Question 1

A hearth is discovered with bone fragments in it.What method might be used to date the bone?

Accepted Answer

A)  dendrochronology
B)  electron spin resonance
C)  fission track
D)  amino acid method D

Question 2

Why is punctuated equilibrium an important addition to natural selection?

Accepted Answer

Niles Eldridge and Stephen Jay Gould noted changes in species, like trilobites, that occurred rapidly.This they called punctuated equilibrium, or rapid change within long static periods, distinguishing it from gradual change (as in natural selection).

Question 3

An index fossil is:

Accepted Answer

A)  a fossil found in a particular site.
B)  the ideal specimen of that species to which all later descriptions must refer.
C)  a fossil used to categorize a stratigraphic layer.
D)  the type specimen of a species. C

Question 4

Coinciding with the appearance of early hominins about 5-10 mya, the climate was:

Accepted Answer

A)  increasingly wet and rainy.
B)  increasingly hot and humid.
C)  increasingly dry and seasonal.
D)  less temperate.

Question 5

Which era saw the proliferation of mammals?

Accepted Answer

A)  Holocene
B)  Cenozoic
C)  Jurassic
D)  Mesozoic

Question 6

Cultural dating can be used to date:

Accepted Answer

A)  ceramics.
B)  bones and teeth.
C)  shells.
D)  trilobite evolution.

Question 7

The three eras that make up Earth history are:

Accepted Answer

A)  strata, stratigraphy, and striations.
B)  Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene.
C)  Early, Middle, and Upper Miocene.
D)  Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic.

Question 8

Stratigraphic correlation is:

Accepted Answer

A)  matching strata by chemical composition and color from several sites across distances.
B)  correlating stratigraphic markers in one location.
C)  matching stratigraphy from known sites only.
D)  dating through the use of a chronometric method.

Question 9

Based on the molecular clock, geneticists believe the split between chimps and hominins occurred _______ mya.

Accepted Answer

A)  10-12
B)  8-10
C)  6-8
D)  4-6

Question 10

What is the basic difference between relative and absolute dating?

Accepted Answer

A)  the use of species
B)  the use of bones and teeth
C)  the use of years to express the age
D)  the use of wood

Question 11

Paleontologists find a fossil ape with long arms.What type of environment can they infer it inhabited?

Accepted Answer

A)  savanna
B)  woodland
C)  grassland
D)  swamp

Question 12

A mummy is discovered whose tomb includes cloth, food, and other organic remains.What dating method would most likely be used to date the tomb?

Accepted Answer

A)  biostratigraphy
B)  carbon 14
C)  dendrochronology
D)  electron spin resonance

Question 13

If fossil species A is consistently recovered from geological deposits beneath layers containing fossil species B, then A is considered older than B.This relative dating technique is based on the principle of:

Accepted Answer

A)  superposition.
B)  paleomagnetism.
C)  fluorine analysis.
D)  geolayering.

Question 14

A wooden tomb is discovered with a well-preserved mummy inside.Which of the following methods could be used to date the tomb most accurately?

Accepted Answer

A)  superposition
B)  electron spin resonance
C)  thermoluminescence
D)  dendrochronology

Question 15

A stratigraphic layer in one location overwhelmingly represents one species, while the same species is discovered in a similar stratigraphic layer hundreds of kilometers away.What method is used to provide an estimate of age for this layer and this species?

Accepted Answer

A)  biostratigraphy
B)  dendrochronology
C)  Steno's law of superposition
D)  carbon 14 dating

Question 16

At a site in the American Southwest, you find only a single ceramic pot in association with an individual within a burial.You can use the pot to date the burial based on:

Accepted Answer

A)  biostratigraphic dating, because there may be animal remains inside the pot.
B)  cultural dating, since the pot must be specific to a known culture and time period.
C)  radiopotassium dating of the material used to make the pot.
D)  fission track dating of the pot itself.

Question 17

Paleosols and fauna in the Middle Awash Valley of Ethiopia show that the earliest hominins lived in _______ settings.

Accepted Answer

A)  wooded
B)  unwooded grassland
C)  marshy
D)  desert

Question 18

Igneous rock can be dated with which of the following methods?

Accepted Answer

A)  radiopotassium dating
B)  dendrochronology
C)  radiocarbon dating
D)  fluorine dating

Question 19

The earth's age is _______ years.

Accepted Answer

A)  4.6 billion
B)  3.4 billion
C)  6,000
D)  12 billion

Question 20

The study of fossils is called:

Accepted Answer

A)  phylogeny.
B)  biology.
C)  chronometry.
D)  paleontology.

Exam 8: Fossils and Their Place in Time and Nature