Deck 6: Human Variation

Question 1

According to ________, with modernization, increases in food supply accompanied by reductions in physical activity and a switch to high calorie diets can lead to obesity and diabetes.

A) natural selection
B) balancing selection
C) the biocultural model
D) the multi-regional hypothesis
E) the thrifty gene hypothesis

Answer 1

the thrifty gene hypothesis

Question 2

In research conducted since the 1950s, it has been shown that human populations tend to conform to Bergmann's rule, but not Allen's rule.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

In the Himalayas,

A) low altitude dwellers have smaller lung size than high-altitude dwellers.
B) low altitude dwellers have larger lung size than high-altitude dwellers.
C) low altitude dwellers have the same lung size than high-altitude dwellers.
D) low altitude dwellers have reduced lung capacity than high-altitude dwellers.
E) low altitude dwellers have adapted better for surviving than high-altitude dwellers.

Answer 3

low altitude dwellers have the same lung size than high-altitude dwellers.

Question 4

Which of the following does not apply to Type II diabetes?

A) Type II diabetes is also known as adult-onset diabetes.
B) Type II diabetes is also known as NIDDM (i.e., non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus).
C) Type II diabetes tends to manifest itself in adult patients.
D) Type II diabetes is due to individuals lacking the gene necessary for insulin production.
E) Type II diabetes results from a sedentary lifestyle, chronic obesity and excess sugar intake.

Question 5

If an individual experiences oxygen deficiency at altitude, this condition is termed

A) nausea.
B) hypertrophy.
C) nitrogen narcosis.
D) hypoxia.
E) hypothermia.

Question 6

Many of the cultural changes in the world from A.D. 1500 to present have been caused, directly or indirectly, by

A) dominance and expansion of Western societies.
B) the interaction of genes, environment, and culture.
C) introduction of infectious diseases.
D) improvements in teaching and learning.
E) a secular trend.

Question 7

Hypoxia or oxygen deficiency results in

A) rapid breathing.
B) faster heartbeat.
C) activities being more difficult to undertake.
D) all of the above
E) A and B only

Question 8

As predicted by Bergmann's and Allen's rules, having a lean, long-limbed body type in an equatorial climate provides an individual with

A) greater surface area in relation to body mass which facilitates body heat dissipation.
B) less surface area in relation to body mass which facilitates body heat dissipation.
C) a constant surface area in relation to body mass, facilitating climatic adaptation.
D) less surface area in relation to body mass, facilitating body heat retention.
E) greater surface area in relation to body mass, facilitating body heat retention.

Question 9

The relationship between malaria and the allele that produces sickle-cell anemia in humans is an example of balancing selection because

A) malaria causes selection against individuals carrying the sickle-cell allele to be 100%.
B) individuals that are heterozygous for the sickle-cell allele have a selective advantage against malaria over homozygous normal and homozygous sickle-cell individuals.
C) malaria produces mortality rates of about 50% in both normal hemoglobin individuals and sickle-cell individuals.
D) malaria kills 50% of children with the sickle-cell allele, and a similar proportion of adults with the allele.
E) mortality is roughly equal between people dying from malaria and people dying from sickle-cell anemia.

Question 10

It has been observed that when children take IQ tests

A) skin colour has a major influence.
B) economics has a major influence.
C) religion has a major influence.
D) race has a major influence.
E) genetics has a major influence.

Question 11

The observed variation in world heights might be partly explained by

A) temperature differences
B) poor nutrition
C) disease
D) genetics
E) all of the above

Question 12

______________ occurs when a heterozygous combination of alleles is positively favoured even though a homozygous combination is disfavoured.

A) Normalizing selection
B) Balancing selection
C) Directional selection
D) Sexual selection
E) Cultural selection

Question 13

In the event of dramatic changes in the world environment

A) absolute uniformity in genetic diversity might be an evolutionary advantage.
B) reduced genetic diversity might be an evolutionary advantage.
C) greater genetic diversity might be an evolutionary advantage.
D) greater genetic diversity might be an evolutionary disadvantage.
E) greater genetic diversity might be an evolutionary dead-end.

Question 14

Individuals who have sickle-cell anemia

A) have inherited the same allele from both parents.
B) are heterozygous for the disease.
C) are more susceptible to malaria.
D) have inherited two different alleles from their parents.
E) are born with malaria.

Question 15

Research by psychologist Phillipe Rushton of the University of Western Ontario

A) shows Europeans and their descendants have the largest brains among modern human populations.
B) shows that East Asians have the fastest maturation rates among modern human populations.
C) has been dismissed by the general anthropological and broader scientific communities.
D) divides the human species into five biological races.
E) has been widely praised by anthropologists for its objective assessment of human variation.

Question 16

Differences in most disease patterns in humans is the result of

A) modern technology.
B) the size of the population.
C) the type of organism.
D) biological differences.
E) differences in behaviour.

Question 17

Cultural adaptations exhibited by humans include the alteration of our "microenvironments."

Question 18

The ultraviolet radiation that light skin absorbs facilitates the body's production of

A) Vitamin A.
B) Vitamin B.
C) Vitamin C.
D) Vitamin D.
E) Vitamin E.

Question 19

The biological relationship between melanin levels and climate across mammals and birds, where populations living in warmer climates have darker skin, fur or feathers than do populations of the same species living in cooler areas, is called

A) Allen's rule.
B) Gloger's rule.
C) Bergmann's rule.
D) the bioclimatic law.
E) Riesenfeld's rule.

Question 20

Researchers have observed an increased incidence of ________ among Canadian Aboriginal children as young as 5 years of age

A) malaria
B) tuberculosis
C) sickle-cell anemia
D) type II diabetes
E) influenza

Question 21

Why in some dairying societies did natural selection favour a biological solution to adult lactose intolerance, rather than a cultural solution?

Question 22

It has been suggested that Type II diabetes may be the result of fetal malnutrition.

Question 23

Compared with non-Aboriginal rates in Canada, diabetes in between two and five times more prevalent among Aboriginal people.

Question 24

Recent diseases like SARS and the West Nile virus had impacts not unlike a virgin soil epidemic.

Question 25

If a given trait is adaptive in one environment, it stands to reason that the trait will be adaptive in all environments.

Question 26

When first introduced into populations, Measles may will likely only kill a few individuals.

Question 27

A high degree of genetic homogeneity in a population may increase susceptibility to an infectious disease.

Question 28

Increasing rates of obesity and diabetes in the twentieth century, particularly among aboriginal populations, may be linked to possession of a "thrifty gene" that was an adaptation to food supply uncertainty and food shortages in our evolutionary past.

Question 29

Humans require vitamin D to incorporate calcium and ensure the proper growth and development of bones and teeth -- the more vitamin D, the better.

Question 30

Provide an argument against applying racial classifications to humans.

Question 31

Culture can influence the direction of natural selection.

Question 32

Current research on humans living in high-altitude environments indicates these people possess biological adaptations that are purely genetic.