Paleoanthropology Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Paleoanthropology is the scientific study of human evolution, focusing on the biological and cultural development of humans and their ancestors through the examination of fossil evidence, ancient tools, and other archaeological findings. This course explores key discoveries in human ancestry, such as hominid fossils, and investigates how these findings inform our understanding of evolutionary trends in morphology, behavior, and adaptation. Emphasizing critical analysis of current research, students will learn about methods used in paleoanthropological investigations, major discoveries that have shaped the discipline, and debates surrounding human origins, migrations, and interactions with other hominin species.
Recommended Textbook
How Humans Evolved 7th Edition by Robert Boyd
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Chapter 1: Adaptation by Natural Selection
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Q1) During 1976 on the Galápagos Island of Daphne Major, Peter and Rosemary Grant found evidence of natural selection by adaptation when they observed that
A) finches with shallow beaks were less likely to survive and reproduce than finches with deep beaks.
B) finch beak size had no effect on survival rates.
C) many more small seeds were available for the finches to eat.
D) more finches with deep beaks died than finches with shallow beaks.
Answer: A
Q2) Convergent evolution occurs
A) when all members of a species become more similar.
B) as a result of stabilizing selection.
C) when natural selection produces similar adaptations in unrelated species.
D) when individuals have equal fitness.
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: Genetics
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Q1) Which of the following sequences is accurate for transcription and translation?
A) DNA tRNA mRNA protein
B) DNA mRNA protein.
C) Protein tRNA DNA
D) Protein tRNA DNA.
Answer: B
Q2) In diploid organisms
A) chromosomes occur in homologous pairs.
B) chromosomes occur in homologous triplets.
C) meiosis produces diploid gametes.
D) mitosis produces haploid cells.
Answer: A
Q3) The genotype of an individual refers to
A) the alleles it carries.
B) its visible characteristics.
C) the number of chromosomes in its sex cells.
D) the number of chromosomes in its body cells.
Answer: A
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Chapter 3: The Modern Synthesis
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Q1) Male soapberry bugs adjust their mate-guarding behavior
A) in places where the environment is stable.
B) in places where the environment is variable.
C) in colder climates.
D) in wetter climates.
Answer: B
Q2) For most continuously varying characters, offspring are intermediate between their parents because
A) of blending inheritance.
B) genetic transmission involves faithful copying of the genes themselves and their reassembly into different combinations in zygotes.
C) mutation is constantly introducing new alleles, some of which will produce new phenotypes.
D) natural selection reduces variation.
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Speciation and Phylogeny
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Q1) According to the biological species concept, a species is a group of organisms that
A) share morphology.
B) share the same geographical and environmental circumstances.
C) are reproductively isolated from other like groups.
D) share genetic information.
Q2) Explain why shared ancestral characters do not yield good information about relationships between species.
Q3) How do genetic distance measures work? How have genetic distance measurements been applied to the primate fossil record to reveal information about the divergence of primate groups?
Q4) Compare and contrast cladistic and evolutionary systematics. Illustrate your answer by discussing the phylogeny of apes and humans.
Q5) The biological species concept emphasizes
A) genetic drift within populations.
B) gene flow between populations.
C) the importance of mutations.
D) that the amount of genetic information that is exchanged within a population rarely changes.
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Chapter 5: Primate Diversity and Ecology
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Q1) Compounds found in foods that are essential in regulating many of the body's metabolic functions are
A) proteins.
B) fats and oils.
C) vitamins, minerals, and trace amounts of certain elements.
D) carbohydrates.
Q2) Most primate species
A) live in social groups.
B) live solitary lives.
C) live in social groups only during the breeding season.
D) are only social when predator activity is high.
Q3) Pair-bonded groups and active defense of territories are typical of the A) great apes.
B) monkeys.
C) lesser apes.
D) lorises.
Q4) Compare and contrast how primates differ from other mammals in each of the following categories and give a specific example for each one: (a) limbs and locomotion, (b) teeth and diet, (c) the senses, (d) the brain and intelligence, and (e) behavior.
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Chapter 6: Primate Mating Systems
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Q1) The relative amount of parental care
A) can affect all aspects of social behavior and some aspects of morphology.
B) is virtually the same across the primate order.
C) does not influence reproductive strategies.
D) is determined directly by dominance hierarchy.
Q2) Dominance hierarchies are seen in multimale, multifemale groups because hierarchies
A) give low-ranking males a chance to compete.
