Course Introduction
Human Origins Practice Questions
Human Origins explores the biological and cultural evolution of the human species from our earliest ancestors to modern Homo sapiens. The course examines fossil evidence, archaeological findings, comparative primate studies, and genetic research to trace the development of bipedalism, language, complex tool use, social behaviors, and cognitive abilities. Students will analyze key discoveries and debates in paleoanthropology, gaining insights into how humans evolved in response to environmental pressures and what makes our species unique within the animal kingdom.
Recommended Textbook
Our Origins Discovering Physical Anthropology 2nd Edition by Clark Spencer Larsen
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14 Chapters
763 Verified Questions
763 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: What Is Physical Anthropology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Human beings depend on culture for survival.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) An online news story suggests a connection between a chemical dye found in foods and the development of mouth ulcers.As a budding young scientist,you refer to the journal in which the original research was published to see whether or not the research followed the scientific method.You are looking for which of the following four requirements?
A)design an experiment,state the hypothesis,collect data from a previous experiment,then test your hypothesis
B)determine problem,develop a hypothesis,collect data from observations,and test your hypothesis
C)identify the problem,create a theory,publish your findings,and finally test your hypothesis
D)both A and C
Answer: A
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Chapter 2: Evolution: Constructing a Fundamental Scientific Theory
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Sample Questions
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) Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA):
A)was studied during Darwin's lifetime.
B)is the "recipe" for all biological characteristics and functions.
C)was discovered by Mendel.
D)is stored in the cells as ribosomes.
Answer: B
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Chapter 3: Genetics: Reproducing Life and Producing
Variation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Marfan's syndrome is an inherited disorder of the regulatory genes that control connective tissue.The disorder leads to long,thin extremities.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) The presence of a recessive allele:
A)can always be determined from the phenotype.
B)is usually masked in the phenotype.
C)is expressed in the phenotype alongside a dominant allele.
D)none of the above
Answer: B
Q3) Transfer RNA:
A)seeks complementary triplet strands of mRNA codons.
B)contains codons that correspond to specific amino acids.
C)brings amino acids together to form polypeptide chains.
D)all of the above
Answer: D
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Genes and Their Evolution: Population Genetics
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Sample Questions
Q1) Evolution can best be defined as:
A)the appearance of a new species.
B)a change in allele frequencies in a breeding population over time.
C)changes in the DNA of an individual over his or her lifetime.
D)a process that occurs only over extremely long periods of time.
Q2) A genetic study conducted over multiple generations found that the frequency of genotypes in the first generation were,AA: 0.36,Aa: 0.48,aa: 0.16.In the second generation,genotype frequencies shifted to AA: 0.16,Aa: 0.48,aa: 0.36.According to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium,we can assume:
A)random mating has altered gene frequencies
B)gene flow has possibly shifted the gene frequencies
C)mating in this population must be nonrandom mating
D)both B and C
Q3) Genetic drift is the force of evolution that is most powerful when acting on very large populations.
A)True
B)False
Q4) 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.
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Chapter 5: Biology in the Present: Living People
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Sample Questions
Q1) How does human life history (prenatal stage,infancy,childhood,juvenile stage,adolescence,adulthood,old age)shed light on the interaction between genes and environment?
Q2) Both undernutrition and overnutrition can lead to cardiovascular disease.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Low birth weight can result from a mother's:
A)malnutrition.
B)excessive alcohol consumption.
C)smoking.
D)all of the above
Q4) Friedrich Blumenbach categorized humans into the following races:
A)Negroids,Caucasoids,Mongoloids.
B)Mongoloids,Negroids,Inuit,Caucasoids.
C)Mongoloids,Malays,Ethiopians,American Indians,and Caucasoids.
D)Mongoloids,Negroids,Malays,Europeans,and Caucasoids.
Q5) Discuss the problems and consequences of undernutrition and overnutrition around the world.
Q6) Is race a valid,biologically meaningful concept? Why or why not?
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Biology in the Present: The Other Living Primates
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Sample Questions
Q1) Unlike apes,monkeys:
A)have no tails.
B)have limbs (arms and legs)of relatively equal length.
C)have short lower backs.
D)are orthograde;that is,they walk upright.
Q2) Primate dietary adaptation is facilitated by:
A)highly specialized dentition.
B)expanded numbers of teeth.
C)secondary dental specializations.
D)none of the above
Q3) The two suborders of primates are:
A)platyrrhine and catarrhine.
B)prosimians and anthropoids.
C)pongidae and hominidae.
D)tarsiers and anthropoids.
Q4) Which of the following are prosimians?
A)baboons
B)gibbons
C)lemurs
D)tamarins
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Chapter 7: Primate Sociality, social Behavior, and Culture
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Sample Questions
Q1) When observing primates at the zoo,you notice a male and female gibbon quite similar in size,unlike what you previously saw in the hamadryas baboon enclosure.You know that:
A)the lack of sexual dimorphism you see is due to the polygamous social structure observed in gibbons.
B)the lack of sexual dimorphism is the result of unequal access to resources within their environment.
C)the lack of sexual dimorphism you see is due to decreased competition for mates in a monogamous social structure.
D)the lack of sexual dimorphism in gibbons is not related to social structure.
