Human Evolution
Exam Solutions
Course Introduction
This course explores the biological and cultural development of humans, tracing our origins from early primate ancestors to modern Homo sapiens. Students will examine key fossil discoveries, genetic evidence, and archaeological findings to understand the processes of natural selection, adaptation, and migration that have shaped human diversity. Topics include comparative primate anatomy, hominid evolution, the development of language and technology, and the ongoing impact of evolutionary theory on our understanding of what it means to be human.
Recommended Textbook
Essentials of Physical Anthropology Discovering Our Origins 2nd Edition by Clark Spencer Larsen
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13 Chapters
678 Verified Questions
678 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: What Is Physical Anthropology?
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Q1) What is anthropology? What are the four branches of anthropology?
Answer: Anthropology is the study of humankind.Viewing humans as both biological and cultural beings, anthropology emphasizes a holistic, comparative approach that encompasses all people at all times and in all places.The four branches of anthropology are cultural anthropology, the study of living cultures; archaeology, the study of past cultures; linguistic anthropology, the study of language; and physical anthropology, the study of human biology and evolution.
Q2) Physical anthropology
A)is a social science.
B)considers environment and biology insignificant in the study of human cultures.
C)is a biological science.
D)both a and c.
Answer: D
Q3) Physical anthropology as a discipline is concerned with A)skeletal pathology.
B)primate behavior.
C)fossilized human remains.
D)all of the above.
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: Evolution: Constructing a Fundamental Scientific Theory
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the only source of new genetic material?
A)genetic drift
B)gene flow
C)evolution
D)mutation
Answer: D
Q2) The scientist whose work provided the foundation for later understandings of genetics was
A)John Ray.
B)Gregor Mendel.
C)Charles Darwin.
D)Robert Hook.
Answer: B
Q3) By the mid-twentieth century, the causes of evolution were seen as all of the following except
A)natural selection.
B)macromutation.
C)gene flow.
D)genetic drift.
Answer: B
Page 4
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Chapter 3: Genetics: Reproducing Life and Producing
Variation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Transcription
A)occurs in the nucleus.
B)occurs in the ribosome.
C)results in the production of proteins.
D)results in the transformation of mitochondria.
Answer: A
Q2) In mammals, the male parent's gametes determine the sex of his offspring because
A)the X chromosome originates only from females.
B)sperm are more powerful than eggs.
C)the Y chromosome is present in males only.
D)the X chromosome determines sex.
Answer: C
Q3) Which of the following is an inherited disorder of the regulatory genes that control connective tissue leading to long, thin extremities?
A)Kleinfelter's syndrome
B)Marfan syndrome
C)Edward's syndrome
D)Down syndrome
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Genes and Their Evolution: Population Genetics
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Sample Questions
Q1) The evolution of the modern horse with a single hoof on each limb from a dog-sized ancestor with multiple digits is an example of A)macroevolution.
B)stabilizing selection.
C)disruptive selection.
D)microevolution.
Q2) Why is a frameshift mutation far more likely to lead to a defective protein compared with a point mutation?
Q3) A point mutation that does not result in a change to the amino acid coded for is said to be a
A)spontaneous mutation.
B)synonymous mutation.
C)selective mutation.
D)stabilizing mutation.
Q4) Explain how the founder effect can lead to a descendant population that differs greatly from its parent population over a relatively short period of time.
Q5) Why is the peppered moth an excellent example of directional selection?
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6
Chapter 5: Biology in the Present: Living People
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Q1) Discuss how adaptations to local environments have likely influenced the evolution of skin color in different geographic regions of the world.
Q2) Research has shown that human growth and development
A)start off with a blueprint from an individual's DNA.
B)are strongly influenced by the environment.
C)are exactly the same as other primates.
D)both a and b
Q3) While reading an ethnography of women living in a rural African community, you notice that women in this community have a significantly greater workload than men.The data shows that women spend more time clearing and planting fields than men of an equivalent age.What influence will this have on the overall population?
A)The population size will rapidly increase because women show greater fitness.
B)The population may remain the same or decrease due to lowered birth rate of women.
C)The population will remain the same because gendered difference in workload has no relationship to fluctuations in population size.
D)The population will only increase if the workload of women remains the same.
Q4) Is race a valid, biologically meaningful concept? Why or why not?
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Chapter 6: Biology in the Present: The Other Living Primates
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Q1) Compare and contrast both the anatomy and the special senses of prosimians and anthropoids.
Q2) ________ is a fist-like grip in which the fingers and thumbs wrap around an object in opposite directions.
A)Hammer grip
B)Knitting grip
C)Power grip
D)Precision grip
Q3) Baboons
A)have highly dexterous fingers.
