Deck 6: The First Hominins and the Emergence of Homo

Question 1

With the drying trend of 16 million to 11 million years ago,the area called the __________ expanded in Africa.

A) savanna
B) rain forest
C) desert
D) bush

Answer 1

savanna

Question 2

The first clear evidence of stone tools appears more than __________ million years after the appearance of bipedalism.

A) 2
B) 4
C) 7
D) 10

Answer 2

2

Question 3

Sahelanthropus tchadensis lived about __________ million years ago.

A) 7
B) 5
C) 3
D) 2

Answer 3

7

Question 4

The face of A.afarensis and other australopithecines juts forward due to __________.

A) the presence of large teeth and jaws
B) their unusually small nose
C) their exceptionally large eye sockets
D) the position of the foramen magnum

Question 5

How does bipedal locomotion compare to the quadrupedal movement of chimpanzees?

A) It is more efficient over long distances.
B) It is faster for short spurts.
C) It uses far more energy.
D) It allows the body to carry more weight.

Question 6

How do we know that australopithecines and paranthropoids were definitely hominins?

A) They have a parabolic dental arch and reliable evidence for bipedalism.
B) They have hominin facial features and relatively short arms.
C) They have reliable evidence for bipedalism and relatively short arms.
D) They have hominin facial features and a parabolic dental arch.

Question 7

Recent genetic evidence suggests that the expansion of the brain might be related to __________.

A) a mutation in the muscles of the jaw
B) sexual selection for individuals with big brains
C) genetic drift between populations with big and smaller brains
D) hybridization between small-brained australopithecines and big-brained Homo

Question 8

Why is Sahelanthropus tchadensis an unusual specimen?

A) It was found outside Eastern or Southern Africa.
B) It is the most recently extinct hominin species.
C) It was fully bipedal but had no other hominin traits.
D) There was a fairly complete post-cranial skeleton, but no skull.

Question 9

Which scholar proposed the idea that male hominins needed their hands free to carry food back to females and babies,waiting at a home base?

A) C. Owen Lovejoy
B) Gordon Hewes
C) Sherwood Washburn
D) Milford Wolpoff

Question 10

Which term can be used to refer to the entire culture of Homo erectus?

A) Lower Paleolithic
B) Acheulian
C) Ice Age
D) Prehistoric

Question 11

Which of the following hominin characteristics came first?

A) bipedalism
B) modification of the female pelvis
C) expansion of the brain
D) reduction of the face

Question 12

A.anamensis has been found in several locations in __________.

A) Kenya
B) Egypt
C) South Africa
D) Chad

Question 13

What makes Ardipithecus ramidus unique?

A) It combined apelike dentition with bipedalism.
B) It had the modified pelvis and flattened face seen in much later hominin species.
C) It was massive, with body sizes much larger than a modern gorilla.
D) It was neither bipedal nor big-brained, but used tools.

Question 14

Why do we not know whether bipedalism developed quickly or gradually?

A) The fossil record is very slim for the period between 8 million and 4 million years ago.
B) There are very many bipedal hominoids, but very few quadrupedal ones for comparison.
C) Bipedalism seems to have appeared and disappeared from the fossil within a few million years.
D) There are no transitional or early bipedal fossils through which we can study the development of bipedalism.

Question 15

A.afarensis was sexually dimorphic,which means that __________.

A) the males were much heavier than the females
B) their teeth were used for reproductive displays
C) they lived in long-term pair-bonds
D) they had twin offspring, one male and one female

Question 16

The A.africanus fossil that Raymond Dart discovered was that of __________.

A) a young child
B) an adult man
C) an old woman
D) a teenager

Question 17

Homo erectus dates from __________ million years ago.

A) 1.8
B) 3.8
C) 2.8
D) 4.8

Question 18

The earliest identifiable stone tools from East Africa date from about __________ million years ago.

A) 2.5
B) 4.5
C) 3.5
D) 5.5

Question 19

Early Homo species had a brain capacity of about __________ percent of modern humans.

A) 50
B) 80
C) 60
D) 40

Question 20

The tool tradition identified with Homo erectus is the __________.

