Paleoanthropology
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Course Introduction
Paleoanthropology is the scientific study of human evolution, focusing on the origins and development of Homo sapiens and our closest relatives through the analysis of fossil evidence, ancient artifacts, and comparative anatomy. This course explores the fossil record of primates and early humans, examining skeletal remains, stone tools, and environmental data to piece together the story of our evolutionary past. Students will learn about the major discoveries, dating techniques, and interpretive challenges that contribute to our understanding of human ancestry, adaptation, and cultural development from the earliest hominins to the appearance 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) Natural selection acted on the medium ground finch on Daphne Major because A) birds with medium beak sizes experienced higher mortality.
B) a drought changed the environment where the finches lived.
C) offspring of finches with small beaks did not survive the juvenile period.
D) the population reached equilibrium.
Answer: B
Q2) Achondroplasia is a genetic adaptation that causes affected individuals to be much shorter than other people. This adaptation is an example of A) convergence.
B) gene flow.
C) discontinuous variation.
D) outbreeding.
Answer: C
Q3) The postulates that make up Darwin's theory of adaptation include all of the following EXCEPT
A) any given environment can support only a certain number of individuals.
B) variation affects the ability of individuals to survive and reproduce.
C) individuals always compete with each other physically.
D) variation is passed from parents to offspring.
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: Genetics
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Q1) The law of independent segregation states that
A) the fact that a gamete has an A rather than an a allele does not influence the probability that it will have a B rather than a b allele.
B) alleles on different chromosomes do not influence each other as they assort into gametes.
C) dominant alleles act independently of recessive alleles.
D) both a and b are correct.
Answer: D
Q2) If you have two parents with the genotype Aa, what is the chance that they will have an offspring with the genotype AA?
A) 1/8
B) 1/2
C) 1/4
D) 1/16
Answer: C
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4
Chapter 3: The Modern Synthesis
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Q1) For male soapberry bugs, behavioral plasticity is costly because
A) males must cooperate with other males to guard females.
B) flexibility requires longer appendages.
C) males will sometimes make mistakes about the local sex ratio and behave inappropriately.
D) flexible males have to grow larger and therefore need more food.
Answer: C
Q2) What are the genotypic frequencies of the following population: 60 AA, 120 Aa, and 20 aa individuals?
A) 30% AA, 60% Aa, and 10% aa
B) 60% A and 40% a
C) 60% AA, 120% Aa, and 20% aa
D) None of the above.
Answer: A
Q3) Environmental variation
A) affects genotypic expression of characters.
B) tends to blur together the phenotypes associated with different genotypes.
C) does not direct selection.
D) has no effect on phenotype.
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Speciation and Phylogeny
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is NOT a reason that reproductive isolation occurs?
A) An increase in a population's size
B) Variation in a species' courtship behavior
C) Restriction in a population's habitat
D) Variation in individual's activity patterns
Q2) According to the biological species concept, species remain the same because
A) new mutations are usually maladaptive.
B) environments change slowly.
C) gene flow keeps individuals similar to each other.
D) natural selection is a powerful process.
Q3) Evolutionary taxonomy uses
A) only morphological similarity to classify organisms.
B) only descent to classify organisms.
C) both similarity and descent to classify organisms.
D) neither similarity nor descent to classify organisms.
Q4) Adaptive radiations are associated with
A) macroevolution.
B) microevolution.
C) taxonomy.
D) systematics.
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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) Basal metabolic rate is the amount of energy required for
A) evolutionarily important activities of an animal.
B) maintenance of body processes at rest.
C) reproduction.
D) feeding.
Q3) A smaller animal is more likely to be
A) an insectivore than a frugivore, because it cannot outcompete larger animals.
B) an insectivore than a frugivore, because it requires higher-quality food than larger animals.
C) a frugivore than an insectivore, because it cannot outcompete larger animals.
D) a frugivore than an insectivore, because it requires a lower quantity of food than larger animals.
Q4) How do active metabolism, growth rate, and reproductive effort affect basal metabolism?
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Chapter 6: Primate Mating Systems
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Q1) Discuss the better documented counterstrategies to infanticide evolved by female primates, and give specific primate examples from the reading.
Q2) Recent studies indicate that high-ranking male primates have
A) lower reproductive success than low-ranking or alien males.
B) higher reproductive success than low-ranking or alien males.
C) reproductive success equal to that of low-ranking and alien males.
D) limited reproductive success because of the stress of high rank.
Q3) In social groups in which there is mate guarding,
A) females groom males more frequently.
B) males have little parental investment.
C) extrapair copulations result in a percentage of offspring.
D) genetic testing has shown it is effective against extrapair copulation.
Q4) 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.
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Chapter 7: The Evolution of Cooperation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Interpret the following inequality as it pertains to parent-offspring conflict. Apply Hamilton's rule, from the current infant's perspective, assuming a gene expressed by the current infant increases maternal investment by a small amount.
1.0 * (increase in fitness of current fetus)
0.5 * (decrease in fitness of future offspring)
Q2) What is altruism? Why was it a puzzle for evolutionary biology before Hamilton?
Q3) What is group selection? Why do evolutionary biologists believe that individual selection will be more powerful than group selection when the two are in conflict?
Q4) Which of the following is predicted to occur after conflict results in violence as a way to mend relationships?
A) Huddling
B) Reconciliation
C) Coalition formation
D) Altruism
Q5) Compare altruism and mutualism in terms of the fitness effects on actors and recipients.
Q6) What is the evidence for maternal and paternal kin recognition? Illustrate your answer with examples.
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Chapter 8: Primate Life Histories and the Evolution of Intelligence
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Q1) When forming coalitions, monkeys
A) enlist only the physically largest group members as allies.
B) will act altruistically on behalf of allies.
