Paleoanthropology Exam Review
Course Introduction
Paleoanthropology is the scientific study of human evolution, focusing on the origins and development of early human species and their close relatives through the examination of fossilized remains, artifacts, and environmental evidence. This course explores the evolutionary history of hominins, investigates key discoveries that have shaped our understanding of human ancestry, and examines techniques such as comparative anatomy, dating methods, and genetic analysis. Students will critically assess major fossil finds, reconstruct ancient environments, and discuss debates in the field regarding human adaptation, migration patterns, and the emergence of complex behaviors.
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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58 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Based on blending inheritance, which Darwin and his contemporaries believed in, if a finch with a large beak depth mates with a finch with a small beak depth, then the offspring will have
A) beaks with small depth.
B) beaks with medium depth.
C) beaks with large depth.
D) beaks with random depth.
Answer: B
Q2) One of the things that Darwin had difficulty explaining was how inheritance worked. Why was inheritance so difficult for Darwin?
A) The prevailing theory of inheritance was based on random mating.
B) The prevailing theory of inheritance was incompatible with the maintenance of variation.
C) The prevailing theory of inheritance implied that variation was not inherited from parents.
D) The prevailing theory of inheritance implied that too much variation exists for natural selection to operate.
Answer: B
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Chapter 2: Genetics
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Sample Questions
Q1) Chromosomes are contained in
A) the gametes of prokaryotes.
B) the nuclei of eukaryotes.
C) the ribosomes.
D) the mitochondria.
Answer: B
Q2) Mendel's second principle (of independent assortment) states that A) eggs and sperm are formed independently of one another.
B) transmission includes both blending and particulate inheritance.
C) particles inherited from the mother and the father are equally likely to be transmitted to offspring.
D) particles inherited from the mother are more likely to be transmitted to female offspring and particles inherited from the father are more likely to be transmitted to male offspring.
Answer: C
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Chapter 3: The Modern Synthesis
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Sample Questions
Q1) Mate guarding of females by males in soapberry bugs probably functions
A) to protect the females from harassment by other females.
B) to protect the females from predators.
C) to stop other males from mating with them.
D) to stop the females from eating.
Answer: C
Q2) The compound eye cannot evolve into the camera-type eye because
A) natural selection does not change adaptations.
B) the compound eye is always superior to the camera-type eye.
C) the compound eye is a local optimum.
D) the camera-type eye is a local optimum.
Answer: C
Q3) Evolutionary change in a phenotype
A) results from change in the environment only.
B) reflects change in the underlying genetic composition of a population.
C) cannot be passed from parent to offspring.
D) Both a and
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Speciation and Phylogeny
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Sample Questions
Q1) Adaptive radiation occurs when
A) a mutation caused by solar radiation produces adaptations.
B) a population expands across a uniform habitat.
C) multiple new species are produced because subpopulations adapt to new environments.
D) a species loses adaptations through mutation.
Q2) Explain the difference between ancestral and derived characters.
Q3) Consider all three species of the genus Happy: the Eastern Mugwump, the Western Mugwump, and the Middle Mugwump. All of these species evolved from a six-legged common ancestor. The Eastern and Middle Mugwumps have six legs, and the Western Mugwumps have eight legs. For the genus Happy, six-leggedness is
A) ancestral.
B) derived.
C) convergent.
D) a mutation.
Q4) Compare and contrast cladistic and evolutionary systematics. Illustrate your answer by discussing the phylogeny of apes and humans.
Q5) Give a hypothetical example of allopatric speciation.
Q6) What is the ecological species concept? Is it applicable to asexual species?
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Primate Diversity and Ecology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements is true?
A) Diurnal primates are generally solitary.
B) Foraging and resting times are affected by ecological conditions.
C) Nocturnal primates are large in body size.
D) Foraging and resting times are dictated by diet.
Q2) The social organization and behavior of a species are directly influenced by A) heritability of a trait.
B) genetic mutation.
C) environmental factors.
D) metabolic rates.
Q3) Most primates rely more on visual stimuli and less on olfactory stimuli than do other mammals. Which of the following is one line of evidence for this?
A) Primates have more complex eyes than do other mammals.
B) Primate olfactory apparatuses are highly specialized, especially in diurnal primates.
C) Primates have more optic nerves than do other mammals.
D) The primate visual sense is highly developed while the olfactory apparatus is reduced, especially in diurnal primates.
