Evolutionary Anthropology Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Evolutionary Anthropology is the study of the origins and development of human beings from a biological and cultural perspective, exploring how evolutionary processes have shaped human anatomy, behavior, and societies over time. This course examines the fossil record of ancient hominins, analyzes the genetic and environmental factors influencing evolution, and discusses primate behavior as a key comparative framework. Students will investigate topics such as natural selection, adaptation, human diversity, and the emergence of culture, gaining insights into the intertwined biological and cultural pathways that have led to the diversity of modern humans.
Recommended Textbook
How Humans Evolved 7th Edition by Robert Boyd
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Adaptation by Natural Selection
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Sample Questions
Q1) Convergent evolution provides evidence that complex adaptations are not a matter of mere coincidence because
A) evolution always occurs in very different ways.
B) the same process of evolution can occur independently in unrelated species.
C) the process of evolution is biologically determined and not flexible.
D) no two species ever end up with similar traits.
Answer: B
Q2) How does natural selection produce complex, functionally integrated adaptations like the human eye?
Answer: Natural selection produces complex, functionally integrated adaptations like the human eye through the accumulation of small changes. These changes need only be slight improvements over the previous variants. If selection is cumulative, then it takes only a limited number of steps for a complex adaptation to arise. The chapter discusses the limited number of steps that it takes for a simple, light-sensitive photo receptor to evolve into a functional eye. First, the depression where the photo receptor is located becomes deeper. This step allows for the perception of directionality. As the depression becomes deeper, directional perception is enhanced. Eventually, the organism can perceive images. The last step in the process is the addition of complex neural elaborations, a cover, and eventually, a lens.
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Genetics
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Sample Questions
Q1) When Mendel crossed true-breeding plants bearing yellow seeds with true-breeding plants bearing green seeds, what was the phenotypic ratio among the offspring?
A) All aa individuals
B) All AA individuals
C) Half yellow and half green individuals
D) All yellow individuals
Answer: D
Q2) Crossing over
A) can occur between loci on nonhomologous chromosomes.
B) can occur between alleles on the same chromosome.
C) increases genetic variation.
D) decreases genetic variation.
Answer: C
Q3) An individual with two identical alleles at a locus is
A) an independent phenotype.
B) a homozygote.
C) a heterozygote.
D) dominant.
Answer: B
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Page 4
Chapter 3: The Modern Synthesis
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Q1) Low rates of mutation can maintain variation in a population because many different genotypes generate intermediate phenotypes that are favored by ________ selection.
A) stabilizing
B) disruptive
C) directional
D) All of the above.
Answer: A
Q2) Mutation can maintain variation because
A) every mutation results in adaptation.
B) directional selection is constantly working.
C) a considerable amount of variation is protected from selection.
D) the rates of mutation are very high.
Answer: C
Q3) Sexual reproduction by itself
A) can change allelic frequencies.
B) can cause evolutionary change.
C) can change genotypic frequencies.
D) both b and
Answer: C
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Speciation and Phylogeny
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Q1) What is the biological species concept? Under what circumstances is this concept difficult to apply?
Q2) A phylogeny
A) reflects developmental stages.
B) can only be used for closely related species.
C) reflects the evolutionary history of living species.
D) does not help us understand evolutionary events.
Q3) Analogous characters are similar because of A) similar DNA.
B) similar selection pressures acting on unrelated species.
C) common ancestry.
D) similar mutations.
Q4) Compare and contrast cladistic and evolutionary systematics. Illustrate your answer by discussing the phylogeny of apes and humans.
Q5) Microevolution is
A) the formation of new species.
B) the extinction of a species.
C) evolutionary change within a species.
D) the death of individuals.
Q6) Explain the difference between ancestral and derived characters.
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Primate Diversity and Ecology
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Q1) Imagine you discover a new species of primate. It has a large body size (about 35 lbs.), is sexually dimorphic, appears to spend much of its time in the trees, lives in dense tropical forest, and has longer arms than legs. Based on this information only, what can you hypothesize about this new species' behavior and ecology?
Q2) The diversity seen in behavior among closely related species is most likely due to ecological pressures. Similar behaviors seen in distantly related species is likely due to convergence. Which of the following research methods utilizes these concepts as its foundation?
A) Comparative
B) Blind
C) Double blind
D) Observation
Q3) During reproduction a female's energetic costs
A) increase, especially during the first half of pregnancy.
B) increase, especially during the second half of pregnancy.
C) increase, particularly during lactation.
D) decrease after she gives birth.
Q4) Explain how reasoning from homology and reasoning from analogy can help us to understand our own species better.
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Chapter 6: Primate Mating Systems
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Q1) Large body sizes that require more energy and weaponry that can cause severe injury demonstrate that
A) sexual selection is stronger than natural selection.
B) natural selection is stronger than sexual selection.
