Introduction to Physical Anthropology Pre-Test
Questions
Course Introduction
Introduction to Physical Anthropology provides students with a foundational understanding of the biological and evolutionary aspects of the human species. The course explores topics such as human origins, evolutionary theory, genetics, primatology, fossil evidence, and the biological diversity of modern humans. Emphasis is placed on the scientific methods physical anthropologists use to investigate questions about human evolution and adaptation. Through lectures and hands-on activities, students gain an appreciation for the complex interplay between biology, culture, and environment in shaping what it means to be human.
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Essentials of Physical Anthropology 9th Edition by Robert Jurmain
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Introduction to Physical Anthropology
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Q1) Ethnographies
A) are studies of only Western European societies
B) are studies of nonhuman primates
C) emphasize, among other topics, religion, ritual, myth, diet, gender roles, and child-rearing practices
D) are studies done by archaeologists
E) are the practical application of anthropological theories
Answer: C
Q2) Cultural anthropology
A) was first developed as a discipline in the 17<sup>th</sup> century
B) includes the recovery and analysis of material culture from earlier civilizations
C) focuses solely upon the study of traditional societies
D) has no practical application in modern society
E) is the study of the patterns of belief and behavior found in modern and historical cultures.
Answer: E
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Chapter 2: The Development of Evolutionary Theory
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Q1) Several events had combined to alter Western Europeans' ideas about the earth by the 18<sup>th</sup> century. These did not include
A) the circumnavigation of the globe
B) the discovery of the New World
C) the notion of a sun-centered universe
D) a less than rigid feudal class system
E) "arguments from design", meaning structures were engineered to meet purposes for which they were designed
Answer: D
Q2) Who coined the term "biology"?
A) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
B) Georges Cuvier
C) Thomas Malthus
D) Charles Darwin
E) Charles Lyell
Answer: A
Q3) Evolution is a theory that has considerable support from genetic evidence.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 3: The Biological Basis of Life Connections
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Q1) What are the X and Y chromosomes called?
A) autosomes
B) gametes
C) centromeres
D) sex chromosomes
E) karyotypes
Answer: D
Q2) Meiosis occurs ONLY in ovaries.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) Scientists use _______ to produce many copies of small DNA fragments, such as those obtained at crime scenes or from fossils.
A) transcription
B) polymerase chain reactions
C) nondisjunction
D) trisomies
E) random assortment of alleles
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Heredity and Evolution
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Q1) When Mendel crossed true breeding tall and short parental plants, what was produced?
A) All the offspring were tall.
B) Half the offspring were tall, the other half were short.
C) All the offspring were short.
D) The offspring were intermediate in height relative to the two parent plants.
E) About 90 percent were tall, but the rest were short.
Q2) Which statement concerning polygenic traits is not true?
A) They are governed by more than one genetic locus.
B) Their expression is often influenced by genetic/environmental interactions.
C) The alleles have an additive effect on the phenotype.
D) They are continuous traits
E) The most frequently discussed are skin, hair and eye color.
Q3) What is the only source of new genetic material in any population?
A) mutation
B) genetic drift
C) founder effect
D) migration
E) natural selection
Q4) Explain Mendel's principle of segregation.
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Chapter 5: Processes of Macroevolution
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Q1) Grouping contemporaneous species into genera
A) is never a subjective process
B) can be facilitated by identifying which species can interbreed and produce live, though not necessarily fertile, hybrid offspring
C) is always easy and accurate
D) is problematic and therefore not a common practice of physical anthropologists
E) requires similarities between species in one genus and species of another genus.
Q2) Development of a mammalian brain requires all except A) Longer period of growth
B) More intense period of growth
C) Slower development in utero and after birth
D) Social system that ensure ample learning
E) The lack of a "bond of milk" between mother and infant
Q3) Cladistic analysis makes no attempt to discern ancestor-descendant relationships. A)True
B)False
Q4) Contrast the two schools of taxonomy: evolutionary systematics and cladistics.
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Chapter 6: An Overview of the Primates
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Q1) Monkeys are divided into which two major groups?
A) terrestrial and arboreal forms
B) New and Old World species
C) large and small-bodied species
D) quadrupedal and bipedal
E) omnivores and frugivores
Q2) Where are chimpanzees found?
A) across forested equatorial Africa as far east as Lake Tanganyika
B) in Africa and India
C) in open savanna areas of Kenya ONLY
D) in the mountainous areas of central Africa ONLY
E) in Africa, India and southeast Asia
Q3) Using all four limbs to support the body during locomotion is called
A) bipedalism
B) quadrupedalism
C) vertical clinging and leaping
D) brachiation
E) semi-brachiation
Q4) Define three major forms of primate locomotion. Name at least one species associated with each.
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Chapter 7: Primate Behavior
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Q1) Discuss the effects of isolation in infancy and separation from the mother on monkey behavior.
Q2) In bonobos, males and females
A) commonly form friendships and consortships
B) never interact except when a female is in estrus
C) are usually sexually active throughout the female's estrus cycle
D) always interact aggressively
E) always avoid one another
Q3) Permanent male-female bonds are
A) common among nonhuman primates
B) not common among nonhuman primates
C) the basis of monogamous pairing typical of all nonhuman primate species
D) nonexistent in primates
E) known only in orangutans
Q4) Which of the following have been taught to use sign language?