B) let females know which males to mate with.
C) mediate male-male competition.
D) prevent infanticide.
Q3) Discuss the better documented counterstrategies to infanticide evolved by female primates, and give specific primate examples from the reading.
Q4) Direct male-male competition is most intense in
A) pair-bonded groups.
B) one-male, multifemale groups.
C) multimale, multifemale groups.
D) bachelor groups.
Q5) What is the evidence demonstrating the importance of socializing for female primates?
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Chapter 7: The Evolution of Cooperation
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Q1) The coefficient of relatedness (r) is a measure of
A) each individual's fitness benefits.
B) the probability that two individuals acquire the same allele through descent from a common ancestor.
C) the probability that two randomly chosen individuals share an allele.
D) sibling relatedness.
Q2) If the coefficient of relatedness between two individuals is 0.5, then
A) altruism can evolve if c > 2b.
B) altruism can evolve if c < 2b.
C) altruism cannot evolve via kin selection.
D) altruism will sometimes evolve regardless of the values of c and
Q3) Imagine that an alarm caller sacrifices its life to save other conspecifics. According to Hamilton's rule, how many full siblings would it have to save for the behavior to be favored?
A) at least 1.
B) at least 2.
C) at least 3.
D) Hamilton's rule cannot be satisfied.
Q4) Compare altruism and mutualism in terms of the fitness effects on actors and recipients.
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Chapter 8: Primate Life Histories and the Evolution of Intelligence
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Q1) Animals that reproduce at later ages have
A) smaller brain and body sizes.
B) longer gestation times.
C) shorter life spans and higher rates of mortality.
D) a menopausal stage.
Q2) Associative learning
A) does not require understanding conceptual categories like dominance hierarchies.
B) requires theory of mind.
C) involves knowing the mental states of others.
D) is a level of learning that all animals possess.
Q3) List the four main lobes of the cerebrum and briefly describe what the cerebral cortex is and why anthropologists are interested in it.
Q4) A key derived primate trait is a relatively large brain relative to body size, with humans having among the largest. How much metabolic energy do human brains consume in a day?
A) 15%
B) 20%
C) 25%
D) 30%
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Chapter 9: From Tree Shrew to Ape
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Q1) Radiometric techniques provide researchers with the ability to A) search for extraterrestrials.
B) extract DNA from inside fossils.
C) determine the morphology of a fossil.
D) determine the age of a fossil.
Q2) During the last 65 million years, the climate
A) first warmed, then cooled, and most recently became variable.
B) underwent a constant cooling trend, with decreasing variability.
C) underwent a constant warming trend, with some recent variability.
D) did not change.
Q3) Plesiadapiforms had several primitive features, including A) nails instead of claws.
B) eyes that were placed on the sides of their heads.
C) the presence of a postorbital bar.
D) habitual terrestrial behavior.
Q4) The first mammals evolved from A) dinosaurs.
B) birds.
C) therapsids.
D) reptiles.
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Chapter 10: From Hominoid to Hominin
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Q1) Paranthropus robustus
A) was about 4.5 ft. tall and bipedal
B) was not fully bipedal.
C) had very small molars.
D) had very large incisors.
Q2) Bipedalism may have evolved because hominin ancestors were
A) above-branch quadrupeds.
B) below-branch, suspensory primates.
C) vertical clingers and leapers.
D) amphibians.
Q3) Derived features of Australopithecus afarensis include A) bipedalism.
B) a large brain.
C) a tail.
D) prognathism.
Q4) Compared with great apes, Ardipithecus ramidus was characterized by
A) thicker molar enamel and larger canines.
B) thicker molar enamel and smaller canines.
C) thinner molar enamel and larger canines.
D) thinner molar enamel and smaller canines.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Oldowan Toolmakers and the Origin of Human
Life History
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Q1) Spheroids were most likely
A) bolas used in hunting.
B) hammers used for knapping.
C) flakes used to make digging sticks.
D) anvils used to crack nuts.
Q2) Compared with humans, after weaning chimpanzees are
A) more dependent upon their mothers for food.
B) apt to share food more extensively with each other.
C) more self-sufficient at food acquisition.
D) no different at food acquisition.
Q3) At modern kill sites
A) hunters usually take meat from the limbs, and scavengers eat meat from the skull and vertebrae.
B) hunters usually take meat from the skull and vertebrae, and scavengers eat meat from the limbs.