C) male reproductive success varies less than female reproductive success.
D) intersexual selection is strong in primates.
Q2) Primate females always invest in their young because
A) primate males do not have the appropriate neurological foundation.
B) they are committed to parental investment by their physiology.
C) they produce large, nutrient-rich gametes.
D) parenting effort is equal to mating effort.
Q3) Which of the following characteristics would you expect to find in a species in which there is extreme competition among males for access to females?
A) Drab pelage
B) Equal body size
C) Small canine teeth
D) Specialized weaponry
Q4) Explain why it is important that we study and understand reproductive strategies of animals, and primates specifically.
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Chapter 7: The Evolution of Cooperation
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Q1) In most promiscuously mating primate species that live in multimale, multifemale groups, mothers share 50% of their genes with their offspring. Different offspring of the same female are likely to share what percentage of their genes with each other?
A) 0%
B) 25%
C) 50%
D) 100%
Q2) In a study done with vervets, researchers found that
A) genetic relatedness is necessary for contingent reciprocity to occur.
B) they responded to recruitment calls from other monkeys after receiving grooming bouts from them.
C) contingent reciprocity can evolve as confederates react appropriately to the presence and absence of reciprocity.
D) agemates were more likely to be reciprocal.
Q3) By definition, altruistic behaviors
A) incur a cost to the recipient.
B) incur a cost to the actor.
C) result in a benefit to the actor.
D) are beneficial to the recipient and the actor.
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Primate Life Histories and the Evolution of Intelligence
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Sample Questions
Q1) An example of associative learning is
A) watching the behavior of parents.
B) imprinting.
C) memory of past events.
D) understanding cause and effect.
Q2) The extent to which selection favors a strategy in which an animal makes an investment is determined by A) senescence.
B) the cost of the investment alone.
C) the benefit derived from the investment alone.
D) the net benefit (benefit minus cost) of the strategy.
Q3) The behavior of the great apes
A) fits the social intelligence hypothesis very well.
B) includes tool use and foraging on foods that are difficult to process.
C) requires living in large groups.
D) is more socially complex than monkeys.
Q4) Explain why coalitional behavior may require sophisticated cognitive abilities.
Q5) Explain the conflict over great ape cognitive abilities. Given the evidence, what do you think about great ape versus monkey cognitive abilities?
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Chapter 9: From Tree Shrew to Ape
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Q1) ________ dating determines an accurate age of single rock crystals.
A) Carbon-14
B) Thermoluminescence
C) Electron-spin-resonance
D) Argon-argon
Q2) Why is continental drift important to our understanding of primate evolution?
A) It can facilitate speciation.
B) It can cause random changes in gene frequencies.
C) It produces adaptations.
D) It increases mutations.
Q3) ________ is based on an effect of high-energy nuclear particles traveling through rock.
A) Radioactive decay
B) Electron-spin-resonance
C) Thermoluminescence
D) Carbon-14
Q4) Why did the radiation of hominoids come to an end?
Q5) What is the difference between relative and absolute dating?
Q6) Why is it important to consider continental drift when studying primate evolution?
11
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Chapter 10: From Hominoid to Hominin
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Q1) Australopithecus africanus matured
A) more slowly than modern humans.
B) at about the same rate as modern humans.
C) more quickly than modern humans.
D) at variable rates, depending on geographic location.
Q2) The distribution of cortical bone in the femur
A) is diagnostic of locomotor patterns.
B) can be used to estimate body weight.
C) cannot be measured in fossils.
D) tells you how strong a species was.
Q3) Australopithecus africanus's maturation rate was determined by
A) the cranial suture closure.
B) the long bone suture closure.
C) relative tooth eruption.
D) relative nail growth.
Q4) Compare and contrast the characteristics of Sahelanthropus, Orrorin, and Ardipithecus. What kinds of environments did they live in? How did the environment shape the evolution of their morphology?
Q5) Discuss three hypotheses concerning the evolution of bipedalism.
Q6) What is the anatomical evidence that early australopithecines were bipedal?
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Oldowan Toolmakers and the Origin of Human
Life History
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Q1) Oldowan flakes
A) may have been made to make other tools that were then used to extract resources.
B) were primarily the waste product from making the "cores."
C) were used to dig up tubers.
D) were used to crack open bones to extract marrow.
Q2) Scientists have established that Oldowan flakes were
A) useful for a wide range of functions, including butchering animals.
B) primarily a waste product of making Oldowan tools.
C) primarily used for hunting large game like elephants.
D) accidental byproducts of using round cobbles for various purposes.
Q3) Which of the following statements about food acquisition is NOT true?
A) Contemporary human foragers sometimes share meat.
B) Chimpanzees spend most of their time feeding on extracted and hunted foods.
C) Evidence suggests that the Oldowan hominins were neither hunters nor scavengers.
D) Juveniles in contemporary human foraging groups are responsible for finding their own food each day.