A) baboons
B) chimpanzees
C) macaques
D) lemurs
E) vervets
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Primate and Hominin Origins
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Q1) Which of the following methods are not used to identify hominin fossil sites?
A) aerial photography
B) satellite photography
C) geological surveys
D) water reside analysis
E) vertebrate paleontology
Q2) Sahelanthropus has an unusual combination of characteristics, including
A) a small braincase, huge browridges, small vertical face, and lack of shearing canine/premolar arrangement
B) a large braincase and huge browridges
C) a small braincase and small muscle attachments in the rear of the cranium
D) a small vertical face and small browridges
E) a large vertical face and small browridges
Q3) Because organic materials such as sticks and bones are usually well preserved in the archaeological record, we have good evidence of the earliest stages of hominin cultural modifications.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What traits best distinguish Homo habilis from the australopiths?
Q5) Contrast obligate bipedalism with habitual bipedalism.
Page 10
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Chapter 9: The First Dispersal of the Genus Homo: Homo
Erectus and Contemporaries
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Q1) The cranial remains from Dmanisi are characteristic of all of the following except
A) are easily distinguishable from modern Homo sapiens
B) bear some similarities to early Homo specimens from East Africa
C) bear similarities to australopithecus specimens
D) have very small cranial capacities
E) are different from other hominins outside Africa
Q2) The Dmanisi site is notable for which of the following
A) Being in North Africa
B) Producing crania remains that are uncharacteristic of H. erectus
C) The crania have relatively large cranial capacities
D) One complete cranium is of an older adult with jawbones that show advance bone loss
E) Crania are not associated with stone tools
Q3) The Homo erectus remains from Africa are dated to _____ years ago.
A) 2.5 to 3.5 million
B) 500,000 to 200,000
C) 800,000
D) 5.5 million
E) 1.7-1 million
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Premodern Humans
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Q1) Discuss the evolutionary trends in the genus Homo. Start with the transition from early Homo to Homo erectus and end with the Neandertals. Be sure to include the temporal and geographic distributions of the various species of Homo.
Q2) Neandertal crania are characterized by which of the following?
A) small, flat faces
B) the absence of brow ridges
C) a rounded, smooth occipital area like that seen in modern humans
D) a vertical forehead like that seen in modern humans
E) a projecting midface
Q3) Describe the cranial and postcranial anatomy of Neandertal skeletons.
Q4) The evidence of deliberate burial of the dead by Neandertal is found at all the following except
A) Sima de los Huesos
B) Tabun
C) Kabwe
D) La Chapelle
E) Kebara
Q5) Characterize Mousterian technology, subsistence, settlements, and symbolic behavior.
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Chapter 11: The Origin and Dispersal of Modern Humans
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Q1) Early rock art from Africa may be as old as ________ years.
A) 10,000
B) 68,000
C) 100,000
D) 28,000
E) 40,000
Q2) Researchers have recently sequenced the genetic identities of nine ancient fully modern H. sapiens from sites in Italy, France, the Czech Republic, and Russia. What did this research focus on?
A) the Y chromosome
B) mtDNA
C) the ABO blood groups
D) the Y chromosome and the ABO blood groups
E) only cranial remains
Q3) Recent analyses have shown that the mtDNA from fossil modern human skeletons is somewhat limited because mtDNA is a fairly small segment of DAN, and is transmitted between generations as a single unit.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Review the evidence relative to the human occupation of Australia.
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Human Variation and Adaptation
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Q1) Ultraviolet radiation can be an important factor in selection for increased melanin production because UV radiation can cause which of the following?
A) rickets
B) albinism
C) skin cancer
D) the rebuilding of folate
E) spina bifida
Q2) Define vasoconstriction and describe its role in the human physiological response to cold.
Q3) Categorizing people on the basis of skin color
A) is mostly a twentieth century phenomenon
B) has been practiced only by Western Europeans
C) is a valid approach to racial taxonomy
D) has a long history and has been practiced by many peoples
E) began with Christopher Columbus
Q4) Infectious diseases have exerted enormous selective pressures on our species.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Explain the historical views on human variation.
Q6) Discuss developmental acclimatization to high altitude.
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Legacies of Human Evolutionary History: Effects on
the Individual
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Q1) When does the adolescent growth spurt approximately occur?
A) two years later in girls than in boys
B) at the same time for girls and boys
C) two years earlier in girls than in boys
D) four years earlier in girls than in boys
E) as an early adult
Q2) At birth, the human brain is approximately what percent of its adult size?
A) 15 percent
B) 25 percent
C) 50 percent
D) 75 percent
E) 100 percent
Q3) Answer the question, "Are We Still Evolving?," highlighting socioeconomic and political concerns.
Q4) The human brain reaches 95 percent of its adult size by what age?
A) 3 years
B) 5 years
C) 10 years
D) 15 years
E) 21 years
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Chapter 14: The Human Disconnection
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Q1) By ______________________Costa Rica has been able to preserve much of its forests and wildlife.
A) banning hunting
B) limiting the rise in childbirth rates
C) developing ecotourism
D) educating girls and women
E) discouraging ecotourism
Q2) Since the beginning of industrialization, ocean acidity has already increased by _____________.
A) 10%
B) 20%
C) 30%
D) 45%
E) 100%
Q3) The scientific community is now in almost complete agreement that we are seeing the effects of global warming.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What factors are implicated in the near extinction of the bald eagle?
Q5) What impacts have cultural adaptations had on local environments?
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