C) hunters take almost all of the meat, and scavengers eat only cartilage and bone marrow.
D) hunters and scavengers share all parts of carcasses.
Q4) What are the elements of Mode 1, or Oldowan, stone industries, and what do we know about their use?
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Chapter 12: From Hominin to Homo
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Q1) Homo heidelbergensis appeared between
A) 2 and 1 million years ago.
B) 1 million and 10,000 years ago.
C) 800,000 and 500,000 years ago.
D) 400,000 and 10,000 years ago.
Q2) Derived features of the Neanderthals include
A) slim bodies.
B) large front teeth.
C) large brains.
D) very tall skeletons.
Q3) Because of the finds in Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia, paleoanthropologists know that hominins left Africa by
A) 2.8 mya.
B) 1.8 mya.
C) 1.8 kya.
D) 2,800 ya.
Q4) Why do anatomists think that Homo ergaster did not have spoken language?
Q5) In what ways does H. ergaster differ from H. sapiens physically and developmentally? What does this evidence suggest about H. ergaster versus human behavior?
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Homo sapiens and the Evolution of Modern
Human Behavior
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Q1) Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans in the Middle East
A) have an ancestor-descendant relationship.
B) lived side-by-side for thousands of years.
C) did not overlap in time.
D) are almost indistinguishable in their anatomy.
Q2) The oldest anatomically modern human fossils are found in A) caves in the Middle East.
B) Omo Kibish, in southern Ethiopia, Africa.
C) Southeast Asia.
D) Southern Australia.
Q3) The earliest Australians are associated with A) Acheulean tools.
B) sites dated to 75,000 years ago.
C) ceremonial burials and cremations.
D) Homo floresiensis.
Q4) Anatomically modern humans appeared between A) 2,000 and 1,000 years ago.
B) 20,000 and 10,000 years ago.
C) 200,000 and 90,000 years ago.
D) 2 million and 1 million years ago.
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Chapter 14: Human Genetic Variation
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Q1) To determine whether the differences between the human and chimpanzee genome are a result of natural selection or mutation and drift, geneticists compare synonymous and nonsynonymous substitutions. Genes that have evolved because of selection should show what pattern?
A) Fewer nonsynonymous substitutions than synonymous substitutions.
B) More nonsynonymous substitutions than synonymous substitutions.
C) No difference in nonsynonymous and synonymous substitutions.
D) There is too little information to answer this question.
Q2) By searching DNA sequences for ________ that are common in a population, geneticists can find sequences that have been subject to recent selection.
A) long haplotypes
B) instances of founder effect
C) candidate genes
D) balanced polymorphisms
Q3) Why is the hemoglobin S allele found in very high frequencies in some populations even though it is a lethal recessive?
Q4) How are modern humans genetically different from the chimpanzee?
Q5) Choose a trait and describe how the three sources of variation can cause the trait to vary.
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Chapter 15: Evolution and Human Behavior
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Q1) Why is evolutionary theory relevant to behavior even though behavior is sensitive to environmental conditions?
Q2) Kipsigis men may assess the reproductive potential of prospective brides by
A) counting the number of previous sexual partners of the woman.
B) calculating their age at menarche.
C) their weight.
D) their height.
Q3) When individuals first meet someone they are attracted to, women are more likely than men to
A) be cautious about their partner's intentions.
B) make more false-positive errors.
C) overestimate men's commitment.
D) minimize the chance of missing sexual opportunities.
Q4) Flexible behavioral traits
A) cannot be shaped by natural selection because they are too sensitive to environmental conditions.
B) can be shaped by natural selection because they are sensitive to environmental conditions.
C) can be shaped by natural selection only if they are canalized.
D) both a and c
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Chapter 16: Culture Cooperation and Human Uniqueness
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Q1) The Yurok
A) built pyramids.
B) built snow houses that kept them warm during frigid winters.
C) made a living by raising and herding cattle.
D) constructed weirs to harvest salmon requiring the labor of hundreds of men from different villages.
Q2) A study on capuchins showed that they learn to forage Luhea fruit through
A) observation and trial and error.
B) trial and error.
C) observation alone
D) genetic adaptation
Q3) The mismatch hypothesis holds that the psychological machinery that supports human cooperation evolved in
A) agricultural societies.
B) industrial societies.
C) small hunter-gatherer societies.
D) pastoralist societies.
Q4) Define social facilitation, observational learning, and emulation. How do these different types of learning mechanisms play a role in shaping human culture?
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