Q4) Were early hominins hunters or scavengers? Explain your answer.
Q5) What is the evidence that early hominins ate meat?
Page 13
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Chapter 12: From Hominin to Homo
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Sample Questions
Q1) Average Homo ergaster brain size was
A) 500 cc.
B) 800 cc.
C) 1,500 cc.
D) 2,000 cc.
Q2) Discuss the differences between Mode 1, 2, and 3 stone tool technologies.
Q3) Derived features of Homo heidelbergensis include
A) a larger brain.
B) a prominent occipital bun.
C) a flat back of the skull.
D) a chin.
Q4) Homo ergaster lived in diverse areas of Africa before extending their range into Eurasia. What does this tell you about this species? What anatomical and behavioral characteristics may have aided the migration of Homo ergaster?
Q5) Evidence suggests that Homo heidelbergensis
A) hunted large game such as woolly rhinoceros.
B) did not hunt large game.
C) scavenged only small prey.
D) was vegetarian.
Q6) Why do anatomists think that Homo ergaster did not have spoken language?
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Homo sapiens and the Evolution of Modern
Human Behavior
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Q1) If there was a human revolution, it may have been caused by a A) cognitive adaptation such as a mutation that allowed fully modern speech.
B) population of modern humans from Africa replacing Eurasian ones.
C) hybridization of modern humans with Eurasian humans.
D) period of climate stability.
Q2) Imagine you are a paleoanthropologist. You have found a fossil that dates to 150 kya in Africa and it has a chin. How would you classify this specimen?
A) Homo ergaster
B) Homo heidelbergensis
C) Homo neanderthalensis
D) Homo sapiens
Q3) The viewpoint that modern humans evolved in Africa proposes that
A) all modern humans evolved in Europe or the Near East.
B) Neanderthals became extinct.
C) Asian Homo erectus evolved into anatomically modern Asians.
D) Neanderthals evolved into modern humans.
Q4) How does the archaeological evidence support the hypothesis that modern humans arose in Africa?
Q5) What are the two main theories about the origin of modern humans?
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Chapter 14: Human Genetic Variation
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Q1) You have sampled height from two populations: the Maasai of East Africa and the Inuits of Alaska. You have determined that there is a significant difference in height between these two populations, with Inuits being of shorter height than the Maasai. Is this variation that you observe due solely to genetics? Why or why not?
Q2) Deleterious alleles (lethal recessives) can remain at low frequencies in populations because
A) mutation can alter the allele to decrease its lethality.
B) most individuals who carry the gene are heterozygous and do not suffer consequences of having two copies of the gene.
C) heterozygotes most often pass on the dominant allele.
D) many, but not all, homozygous recessive individuals die.
Q3) Why are there many lethal recessives found at low frequencies in human populations?
Q4) Classifying humans into races is not possible because A) genetic variation is continuous.
B) the placement of individuals within any single category is clear and obvious.
C) classifications based on different characters lead to consistent groupings.
D) race is not culturally relevant.
Q5) How are modern humans genetically different from the chimpanzee?
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Chapter 15: Evolution and Human Behavior
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Q1) The way genes are expressed-phenotypes-is influenced by which of the following?
A) The genes of the parents
B) The local environment
C) The age of the organism
D) The culture
Q2) The logic of evolutionary psychology begins with the precept that
A) people are adapted to modern ways of life.
B) complex adaptations evolve quickly.
C) natural selection creates psychologies in animals in such a way as to solve specific adaptive problems.
D) humans evolved in stratified societies and high population density.
Q3) Why is evolutionary theory relevant to behavior even though behavior is sensitive to environmental conditions?
Q4) Discuss the effect of arranged marriages between minors in Taiwanese societies and whether those unions are more or less successful than more modern-style unions.
Q5) Explain the experimental evidence suggesting that our minds have been designed by natural selection specifically to solve social exchange problems.
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Chapter 16: Culture Cooperation and Human Uniqueness
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Sample Questions
Q1) Large-scale cooperation can be maintained through A) punishment of free-riders.
B) prosocial sentiments.
C) enforcement of moral normal by third parties.
D) All of the above.
Q2) Which of the following is a typical outcome of the dictator game?
A) Proposers allocate 20% to 30% of their endowments to the other player.
B) Proposers allocate 80% to 90% of their endowments to the other player.
C) Proposers refuse to allocate any of their endowments to the other player.
D) Proposers receive a 20% bonus for being generous.
Q3) Why can cultural inheritance lead to outcomes not predicted by evolutionary theory?
Q4) According to your text, humans owe much of their success to all the following EXCEPT
A) culture.
B) intelligence.
C) individuality.
D) cooperation.
Q5) How does culture differ between human and nonhuman primates? How is it similar?
Page 18
Q6) In what ways is human cooperation different from that of other mammal species?
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