A) Acheulian
B) Mousterian
C) Oldowan
D) osteodontokeratic

Question 21

One early tool of the Acheulian tradition is known as the hand axe.Scientists think the hand axe was mostly used for __________.

A) butchering large animals
B) cutting down trees
C) digging trenches
D) artistic expression

Question 22

A fossil skeleton with a basin-shaped pelvis,a central foramen magnum,and arched feet would most likely be classified as a(n)__________.

A) hominin
B) ape
C) monkey
D) prosimian

Question 23

Homo ergaster is a name given by some archaeologists to what others consider to be Homo erectus found in __________.

A) Africa
B) North America
C) Asia
D) Europe

Question 24

What purpose might the caches of stone tools and stones for toolmaking left at various sites in East Africa serve for the hominins who made them?

A) They facilitated recurrent food collecting and processing at the site.
B) They were depositories of tools, which were used as a symbol of wealth.
C) They were religious offerings.
D) They were abandoned suddenly when the groups had to flee from predators.

Question 25

When we correct for body size,the hominin brain __________ after 2 million years ago.

A) increased both absolutely and relatively
B) decreased both absolutely and relatively
C) increased absolutely but not relatively
D) decreased absolutely but not relatively

Question 26

What information could be determined from the famous Australopithecus footprints found at Laetoli?

A) The creatures that made the footprints were bipedal.
B) The footprints were made by males.
C) Australopithecus was hairy and had long arms.
D) The creatures were primarily vegetarian.

Question 27

How would cooking with fire be adaptive?

A) It makes food more safely digestible.
B) It makes food taste better.
C) It increases the nutritional content of food.
D) It makes the food last longer.

Question 28

Dwarfism is an adaptation commonly found on islands when there __________.

A) are few predators
B) is not enough food
C) is a very low population density
D) are numerous competing species

Question 29

If a paleoanthropologist has discovered a bone-the lower back of the skull-what feature would she be able to examine?

A) occipital torus
B) sagittal keel
C) postorbital constriction
D) foramen magnum

Question 30

Paleoanthropologists disagree about our ancestors,but they do agree that __________.

A) there were at least two separate hominin lines between 3 million and 1 million years ago
B) there were no extinctions of any early species
C) evolution could not have played a role in speciation.
D) there is enough evidence to be certain of any conclusions they now draw

Question 31

What is notable about the Homo erectus skull found at Dmanisi?

A) It has some features that are reminiscent of Homo habilis.
B) It is much older than expected for Homo erectus.
C) It seems to be a hybrid of Homo erectus and Homo rudolfensis.
D) It is found much farther south than expected for Homo erectus.

Question 32

How might you determine whether hominins were hunters or scavengers?

A) investigate which marks were made first on animal bones-predator tooth marks, or stone tool cuts
B) use chemical analysis to determine whether or not hominins had regular meat in their diet
C) determine whether stone tools and animal remains in the same deposit have the same date
D) experiment with Oldowan-style tools to see if they are capable of butchering an animal

Question 33

When Homo erectus hunted they may have used fire.How would this be an advantage?

A) Animals were driven out of their hiding places and toward hunters.
B) Large areas of land could be cleared rapidly.
C) The hunting yields were less and this preserved many animal species.
D) It was a safer technique than hunting without fire.

Question 34

Which of the following features would you expect to find in any early Homo specimen?

A) reduced size of the face, teeth, and jaw
B) a long, plate-like pelvis
C) short stature
D) comparatively equal length of the arms and legs

Question 35

Does the presence of tools mean culture existed?

A) Yes, because making tools is a pattern of behavior shared by a group of individuals.
B) Yes, because along with the tools were elaborate instructions on how to use them.
C) No, because each generation had to discover how to make the tools on its own.
D) No, because the tools were simply passed down from generation to generation.

Question 36

According to Theodosius Dobzhansky,socialization and learning processes on which the transmission of culture wholly depends are tied to the length of __________.

A) the dependency period of human infants
B) the average human life span
C) the growing season
D) gestation

Question 37

In which set of bones could you see evidence of bipedal locomotion?