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Chapter 6: Primate Mating Systems
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Sample Questions
Q1) Direct male-male competition is most intense in A) pair-bonded groups.
B) one-male, multifemale groups.
C) multimale, multifemale groups.
D) bachelor groups.
Q2) Which of the following statements is true?
A) Dominance rank is not a good predictor of female reproductive success.
B) Young females tend to reproduce more often than older females because they are in better physical condition.
C) Variation in longevity is a major contributor to variation in lifetime fitness among females.
D) Females in multimale groups have more offspring than females in one-male units.
Q3) Sexual selection
A) favors phenotypes that help survival.
B) produces the same characteristics in both sexes.
C) enhances offspring survival.
D) favors traits that increase the ability to compete for mates.
Q4) 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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Sample Questions
Q1) Altruism at first was a puzzle to evolutionary biologists because
A) it should be more common in nature because it increases the fitness of recipients.
B) it should be more common in nature because it increases the fitness of species.
C) it should not be common in nature because it decreases the fitness of actors.
D) it should not be common in nature because it decreases the fitness of species.
Q2) Coalitions among male baboons
A) allow middle-ranking, cooperative males a chance to gain access to receptive females.
B) are an example of mutualistic behavior as all males get equal mating opportunities.
C) do not allow lower-ranking males to outcompete higher-ranking males.
D) can predict male grooming relationships.
Q3) When monkeys recognize paternal kin, they may rely on
A) gender.
B) genotype.
C) age similarity.
D) phenotype.
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9
Chapter 8: Primate Life Histories and the Evolution of Intelligence
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Sample Questions
Q1) Explain why coalitional behavior may require sophisticated cognitive abilities.
Q2) Selection is likely to favor fast/short life histories in species
A) that suffer intense predation pressure.
B) that experience a juvenile phase.
C) whose members are able to invest more energy in growth and maintenance.
D) that are subjected to severe competition for nutritional resources needed for reproduction.
Q3) There are two chimpanzees in an experimental design: a dominant one and a subordinate one. The subordinate can see two caches of food, but the dominant can see only one. If chimpanzees have a theory of mind, which of the caches of food do you predict the subordinate chimp will attempt to acquire?
A) The one in view of the dominant chimpanzee
B) The one hidden from the dominant chimpanzee
C) Neither
D) Both
Q4) Large brains may have initially evolved in monkeys and apes because they
A) are more folivorous than their ancestors.
B) have greater dexterity in their hands than their ancestors.
C) are more likely to live in variable environments than their ancestors.
D) have larger social groups than their ancestors.
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Chapter 9: From Tree Shrew to Ape
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Q1) 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.
Q2) Laurasia was a landmass that consisted of
A) all present-day continents.
B) all present-day continents except for Asia.
C) none of the continents that are present today.
D) North America, Europe, and Asia.
Q3) 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.
Q4) ________ is a derived feature that Proconsul shares with living apes and humans.
A) The absence of a tail
B) The presence of short upper limbs
C) The presence of a narrow chest
D) Thin tooth enamel.
Page 11
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Chapter 10: From Hominoid to Hominin
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Sample Questions
Q1) 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.
Q2) Orrorin tugenensis is identified as a very likely hominid on the basis of what evidence?
A) Features of the base of the skull
B) Footprints preserved in volcanic ash
C) Features of the femur
D) Features of the spine and ribs
Q3) Evidence that the robust australopithecines ate hard foods includes
A) the browridge.
B) the nuchal crest.
C) flared zygomatics.
D) a small brain.
Q4) What is the anatomical evidence that early australopithecines were bipedal?
Q5) 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?
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Oldowan Toolmakers and the Origin of Human
Life History
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Sample Questions
Q1) The difference between a stone-tool mark and a tooth mark is that
A) stone-tool marks are crooked because hominins were not skilled at using stone tools.
B) tooth marks leave smooth grooves, and stone-tool marks leave many parallel grooves.
C) stone-tool marks contain stone flake residue.
D) tooth marks occur along the entire shaft of the bone but stone-tool marks occur only at the end of the bone.
Q2) Imagine you are a female chimpanzee that likes to eat termites. This kind of food has to be
A) gathered.
B) collected.
C) hunted.
D) extracted.
Q3) Taphonomic evidence suggests that hominins were
A) mainly hunters.
