Deck 4: Becoming Human: the Origin and Diversity of Our Species

Question 1

The robust-bodied,relatively short armed and legged boned anatomy typical of Neanderthals of Europe and southwestern Asia are suggestive of:

A)adaptation to a cold arctic climate.
B)high levels of strength and endurance.
C)large levels of food consumption.
D)robust muscles in the shoulder and arm.
E)high levels of ritual activity.

Answer 1

high levels of strength and endurance.

Question 2

What was the key development among several early hominin species which pushed one of them gradually toward the capabilities of modern humans?

A)Increase of the big toe
B)Ability to grasp tools
C)Ability to walk on two legs
D)Leaving the forest for the savannah
E)Increase in brain size

Answer 2

Leaving the forest for the savannah

Question 3

All of the following are part of the theory of natural selection except:

A)all species display a range of variation,and some variations are more favorable than others.
B)organisms face a "struggle for existence" within their environments.
C)all species can expand and exceed their means of subsistence.
D)nature selects the most advantageous variations.
E)individuals with better adaptation will more selectively reproduce,favoring less offspring that are better cared for.

Answer 3

individuals with better adaptation will more selectively reproduce,favoring less offspring that are better cared for.

Question 4

The molecular basis of a gene was not known until

A)observed in a microscope by the Austrian monk,Gregor Mendel.
B)deduced rather than observed by the naturalist,Charles Darwin.
C)discovered during the 20th century when the electron microscope was invented.
D)observed in the sex cells of eels by Sigmund Freud.
E)deduced rather than observed by Gregor Mendel as a result of his experiments with garden peas.

Question 5

Genes are portions of molecules of long strands of which form chromosomes,or:

A)codons.
B)DNA.
C)RNA.
D)ribosomes.
E)transcriptions.

Question 6

Up until about 1.8 million years ago,the only home of bipedal primates was Africa.However,after that time,humans began to spread into China,Western Europe,Georgia,India,and Java.Which species was the first to migrate out of Africa?

A)Neandertal
B)Australopithecus anamensis
C)Homo habilis
D)Homo erectus
E)Homo sapiens

Question 7

Where were the oldest human fossil skulls found outside of Africa?

A)Caucasus Mountains
B)Spain
C)Java
D)Ural Mountains
E)Greece

Question 8

Jane Goodall did her pioneering field research on chimpanzees at Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve.In what country is this located?

A)Uganda
B)Kenya
C)Japan
D)Tanzania
E)Brazil

Question 9

The assumed rate of change for the "molecular clock" is:

A)between 20 and 40 percent every million years
B)between 18 and 20 percent every million years
C)between 2 and 4 percent every million years
D)between 40 and 50 percent every million years
E)between 25 and 30 percent every million years

Question 10

All of the following are characteristics of scientific thought regarding the theory of evolution except:

A)it is developed on a molecular basis.
B)it applies to groups of individuals.
C)it uses testable ideas.
D)it does not come out of a vacuum,but,instead,is part of a unified way of understanding life.
E)it does not account for the diversity of life.

Question 11

The first fragments of Homo habilis were found at:

A)Olduvai Gorge.
B)Laetoli.
C)Afar region.
D)Swartkrans.
E)Lake Tanganika.

Question 12

Homo habilis or "handy man" appeared approximately:

A)4 million years ago.
B)500 million years ago.
C)1 million years ago.
D)2.5 million years ago.
E)4.5 million years ago.

Question 13

One of the first Neanderthals was discovered:

A)by Eugene Dubois in 1908.
B)in the Neander Valley in 1856.
C)in the cave of Zhoukoudian in 1936.
D)in South Africa by Raymond Dart.
E)in the Fayum Depression during the Oligocene.

Question 14

What was the key new tool which Homo erectus developed?

A)Stone chopper
B)Hand-axe
C)Crossbow
D)Catapult
E)Dagger

Question 15

Which pigment source was commonly used about 130,000 years ago and is considered indicative of ritual activity according to many archaeologists?

A)Benne
B)Henna
C)Ochre
D)Indigo
E)Blood

Question 16

The Biological Connection article suggests that the main reason for the lengthening of human life in the modern world is:

A)better diet.
B)increased calories.
C)less meats and vegetables.
D)sedentary lifestyle.
E)discovery of antibiotics.

Question 17

In which type of environment do most scientists agree that early human forbears lived?

A)Tropical lowland environment
B)Heavily forested environment
C)A mixed forest and savanna environment
D)Large,open grassy savanna environment
E)Arid,desert environment

Question 18

The most famous Homo erectus discovery was in:

A)Turkey.
B)Kenya.
C)China.
D)Iran.
E)Indonesia.

Question 19

What genus is the hominin species living prior to one million years ago collectively called?

A)Australopithecus
B)Neandertal
C)Homo sapiens
D)Homo erectus
E)Homo habilis

Question 20

The smallest working units in biological classificatory systems that are reproductively isolated populations or groups of populations capable of interbreeding to produce fertile offspring are called:

A)genus.
B)genes.
C)species.
D)genome.
E)genetic code.

Question 21

The best estimates are that humans populated the Americas about:

A)25,000 years ago.
B)40,000 years ago.
C)10,000 to 12,000 years ago.
D)15,000 to 18,000 years ago.
E)5,000 to 6,000 years ago.

Question 22

Evolution explains the diversity of life by using hypotheses.

Question 23

The Denisovans were located in:

A)western Eurasia.
B)the Middle East.
C)eastern Eurasia.
D)northern Africa.
E)south Asia.

