys
C)apes
D)humans

Question 41

What is the most likely contender for the common ancestor of all later catarrhines?

A)Oligopithecus
B)Aegyptopithecus
C)Parapithecus
D)Apidium

Question 42

Why is the Fayum depression in Egypt such an important site for understanding the origin and diversification of anthropoid primates?

Question 43

Discuss the evolution of primates beginning with the Paleocene proprimates.In your answer,consider the effect of climate change on the environment and primates' environmental adaptations.

Question 44

The North American fossil primates are not likely direct ancestors of South American fossil primates known from about 36 mya. What aspects of Eocene and later geography support this idea?

A)North and South America were separated by large,virtually impassable mountains.
B)North America,South America,and Africa were all separated by the sea,but Antarctica could have provided a route from Africa to South America.
C)At the time,North America was connected to Africa,not South America.
D)North America and South America were connected,but the land between them was too dry for primates to live in or migrate across.

Question 45

Discuss the selective pressures operating in the late Miocene,Pliocene,and Pleistocene that favored an adaptive radiation of monkeys and contributed to decreased diversity among apes.

Question 46

There are both early African and early Asian candidates representing the origin of Anthropoids.Why haven't anthropologists conclusively determined which of these continents is where anthropoids originated?

A)Although the African fossil primate Biretia is older than the Asian fossil primate Eosimas,Biretia's features are less clearly anthropoid in nature.
B)The dating of both the African fossil primate Biretia and the Asian fossil primate Eosimas is so uncertain that they could easily reverse in age with more research.
C)The fossil primate record of Asia and Africa during the Eocene is so murky that discovery of new fossils that will rewrite early anthropoid history is very likely.
D)Because of the rapidity of evolutionary change,it will be impossible to sort out the evolution of anatomical differences among early fossil primates.

Question 47

What might be the cause of the shift from the Miocene,which had greater diversity of ape species and fewer monkey species,to a living assemblage with greater diversity of monkey species and fewer ape species?

A)global climate changes that resulted in cooler,wetter environments less optimal for ape species
B)differences in ability to exploit the habitats that resulted after a change in global climate
C)cooler climates,where it is more difficult to preserve larger ape fossils
D)declines in ape diversity,caused by competition from hominin species

Question 48

Why is the early primate Branisella very likely to be an ancestor to living platyrrhines?

A)Both are found in South America.
B)They have similar incisors,eye orbits,and a flat face.
C)They have similar dental formulae and upper molar morphology.
D)Both are known to have prehensile tails.

Question 49

Name and briefly describe the three hypotheses of primate origins.