B)live in habitats similar to early hominids.
C)may give anthropologists a glimpse into early human behavior.
D)all of the above.
Q4) Discuss anatomical characteristics that relate to primates' arboreal adaptation.
Q5) Which of the following were identified by Sir William le Gros Clark as tendencies of primates?
A)the presence of arboreal adaptations
B)increased parental investment
C)the presence of dietary plasticity
D)all of the above
8
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Chapter 7: Primate Sociality, Social Behavior, and Culture
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Q1) Primate vocalizations
A)can serve as subtle social cues to mediate group and individual behavior.
B)are innate utterances produced in response to external stimuli.
C)cannot be "translated" or found to produce meaning to individuals within the group.
D)are only understood by the offspring of the individual producing the vocalization.
Q2) The higher the rank of a female primate, the
A)lower her access to resources and the lower the survival rate of her offspring.
B)lower her access to resources and the greater the survival rate of her offspring.
C)greater her access to resources, which results in lower birth rates.
D)greater her access to resources, which results in higher birth rates.
Q3) All-male groups of nonhuman primates
A)are often polyandrous, before females join other existing groups.
B)often exist together with multimale, multifemale groups.
C)are often temporary, before males form their own groups.
D)both b and c
Q4) Why are primates social?
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Fossils and Their Place in Time and Nature
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Q1) How might living organisms' evolution have been affected by the movement of landmasses over time (plate tectonics)?
Q2) Which of the following has the greatest likelihood of becoming fossilized?
A)muscle tissue
B)teeth
C)skin
D)vertebrae
Q3) The chart that shows the different time periods in Earth's history and also indicates significant evolutionary events is called the
A)temporal display.
B)geologic time scale.
C)paleochart.
D)virtual time machine.
Q4) Which U.S.president reported the discovery of a fossilized ground sloth in Virginia to the American Philosophical Society?
A)George Washington
B)James Madison
C)Thomas Jefferson
D)John Adams
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Chapter 9: Primate Origins and Evolution: the First 50 Million Years
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Q1) Which of the following is not one of the main hypotheses to explain primate origins?
A)arboreal hypothesis
B)angiosperm radiation hypothesis
C)aquatic ape hypothesis
D)visual predation hypothesis
Q2) The most distinctive feature of ape dentition, which clearly distinguishes apes from Old World monkeys, is
A)a 2/1/2/3 dental formula.
B)a long canine tooth in males.
C)a Y-5 molar pattern.
D)bilophodont molars.
Q3) If you are digging in a 20-million-year-old fossil site in eastern Africa, which primate are you most likely to come across?
A)Proconsul
B)Oligopithecus
C)Theropithecus
D)Khoratpithecus
Q4) Name and briefly describe the three main models, or hypotheses, of primate origins.
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Early Hominid Origins and Evolution: the Roots of Humanity
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Q1) 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.
Q2) 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
Q3) 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.
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Chapter 11: The Origins and Evolution of Early Homo
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Q1) ________ has been proposed as a likely ancestor for Homo habilis.
A)Australopithecus robustus
B)Australopithecus garhi
C)Australopithecus boisei
D)Australopithecus africanus
Q2) Relative to earlier hominids, later Homo erectus from 500,000 yBP had
A)a smaller brain.
B)larger teeth.
C)a bigger sagittal keel.
D)a larger brain.
Q3) The many stone tools, fragmentary animal bones, and teeth found at Gran Dolina, Spain, indicate that hominids there
A)processed and consumed animals and other hominids.
B)did not differ appreciably from earlier Asian Homo erectus.
C)were similar to later Homo sapiens.
D)none of the above.
Q4) Describe Homo erectus's cranial and postcranial anatomical characteristics.How is this species significantly different from earlier hominids?
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Page 13
Chapter 12: The Origins, Evolution, and Dispersal of Modern People
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Q1) The earliest well-dated remains of a modern-looking human in East Asia comes in the form of a 41,000-year-old partial skeleton from A)Tianyuan Cave, China.
B)Zhoukoudian, China.
C)Ngandong, Java.
D)Liang Bua, Flores.
Q2) The modern human site of Skhul 5 and the Neandertal sites of Amud and Kebara are located in the same region in Asia.Based on the age estimates of these sites, scientists suggest that
A)Neandertals predate modern humans in the region.
B)modern humans predate Neandertals in the region.
C)Neandertals and modern humans existed contemporaneously in the region.
D)Neandertals and modern humans are the same species.
Q3) Shovel-shaped incisors are one of the most distinctive features of people from A)East Asia and the Americas.
B)South Africa.
C)Australia.
D)India.
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