Question 24

Dogs are a domesticated subspecies of which wild animal?

A)Coyote
B)Wolf
C)Hyena
D)Bear
E)Tiger

Question 25

Which of the following is NOT an accurate description of Neandertal life?

A)Wore reindeer hides
B)Used sharpened wood
C)Lived in large caves
D)Had limited agricultural plots
E)Hunted wooly mammoths

Question 26

The Mousterian tool tradition dates back to:

A)125,000 years ago.
B)10,000 years ago.
C)500,000 years ago.
D)2.5 million years ago.
E)50,000 years ago.

Question 27

The biological concept of "race":

A)is applicable to modern humans.
B)is unclear.
C)cannot be applied to modern humans.
D)is a contested concept within the scientific community.
E)does not exist.

Question 28

As evidence of racism in classification systems,Johann Blumenbach (1752-1840):

A)threw out the Linnaean classification system.
B)judged the ideal type of human skull to be from sub-Saharan Africa.
C)believed that Caucasians were closer to the original ideal humans.
D)classified Europeans and Sub-Saharan Africans together.
E)Blumenbach was the only 18th scholar to avoid a racist classification system.

Question 29

When early hominins moved from the forests to the hot savannahs they eventually acquired:

A)more hair.
B)darker skin.
C)lighter skin.
D)less sun exposure.
E)lighter hair.

Question 30

What was the typical Upper Paleolithic tool?

A)Burin
B)Blade
C)Hand axe
D)Scraper
E)Chopper

Question 31

The hypothesis that modern humans originated through a process of simultaneous local transition from H.erectus to H.sapiens throughout the inhabited world is called:

A)multiregional hypothesis.
B)recent African origins hypothesis.
C)transitional hypothesis.
D)out of African hypothesis.
E)regional hypothesis.

Question 32

The United Nations was invoked as a positive force for combating discrimination by highlighting:

A)that the 1948 declaration declaring that racial discrimination is a violation of human rights.
B)the organization's absence of racism.
C)the attempt to eradicate global poverty.
D)the benefits of the Cold War.
E)the need to undermine corporate power.

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT a correct claim about the 18th century Swedish botanist Linnaeus?

A)He avoided a European bias while classifying humans.
B)He wrote the System of Nature.
C)He divided humans into four varieties by skin color.
D)He divided humans by temperament.
E)He showed a clear European bias in his works.

Question 34

Which of the following is NOT a correct claim about skin color?

A)It is a polygenic trait.
B)Melanin is a key aspect in pigmentation.
C)The human body has adapted to Ultra Violet radiations.
D)Light skin is more beneficial in the northern latitudes.
E)More melanin-producing cells means lighter skin color.

Question 35

About 12,000 years ago,what environmental changes created a shift in food production?

A)The climate of the north grew colder
B)Tundras and the large herd animals that they supported spread throughout the Old World
C)Glaciers melted and the sea levels rose
D)Deserts replaced forests
E)The fish disappeared from the ocean

Question 36

All of the following are examples of the "white superiority" complex EXCEPT:

A)bringing a Pygmy man to the World's Fair.
B)general racist discrimination against African-Americans.
C)use of census categories in the United States.
D)the classification of "higher" and "lower" races.
E)claims that no human ancestors did not come from Africa.

Question 37

Carolus Linnaeus based his classificatory system on body structure and function.

Question 38

What is a burin?

A)A hand axe that is standardized in form and bifacial
B)A flake that is used for large-game hunting
C)A scraper-like tool that is used for curing hides
D)A small boring tool that allows an individual to punch holes
E)A stone tool with chisel-like edges for working bone,horn,antler,or ivory

Question 39

Which is a term applied to an evolutionary process whereby humans modify,either intentionally or unintentionally,the genetic makeup of a population of plants or animals?

A)Transition
B)Conversion
C)Revolution
D)Domestication
E)Modification

Question 40

All of the following are inventions associated with the Upper Paleolithic except:

A)net hunting.
B)wheel.
C)burin.
D)bow and arrow.
E)spear-thrower.

Question 41

Pseudo-scientific classifications of humans were used to justify institutional discrimination in Europe and the United States.

Question 42

The biological concept of race is not applicable to humans.

Question 43

Bipedalism is the one trait that is necessary for a new species to be admitted into the human evolutionary line.

Question 44

Modern-day humans do have wild predators that threaten them.

Question 45

Chromosomes are long strands of DNA combined with protein that can be seen under the microscope in the cell nucleus.

Question 46

There is no ethnocentric bias in mid-18 century European taxonomy systems.

Question 47

UNESCO has been instrumental in challenging race-based theories.

Question 48

Dark-skinned people have less melanin production.

Question 49

Denisovans are considered "long-lost" cousins of Neandertals.

Question 50

Gene flow always occurs between populations of related organisms.

Question 51

The earliest Australopithecines were found in southern and western Africa.

Question 52

Darwin could not explain the mechanism of heredity from one generation to another.

Question 53

Animals were domesticated prior to the domestication of plants.

Question 54

With the appearance of the genus Homo,there developed a feedback loop between biological characteristics and cultural innovations in the human line.

Question 55

The genetic evidence supports the argument that there was genetic blending during the Upper Paleolithic era.

Question 56

The Neanderthals were once believed to be direct ancestors to contemporary peoples.

Question 57

Race discrimination was largely ended by the mid-20th century in the United States.

Question 58

Remains of H.erectus have been found only on three continents: Europe,Asia,and Africa.