Deck 5: The Primates

Question 1

The great apes include

A)baboons, gibbons, and chimpanzees.
B)gorillas, gibbons, and chimpanzees.
C)gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans.
D)macaques, baboons, and gibbons.
E)orangutans, siamangs, and gorillas.

Answer 1

gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans.

Question 2

__________ indicate(s) a shift from smell to sight as the primates' most important means of obtaining information.

A)Bipedalism
B)Meat-eating
C)Larger females
D)Fingernails
E)Stereoscopic vision

Answer 2

Stereoscopic vision

Question 3

A __________ is not a hominoid.

A)gibbon
B)lemur
C)human
D)orangutan
E)siamang

Answer 3

lemur

Question 4

_________ is used as a basis for assigning organisms to the same taxon.

A)Anthropometrics
B)Homologies
C)Similarities that evolved as a result of adaptation to similar selective forces
D)Analogies
E)All phenotypic similarities

Question 5

___________ is an example of an analogy.

A)The mammary glands of dogs and cats
B)Similarities in chromosomal DNA between apes and humans
C)Five-digited hands and feet among baboons and macaques
D)Porpoise fins and fish fins
E)Bony eye sockets in chimps and gorillas

Question 6

Prehensile (grasping) tails are characteristic traits of

A)Old World monkeys.
B)New World monkeys.
C)pongids.
D)prosimians.
E)tarsiers.

Question 7

The statement, ____________, best describes terrestrial monkeys.

A)"they are smaller than arboreal monkeys"
B)"they have prehensile tails"
C)"they do not have tails"
D)"they have more sexual dimorphism than arboreal monkeys"
E)"the core social group is made up of males"

Question 8

__________ do not have tails.

A)New World monkeys
B)Monkeys
C)Apes
D)Lemurs
E)Tarsiers

Question 9

__________ is not an adaptive trend in anthropoids.

A)Stereoscopic vision
B)Enhanced sense of touch
C)Grasping hands and feet
D)Decreased sociality
E)Increased brain complexity

Question 10

Ancient anthropoids began to have fewer offspring that required longer and more attentive care, which selected for

A)pair bonding.
B)a greater capacity for brachiation.
C)a diet focused on nuts and tubers.
D)increased reliance on arboreality (life in trees), which protected offspring from predators.
E)support from a social group.

Question 11

Of the following nonhuman primates, __________ are most comparable to humans.

A)lemurs
B)prosimians
C)New World monkeys
D)terrestrial primates
E)arboreal primates

Question 12

The classification of organisms based on their relationships and resemblances is known as

A)taxonomy.
B)primatology.
C)chronology.
D)homology.
E)analogy.

Question 13

Lemurs live primarily in

A)Madagascar.
B)Indonesia.
C)Europe.
D)Japan.
E)Central America.

Question 14

The prosimians include

A)lemurs, gibbons, and siamangs.
B)Old and New World monkeys.
C)lemurs and Old World monkeys.
D)lemurs, tarsiers, and lorises.
E)the lesser apes.

Question 15

The largest (known) primate that ever lived is

A)Giganto erectus.
B)Toumai.
C)Gigantopithecus.
D)Orrorin tugenensis.
E)the gorilla.

Question 16

The statement, __________, best describes the situation of orangutans in Indonesian Borneo.

A)"their numbers are increasing since widespread conservation efforts started in the 1980s"
B)"their numbers are drastically declining because of logging, oil exploration and subsistence farming"
C)"their primary threat is being hunted due to interference with agricultural crops"
D)"their native habitat is savannah, so their numbers are decreasing after they were transported to forested Indonesian Borneo"
E)"due to the ease of studying them, since they are large, many research projects have centered around them since the 1980s"

Question 17

Apes have longer arms than legs, which is adaptive for

A)brachiation.
B)knuckle walking.
C)foraging.
D)grooming.
E)physical defense.

Question 18

__________ is the greatest threat to endangered primates.

A)Uniformitarianism
B)Directional selection
C)Intragroup predation
D)Mutations
E)Deforestation

Question 19

A(n) ___________ is a trait that organisms have inherited from a common ancestor.