A) pelvis
B) rib cage
C) shoulder
D) elbows

Question 38

Which was the first plausible candidate for a transitional species between hominoids and hominins?

A) Ardipithecus
B) Australopithecus
C) Sahelanthropus
D) Orrorin

Question 39

Scientists on a dig have discovered a 2.5 million-year-old hominin fossil in Tanzania.Which species will this most likely represent?

A) A. afarensis
B) A. africanus
C) A. anamensis
D) A. bahrelghazali

Question 40

The creation of home bases or home ranges among early Homo groups may have increased the likelihood of __________.

A) food sharing
B) vegetarianism
C) bipedalism
D) pair bonding

Question 41

Why is Sahelanthropus tchadensis important in understanding evolution? What evidence is missing that is required to identify the species as a true hominin?

Question 42

Identify three important trends in early hominin evolution,and describe the anatomical changes associated with each.

Question 43

What do we know about Lower Paleolithic culture? Describe the cultural life of a Homo erectus family.

Question 44

Discuss how archaeologists know that something is a tool.What information can be determined from which methods? What areas of hominin lifestyles remain speculative?

Question 45

What is unique about the bodies of Homo floresiensis?

A) They were tiny.
B) They were not fully bipedal.
C) They had unusually small brains.
D) Their legs were adapted for leaping.

Question 46

For which of the following species does the fossil evidence suggest habitual bipedalism?

A) Orrorin tugenensis
B) Sahelanthropus tchadensis
C) Kenyapithecus
D) Sivapithecus

Question 47

How does experimenting with stone tools compare to microscopic analysis?

A) Experimenting tells us what the tools can do, but microscopic analysis tells us what they were actually used for.
B) Experimenting gives very little information about stone tools.
C) Microscopic analysis tells us where the stones were obtained.
D) Microscopic analysis tells us who used the tools, but experimenting tells us what they were used for.

Question 48

Why might large bifacial stone tools be absent from the Acheulian assemblages in eastern Asia?

A) The hominins there made their tools with different materials.
B) There were no Homo erectus populations that far east.
C) The Asia hominids did not make tools.
D) Stone tools are not preserved well in that environment.

Question 49

What is most significant about the species Homo erectus?

A) They were the first species of hominin to be widely distributed in the Old World.
B) They were the first hominins to use tools.
C) They were the only species of hominin confined to a very small geographical region.
D) They were the only vegetarian species of hominin.

Question 50

What evidence supports the idea that A.afarensis was at least partially arboreal?

A) Their arms and legs were about the same length.
B) They had fully opposable thumbs.
C) They have two bones in their lower limbs.
D) The feet have a distinctive arch.

Question 51

How does sexual dimorphism compare between Homo erectus and other hominin species?

A) It was about the same as in Homo sapiens.
B) It was greater than that found in Homo sapiens.
C) It was greater than that found in Homo habilis.
D) It was about the same as in Homo habilis.

Question 52

Discuss and evaluate the various theories on the evolution of bipedalism.

Question 53

Which of these is the most accurate depiction of early hominin evolution?

A) There were at least two lines of early hominins, one of which led to the genus Homo and the other of which went extinct.
B) There was only one dominant species of hominin, with a great deal of intra-specific variation.
C) There were at least four lines of early hominins, but they all became extinct long before the emergence of Homo.
D) There is very little consensus among paleoanthropologists about which features identify the true hominins.

Question 54

Why might A.garhi be a reasonable candidate for the direct ancestor of Homo?

A) It is found in the right place, the right time, and has the right set of physical traits.
B) It is the only one of the australopithecines associated with tool use.
C) It has the most advanced suite of bipedal characteristics of any of the hominins.
D) It has the largest brain relative to body size of any of the australopithecines.

Question 55

Is it possible that toolmaking is at least partially responsible for the development of bipedalism in hominins?

A) Yes, because they may have used bone or wooden tools that do not appear in the fossil record.
B) Yes, because all known bipedal hominins are associated with stone tools.
C) No, because there is no association between tools and other hominin features.
D) No, because many living primates make complex tools, and none of them has developed bipedal locomotion.