C) respond positively only if it is beneficial to them.
D) choose lower-ranked animals to help them.
Q2) 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
Q3) How does life history theory explain the trade-offs regarding reproduction and offspring? Illustrate your answer with animal examples.
Q4) Explain why coalitional behavior may require sophisticated cognitive abilities.
Q5) Give two examples indicating that primates deliberately deceive conspecifics.
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Q6) Give two examples showing that primates have intelligence designed for navigating social relationships.
Chapter 9: From Tree Shrew to Ape
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Q1) The first mammals were
A) large and diurnal.
B) small and nocturnal.
C) large and cathemeral.
D) small and crepuscular.
Q2) Imagine a fossil specimen with huge eye sockets. This animal was most likely
A) a predator.
B) a prey animal.
C) nocturnal.
D) diurnal.
Q3) Which of the following derived characteristics did the earliest oligopithecid primates share with modern haplorrhines?
A) Their eye sockets were fully enclosed by bone.
B) They had a 2.1.3.3 dental formula.
C) They were nocturnal.
D) They had prehensile tails.
Q4) Discuss the different hypotheses that the chapter presents for how the first primates adapted to share the same suite of diagnostic characteristics.
Q5) What kind of environment did the earliest primates evolve in?
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Chapter 10: From Hominoid to Hominin
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Q1) 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?
Q2) Raymond Dart argued that the Taung child was bipedal because it possessed A) a femur angled toward the midline of the body.
B) an S-shaped spinal column.
C) footprints at Laetoli.
D) a foramen magnum at the bottom of the cranium.
Q3) 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.
Q4) Surprising findings regarding Ardipithecus ramidus include
A) limb proportions like those of modern great apes.
B) specialization for below-branch feeding.
C) limb proportions like those of monkeys.
D) hands that are similar to those of African apes.
Q5) Discuss three hypotheses concerning the evolution of bipedalism.
Q6) What is the anatomical evidence that early australopithecines were bipedal?
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Chapter 11: Oldowan Toolmakers and the Origin of Human
Life History
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Q1) Which of the following statements is true concerning human foraging groups?
A) Changes in human life history pattern were likely driven by humans' emphasis on collected foods.
B) Humans have been shaped by natural selection to be born able to carry out most important foraging tasks.
C) Food sharing and division of labor lead to increased competition between males and increased sexual dimorphism.
D) Food sharing and division of labor lead to reduced competition between males and reduced sexual dimorphism.
Q2) The first use of tools
A) was by australopithecine ancestors of humans.
B) probably precedes the divergence of humans and apes.
C) occurred after the evolution of bipedalism.
D) involved distinctly human abilities.
Q3) Chimpanzees primarily include ________ foods in their diet.
A) extracted
B) hunted
C) collected
D) provisioned
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Chapter 12: From Hominin to Homo
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Q1) During the height of the last glacial period (around 30 kya),
A) huge continental glaciers covered much of Southern Europe and North Africa.
B) sea levels rose.
C) Eurasia teemed with animals like woolly mammoths, woolly rhinoceros, reindeer, aurochs, musk oxen, and horses.
D) forests expanded in Africa.
Q2) ________ 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
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) What processes may have caused the changes in hominin morphology and technology during the Pleistocene?
Q5) Why do anatomists think that Homo ergaster did not have spoken language?
Page 14
Q6) 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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Q1) 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.
Q2) 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.
Q3) During the human Cultural Revolution, innovations included A) the beginnings of agriculture.
B) decoration and art.
C) democracy.
D) the first use of fire to cook food.
Q4) 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.
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Chapter 14: Human Genetic Variation
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Q1) If parents and offspring resemble each other, similarities are likely due to
A) shared genes.
B) shared genes and environments.
C) shared environment and culture.
D) shared genes, environments, and culture.
Q2) Researchers think that the negatively selected sequence HAR1
A) is related to the rapid evolution of the large and complex human brain.
B) has a slower rate of change in humans than in other lineages.
C) is found in a coding region and results in new proteins.
D) is involved in speech production along with FOXP2.
Q3) Most genetic variation exists
A) within local groups.
B) among local groups within races.
C) between races.
D) between local groups.
Q4) ________ tends to blur the effects of population expansions.
A) Mutation
B) Genetic drift
C) Gene flow
D) Founder effect
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Evolution and Human Behavior
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Q1) Among nonhuman primates, inbreeding
A) is common.
B) is rare.
C) occurs when animals are bored.
D) is avoided only with siblings.
Q2) Although men typically prefer a larger number of sexual partners than women do, A) men are less open to mating opportunities that do not involve long-term commitments.
B) this result is not found in all cultures.
C) in some cultures men and women differed more greatly than in others.
D) men prefer women who are older than they are.
Q3) In Buss's cross-cultural survey of mate preferences, he found that males and females cared most about A) chastity.
B) good health.
C) mutual attraction and love.
D) good sex.
Q4) Which aspects of Kipsigis bridewealth payments are consistent with evolutionary reasoning, and which are not?
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Chapter 16: Culture Cooperation and Human Uniqueness
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Q1) Imagine you are a European explorer living in nineteenth-century Europe and you decide to embark on an expedition to explore the Arctic. Based on historical evidence, how likely are you to survive this journey and why?
Q2) When chimpanzees are shown a specific behavior, they typically
A) copy it faithfully.
B) do not copy it.
C) only copy the components that are relevant to achieving an outcome.
D) copy only a few randomly chosen components.
Q3) The Turkana
A) practice farming.
B) live in permanent settlements.
C) frequently engage in warfare.
D) have a hierarchical political system with a king.
Q4) Define social facilitation, observational learning, and emulation. How do these different types of learning mechanisms play a role in shaping human culture?
Q5) In what ways is human cooperation different from that of other mammal species?
Q6) 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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