Course Introduction
Biological Anthropology Review
Questions
Biological Anthropology explores the biological and evolutionary aspects of the human species, examining human origins, adaptation, and variation through both fossil records and genetic data. The course covers key topics such as human evolution, primatology, population genetics, and the interaction between biology and culture in shaping human diversity. Students will gain an understanding of how humans are similar to and different from other primates, the ways our species has adapted over time, and the ongoing processes that continue to shape human biology today.
Recommended Textbook
Our Origins Discovering Physical Anthropology 2nd Edition by Clark Spencer Larsen
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14 Chapters
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Page 2
Chapter 1: What Is Physical Anthropology
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Sample Questions
Q1) How are modern humans distinguished from their earliest ancestors?
A)their appearance 6 mya along with bipedalism
B)the presence of habitual bipedalism and adaptations for arboreal living
C)the use of tools
D)hunting,speech,and dependence on domesticated foods
Answer: D
Q2) The scientific method:
A)relies on making hunches about the natural world.
B)involves empirical data collection and hypothesis testing.
C)is used to support preconceived notions or theories.
D)seeks to establish the absolute scientific truth.
Answer: B
Q3) Bipedalism is considered one of the hallmarks of hominid evolution because:
A)it was the first evolutionary development that clearly distinguished us from other animals.
B)it was possible only after the advent of simple material culture.
C)it followed brain expansion in human evolution.
D)it allowed hominids to come out of the trees and make tools 10 mya.
Answer: A
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Evolution: Constructing a Fundamental Scientific Theory
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Q1) Why is the work of Alfred Russell Wallace considered when discussing the theory of evolution?
A)He was an English naturalist who had arrived at many of the same conclusions as Darwin.
B)His work is not considered as he was mistakenly credited with the theory of natural selection.
C)Because he was a British dog-breeder who worked on artificial selection experiments.
D)Wallace was well-known and gathering even more evidence to support evolution than Darwin.
Answer: A
Q2) Thomas Hunt Morgan:
A)demonstrated that chromosomes carry genetic material in the form of genes.
B)studied mutations in Homo sapiens.
C)thought change was gradual and occurred over long time periods.
D)none of the above
Answer: A
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Genetics: Reproducing Life and Producing
Variation
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Sample Questions
Q1) The expression of polygenic traits:
A)is never influenced by environmental factors.
B)is determined by genes at several loci in conjunction with environmental factors.
C)is determined solely by genes at two or more loci.
D)none of the above
Answer: B
Q2) Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)differs from ribonucleic acid (RNA)in that:
A)it was studied during Darwin's lifetime.
B)it is the "recipe" for all biological characteristics and functions.
C)it was discovered by Mendel.
D)it is stored in ribosomes.
Answer: B
Q3) The complete set of genes in an individual cell is called the genome.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: Genes and Their Evolution: Population Genetics
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Sample Questions
Q1) Malaria is caused by:
A)bites from infected mosquitoes.
B)a genetic mutation.
C)drinking bad water.
D)eating spoiled food.
Q2) Explain how the founder effect can lead to a descendent population that differs greatly from its parent population over a relatively short period of time.
Q3) Why is a frameshift mutation far more likely to lead to a defective protein compared with a point mutation?
Q4) The effects of gene flow have decreased from 10,000 years ago to the present.
A)True
B)False
Q5) An individual who displays the disease sickle-cell anemia must have inherited the deleterious allele from both phenotypically normal parents.This individual is therefore:
A)homozygous dominant.
B)homozygous recessive.
C)heterozygous.
D)haplozygous.
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Chapter 5: Biology in the Present: Living People
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Q1) Functional adaptations in humans during their lifetimes are usually associated with environmental conditions.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Ethnographic evidence from around the world shows that postmenopausal women do all of the following EXCEPT:
A)die young.
B)play important roles in provisioning grandchildren.
C)act as repositories of information about culture and society.
D)contribute to their daughters' reproductive success.
Q3) The average heights of European-American males in the United States fluctuated between 1710 and 1970 and:
A)were not affected by improvements in sanitation.
B)were positively affected by increasing population density.
C)were mostly influenced by shifts in immigrants' geographic origins.
D)were positively affected by access to medical care.
Q4) Is race a valid,biologically meaningful concept? Why or why not?
Q5) Discuss the significance of workload adaptation for skeletal function and maintenance of bone strength.
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Chapter 6: Biology in the Present: The Other Living Primates
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Q1) Anthropoids include:
A)monkeys,apes,and humans.
B)African and Asian apes.
C)tarsiers,monkeys,and apes.
D)lemurs,lorises,galagos,and tarsiers.
Q2) The Y-5 molar morphology is present in:
A)colobus monkeys.
B)chimpanzees.
C)lemurs.
D)howler monkeys.
Q3) The presence of a honing complex relates to: A)molar size.
B)canine size.
C)diet.
D)human reproduction.
Q4) The typical dental formulas of lorises and lemurs is:
A)2 / 1 / 3 / 3.
B)1 / 1 / 3 / 3.
C)2 / 1 / 3 / 2.
D)2 / 1 / 2 / 3.
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Chapter 7: Primate Sociality, social Behavior, and Culture
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Q1) Grooming,an affiliative or cooperative behavior,serves all of the following functions
EXCEPT:
A)removing insects or other foreign objects.