Q2) Altruistic behavior occurs when both individuals benefit from the behavior.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The loud calls of various primate species such as howler monkeys and baboons:
A)are often heard during intergroup encounters or other types of competition among individuals.
B)are able to indicate the physical condition of the caller.
C)are able to convey group size to opposing groups.
D)all of the above
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Fossils and Their Place in Time and Nature
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following cultural artifacts would provide the most narrowly defined date for the sediments from which it was recovered?
A)an early Stone Age chopping tool
B)a Neolithic ceramic pot
C)a middle Stone Age point
D)a late Stone Age cave painting
Q2) Now-fossilized foraminifera with shells enriched in 18O lived during relatively warm periods.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Why is it critical that paleontologists reconstruct past environments to provide a complete picture of a particular lineage's evolution? Name one way in which paleontologists reconstruct paleoenvironments.
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) A press release on the findings from a dig in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming report the finding of a series of extinct primate fossils that may be a link between lesiadapiforms and later primates due to an opposable big toe.The find is likely:
A)Notharctus.
B)Carpolestes.
C)Eosimias.
D)Apidium.
Q2) High,shearing crests on the molar teeth of a fossil primate suggests that it probably ate mostly:
A)fruits.
B)leaves.
C)insects.
D)hard seeds.
Q3) Sivapithecus is widely recognized as an ancestral member of which ape lineage?
A)gorilla
B)orangutan
C)chimpanzee
D)gibbon
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Chapter 10: Early Hominid Origins and Evolution: The Roots of Humanity
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Q1) The discovery and scrutiny surrounding Eoanthropus dawsoni is an excellent example of the utility of:
A)flourine analysis to detect teeth that have been physically altered.
B)using preconceived ideas of human evolutionary patterns to identify potential hominid species.
C)the scientific method as a way of continually challenging existing data and theory. D)only using fossils from African field sites to address human evolution.
Q2) Your friend is asking your opinion on a recent hominid fossil he heard about on the news.He is unable to remember the species name but knows that it lacked the specialized teeth seen in living apes,had elongated toes,an opposable big toe,and was part of a multidisciplinary study that reconstructed the early hominids' habitat.The fossil he is referring to is most likely:
A)Homo floresiensis.
B)Ardipithecus kadabba.
C)Sahelanthropus tchadensis.
D)Ardipithecus ramidus.
Q3) Describe in detail three theories aiming to explain the adaptive success of bipedal locomotion.
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Chapter 11: The Origins and Evolution of Early Homo
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Sample Questions
Q1) Australopithecus garhi has been proposed as a likely ancestor for Homo habilis.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Unlike Darwin,Ernst Haeckel believed that humans first evolved in:
A)Africa.
B)South America.
C)Asia.
D)Haeckel didn't believe in evolution.
Q3) Homo erectus had long legs as compared to earlier hominids.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Fossil evidence for the earliest members of the genus Homo have been found from:
A)0.5-present.
B)2.5-1.0 mya.
C)4.0-3.0 mya.
D)none of the above
Q5) Describe Homo erectus's cranial and postcranial anatomical characteristics.How is this species significantly different from earlier hominids?
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Chapter 12: The Origins,evolution,and Dispersal of Modern People
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Q1) Heavy wear on Neandertals' incisor teeth has led some scientists to conclude that Neandertals used their front teeth:
A)as a kind of third hand for gripping materials.
B)for hunting and killing small animals.
C)for shaping the cutting edges of stone blades.
D)for gouging trees to extract sap.
Q2) The Neandertal record begins in Eastern Europe-at the site in Krapina,Croatia-about 130,000 yBP.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Using evidence from well-known sites such as Shanidar,Iraq,and Krapina,Croatia,describe the life of a Neandertal group living in Europe during the last "Ice Age."
Q4) Which of the following statements is FALSE?
A)Neandertals buried their dead.
B)Neandertals were hunters and gatherers.
C)Neandertals were cold-adapted people.
D)Neandertal brains were notably smaller than those of modern humans.
Page 14
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Sample Questions
Q1) Regarding the Neolithic,which of the following is TRUE?
A)It is believed to have occurred first in Europe.
B)It is characterized by small,settled villages where the domestication of plants and/or animals took place.
C)It occurred in one place initially,then spread everywhere else.
D)It occurred first approximately 25,000 yBP.
Q2) Which of the following is a New World domesticate?
A)wheat
B)rice
C)cotton
D)pigs
Q3) With modern Homo sapiens' appearance in the late Pleistocene,human biological evolution basically stopped.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Osteoarthritis is a skeletal disorder most easily seen on:
A)joint surfaces.
B)bone shafts.
C)the skull.
D)the ribs.
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Chapter 14: Evolution: Today and Tomorrow
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Q1) Allergic reactions to food are a signal that the body is responding to something perceived as a foreign antigen.
A)True
B)False
Q2) If human population density continues to increase unabated,by 2050 most nations are expected to see a ____________ reduction in biodiversity:
A)40%
B)75%
C)14%
D)none of the above
Q3) What percentage of the world's population currently lives in cities?
A)25%
B)90%
C)75%
D)50%
Q4) The United States will be relatively unaffected by the impacts of global warming.
A)True
B)False
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Page 16