A)analogy
B)homology
C)phenotype
D)allele
E)meiosis

Question 20

__________ is shared by all anthropoids.

A)The ability to knuckle-walk and carry tools
B)Bipedalism and birth of a single offspring
C)Prehensile tails
D)A decrease in size of canines and an increase in size of molars
E)A dry nose separate from the upper lip

Question 21

The first hominoids fossils are from the

A)Oligocene.
B)Miocene.
C)Pliocene.
D)Pleistocene.
E)Holocene.

Question 22

The earliest primates represented in the fossil record were similar to New World monkeys.

Question 23

Identify the general trends in hominoid evolution during the Miocene.List the important hominoid traits that appeared during this epoch.

Question 24

The statement, ____________, is not true.

A)"bonobos are considerably smaller than common chimpanzees"
B)"bonobos live in forested areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo"
C)"bonobos live in female-centered groups"
D)"bonobos are notable for the frequency with which they have sex".
E)"bonobos use sexual activity to avoid conflict".

Question 25

The __________ of Old World monkeys appears beginning in Oligocene primates.

A)forward-facing eyes
B)prehensile tails
C)2:1:2:3 dental pattern
D)larger brain-to-body size ratio
E)opposable thumbs

Question 26

The primate group ___________ thrived in the Eocene.

A)apes
B)Old World monkeys
C)New World monkeys
D)humans
E)prosimians

Question 27

Discuss the major trends in primate evolution.Identify some traits that are most characteristic of primates.Explore whether anthropoids and the prosimians differ in terms of adaptive trends.

Question 28

Opposable thumbs evolved as early primates adapted to terrestrial life.

Question 29

Discuss the various forces that are endangering primates around the world.List specific steps that could protect primate species.

Question 30

The catarrhines include Old World monkeys, apes, and humans.

Question 31

Analogies are similarities that are shared by organisms belonging to the same genus.

Question 32

The only primates that are not endangered, or soon to be endangered, are

A)orangutans.
B)chimpanzees.
C)gorillas.
D)humans.
E)No primate species are currently endangered.

Question 33

Anthropologists most interested in the __________ era.

A)Mesozoic
B)Cenozoic
C)Paleozoic
D)Archaean
E)Protoerozoic

Question 34

The Pierolapithecus catalaunicus is

A)the first bipedal hominin.
B)the first primate of the Paleocene.
C)a possible Oligocene common ancestor of New and Old World monkeys.
D)a possible Miocene common ancestor of humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans.
E)the first arboreal primate.
Essay Questions

Question 35

A high level of parental investment characterize primates because most primates give birth to a single offspring.

Question 36

____________ coexisted with Homo erectus in Asia.

A)Afropithecus
B)Kenyapithecus
C)Gigantopithecus
D)Sivapithecus
E)Dryopithecus

Question 37

List the similarities and differences among the five types of apes.Include such traits as locomotion, social organization, and sexual dimorphism.

Question 38

Define and give examples of homology and analogy.Identify whether homology or analogy is important for taxonomy and why.

Question 39

Homologies are similarities between two species that were inherited from a common ancestor.

Question 40

List the epochs in the Tertiary period of the Cenozoic era.Describe the important aspects of primate evolution that occurred in each of the first four epochs.

Question 41

Anthropoids became the most numerous primates during the Oligocene epoch.

Question 42

Prosimians are primarily nocturnal, while most anthropoids are diurnal.

Question 43

Learning, adaptive flexibility, and tool use are traits found only in the platyrrhines.

Question 44

Sexual dimorphism tends to be more pronounced in terrestrial primate species.

Question 45

A primary trend in primate evolution involves a shift from sight to smell as the most important means of obtaining information.

Question 46

Orangutans are found mostly in Madagascar.

Question 47

U.S.Congress authorized the Great Apes Conservation Fund, which can help preserve the diversity of apes in the wild.

Question 48

Overlapping fields of vision improve depth perception.

Question 49

As a result of conservation efforts, few primate species are endangered today.

Question 50

Gorillas typically live in social groups, each headed by a silverback male.

Question 51

Proconsul had apelike teeth and an apelike body.

Question 52

Chimpanzee social networks involve complex dominance relationships.

Question 53

According to the arboreal theory, primates became primates by adapting to life on the savannah.

Question 54

The earliest primates were exclusively carnivorous (meat-eating).