B)helping to cement social bonds between the individuals who are grooming.
C)preventing diseases from spreading within a social group.
D)maintaining the dominance hierarchies present within groups.
Q2) Polyandrous residence patterns:
A)represent a social grouping that includes multiple adult males and females.
B)are commonly observed in prosimians and Old World monkeys.
C)represent a social grouping in which males cooperate in parenting activities.
D)represent a social grouping that includes one male and multiple females.
Q3) The use of different natural objects to obtain food,similar to that observed in chimpanzees,has been observed in:
A)gibbons.
B)capuchin monkeys.
C)orangutans.
D)both B and C
Q4) Why are primates social?
Q5) Compare and contrast male and female primates in terms of reproductive strategies and competition.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Fossils and Their Place in Time and Nature
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Q1) In terms of geologic time,human beings are a very recent arrival on Earth.
A)True
B)False
Q2) How has the "molecular clock" aided paleontologists in testing theories about the timing of significant evolutionary events?
Q3) Phylogeny is important to the study of human evolution because:
A)in order to understand modern human anatomy and behavior we must understand our evolutionary relationships to other extinct and living organisms.
B)in order to account for changes in our species over time,we need to know what processes drove natural selection.
C)it allows us to study our closest living relative in order to better understand how natural selection acted in previous environments.
D)all of the above
Q4) The study of what happens to an organism's remains after death is:
A)archaeology.
B)cryptozoology.
C)biology.
D)taphonomy.
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Chapter 9: Primate Origins and Evolution: The First 50
Million Years
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Q1) The first primate fossil ever recorded was of Adapis parisiensis,described by Georges Cuvier in France in 1822.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The plesiadapiform genus that had an opposable big toe with a nail at the end and therefore may be ancestral to euprimates is:
A)Paromomys.
B)Ignacius.
C)Plesiadapis.
D)Carpolestes.
Q3) Which Eocene primate from China has recently been proposed as an extremely primitive,and tiny,anthropoid?
A)Eosimias
B)Khoratopithecus
C)Adapis
D)Notharctus
Q4) Why is the Fayum depression in Egypt such an important site for understanding the origin and diversification of anthropoid primates?
11
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Chapter 10: Early Hominid Origins and Evolution: The Roots of Humanity
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Q1) In addressing bipedalism's origin,Darwin focused on:
A)hunting.
B)females' ability to carry babies.
C)body temperature control (thermoregulation).
D)parasite reduction.
Q2) 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
Q3) 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?
Q4) 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.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: The Origins and Evolution of Early Homo
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Q1) Relative to Oldowan tools,Acheulean stone tools:
A)had a narrower range of functions.
B)used fewer raw materials.
C)were characterized by fewer tool types.
D)required more learning and skill to produce.
Q2) Eugène Dubois was unique among major evolutionists in the nineteenth century in that he sought to test hypotheses about early human ancestors with:
A)fossil evidence.
B)comparative anatomy.
C)genetics.
D)archaeological remains.
Q3) 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.
Q4) Discuss the fossil and archaeological evidence for the varying importance of scavenging and hunting among Homo habilis and Homo erectus.
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13
Chapter 12: The Origins,evolution,and Dispersal of Modern People
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Q1) Broken Hill,Dali,and Atapuerca are Old World sites that contain the remains of: A)Homo erectus.
B)modern Homo sapiens.
C)archaic Homo sapiens.
D)Neandertals.
Q2) Burial of the dead with elaborate grave goods is attributed to: A)Homo neanderthalensis.
B)Homo sapiens.
C)Homo erectus.
D)both A and B
Q3) Which modern human population exhibits the greatest genetic diversity today?
A)Native Americans
B)sub-Saharan Africans
C)Aboriginal Australians
D)East Asians
Q4) Stress markers in the teeth that reflect growth disruption due to poor diets or to poor health are called dental hypoplasias.
A)True
B)False
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Q1) Describe some of the ways that modern humans' faces,jaws,and teeth changed after the shift to agriculture and consumption of softer foods.
Q2) Stable carbon isotope analysis reveals that corn domestication became important in eastern North America about:
A)6,000 yBP.
B)4,000 yBP.
C)1,500 yBP.
D)AD 1000.
Q3) Interpersonal conflict during the Holocene is displayed on human skeletons in the form of:
A)cut marks on bones.
B)cranial depression fractures.
C)cranial puncture wounds.
D)all of the above
Q4) Evidence from China indicates that rice and grapes were fermented for wine as early as 8,000 yBP.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 14: Evolution: Today and Tomorrow
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Q1) According to the text,approximately what percentage of urban populations reside in slums without access to basic sanitation?
A)10%
B)75%
C)40%
D)25%
Q2) Reduction of biodiversity:
A)has few negative impacts for humans.
B)reduces our ability to produce food.
C)cannot be slowed.
D)all of the above
Q3) The nutrition transition refers to:
A)shifts to higher protein diets.
B)shifts to higher fat,higher carbohydrate diets.
C)shifts to lower fat,lower carbohydrate diets.
D)none of the above
Q4) Compare and contrast the causes and effects of global warming during the Eocene with those occurring today.
Q5) What are the most important forces shaping human biology today?
Q6) Are we still evolving? What will human biology look like in the future?
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