B) mainly scavengers.
C) sometimes hunters and sometimes scavengers.
D) neither hunters nor scavengers.
Q4) Were early hominins hunters or scavengers? Explain your answer.
Page 13
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Chapter 12: From Hominin to Homo
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Sample Questions
Q1) Provide three lines of evidence that help evaluate whether or not H. ergaster ate meat. Include evidence from archaeology (artifacts), as well as physical anthropology (the hominin fossils), in addition to comparative and geographical information. Do any of these lines of evidence suggest that they hunted their game?
Q2) The first Neanderthal findings were thought to be A) diseased modern humans.
B) an extinct prehuman animal.
C) an undiscovered living race of people.
D) evidence of H. erectus in Europe.
Q3) Homo ergaster disappeared from the African fossil record about
A) 1.6 million years ago.
B) 60,000 years ago.
C) 6,000 years ago.
D) 600,000 years ago.
Q4) ________ is used as evidence that Neanderthals did not have modern language.
A) The simplicity of Mode 3 technology
B) The crural index
C) The relatively flat basicranium
D) The reconstruction of past climates
Q5) Discuss the differences between Mode 1, 2, and 3 stone tool technologies.
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Chapter 13: Homo sapiens and the Evolution of Modern
Human Behavior
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Sample Questions
Q1) Upper Paleolithic peoples were the first to manufacture A) blade tools.
B) hand axes.
C) choppers.
D) flakes.
Q2) Imagine you are an archaeologist working in the Czech Republic. You have found remains of a hearth within a large structure that appears to have been constructed with the bones of a woolly mammoth. Which hominin species is responsible for this site?
A) Homo erectus.
B) Neanderthals.
C) Denisovans.
D) Homo sapiens.
Q3) mtDNA evidence supports the idea that modern humans arose in A) Africa.
B) Asia.
C) Europe.
D) India.
Q4) How does the fossil evidence support the hypothesis that modern humans arose in Africa?
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Human Genetic Variation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Variation at a single locus can be maintained by A) mutation.
B) heterozygote advantage.
C) mutation, but only if selection favors the gene also.
D) both a and
Q2) Variation in the ability to digest lactose around the world is probably due to
A) genetic variation.
B) genetic drift.
C) different selective pressures.
D) both a and b
Q3) ________ tends to blur the effects of population expansions.
A) Mutation
B) Genetic drift
C) Gene flow
D) Founder effect
Q4) A selection-mutation balance occurs when
A) mutation introduces alleles that selection favors.
B) mutation introduces alleles that selection does not favor.
C) selection is neutral and mutation is not present.
D) both a and b
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Evolution and Human Behavior
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Sample Questions
Q1) Generally, Buss's cross-cultural data show that
A) females value mutual love and attraction in a mate more than males do.
B) males and females differ in their mate preferences in ways predicted by evolutionary theory.
C) gender has a stronger influence on mate preference than culture.
D) chastity is a high-ranking trait for males and females.
Q2) Taiwanese minor marriages
A) produce about 80% fewer children than other arranged marriages.
B) are much less likely to end in separation or divorce.
C) rarely result in infidelity.
D) were possible when parents had greater control over their children's actions.
Q3) The expression of ________ traits is most sensitive to environmental conditions. A) hormonal
B) behavioral
C) morphological
D) physiological
Q4) Discuss the evidence supporting incest avoidance in nonhuman primates. Please give examples.
Q5) Describe the practice of a bridewealth payment. What are the motivations for the bride and groom's families? Give an example.
Page 17
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Chapter 16: Culture Cooperation and Human Uniqueness
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Central Inuit, who inhabited the Canadian Arctic, made a living by
A) hunting and fishing.
B) foraging for nuts and fruit.
C) farming.
D) raising cattle.
Q2) The Turkana
A) practice farming.
B) live in permanent settlements.
C) frequently engage in warfare.
D) have a hierarchical political system with a king.
Q3) Are culturally transmitted behaviors always adaptive?
A) Yes, otherwise they would quickly disappear.
B) No, some such behaviors are adaptive, some are neutral, and some are maladaptive.
C) No, all such behaviors are neutral.
D) Anthropologists can't really address the question of adaptiveness of cultural behaviors
Q4) What do game theory scenarios illustrate about the nature of human cooperation? Include in your answer a discussion of the dictator game and the ultimatum game.
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