Deck 9: Early Hominins

Question 1

A primate with a mix of hominoid and hominid traits from about 7 million years ago is called

A) Australopithecus afarensis.
B) Gigantopithecus.
C) Kenyapithecus.
D) Ardithpithecus ramidus.
E) Sahelanthropus tchadensis.

Answer 1

Sahelanthropus tchadensis.

Question 2

Hominids with a brain larger than australopithecines appearing about 2.5 million years ago are generally divided into two species called

A) Australopithecus boisei and A. robustus.
B) Homo sapiens and Homo neandertalensis.
C) Homo habilis and Homo erectus.
D) Homo erectus and Paranthropus.
E) Homo habilis and H. rudolfensis.

Answer 2

Homo habilis and H. rudolfensis.

Question 3

During the late Miocene epoch, and into the Pliocene epoch, the climatic trend in Africa was one of

A) increased temperature.
B) increased precipitation.
C) drying and cooling.
D) stable temperatures.
E) cyclical fluctuations in rainfall.

Answer 3

drying and cooling.

Question 4

Along with an increase in hominid brain size, natural selection also favoured

A) increased reliance on visual acuity.
B) widening of the female pelvis to allow birthing of larger-brained infants.
C) a continued reduction in reliance on sense of smell.
D) the formation of larger and larger social groups.
E) a diet high in nutritious leafy greens.

Question 5

Based on current evidence, it appears that hominids began manufacturing stone tools at least one million years after the emergence of bipedalism.

Question 6

Microscopic scratches parallel to the edge of a stone tool often occur when the tool is used as a

A) chopper.
B) hammer.
C) saw.
D) scraper.
E) whittle.

Question 7

The Taung Child, described by Raymond Dart, was one of the most important fossil finds of the 20th century; it was the first australopithecine to be discovered and the first specimen of ________ to be described.

A) Australopithecus afarensis
B) Australopithecus robustus
C) Australopithecus africanus
D) Australopithecus boisei
E) Australopithecus anamensis

Question 8

Proposed explanations for the evolution of bipedalism include the following: erect posture facilitated both predator avoidance and prey detection; erect posture improved thermoregulation and the dispersion of body heat; and, erect posture freed the hands to perform other activities.

Question 9

Some East African hominids that are younger than about 2.5 million years old are classified as

A) Australopithecus afarensis.
B) Ardipithecus ramidus.
C) Neanderthals.
D) as members of our own genus, Homo.
E) Kenyapithecus.

Question 10

Homo rudolfensis is roughly contemporary with

A) Neandertals.
B) Homo habilis.
C) Homo erectus.
D) A. africanus.
E) Zinjanthropus.

Question 11

The fossil Orrorin tugenensis discovered in western Kenya in 1998 dates to about

A) 5.8 million years ago.
B) 9 million years ago.
C) 18 million years ago.
D) 22 million years ago.
E) 4.6 million years ago.

Question 12

Fossil finds from East Africa clearly show that bipedal hominids lived there in the early Pliocene (between 5 and 3 million years ago); these finds come from

A) Egypt, Sudan and Chad.
B) Chad, Sudan and Ethiopia.
C) Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya.
D) Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.
E) Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Question 13

Paleoanthropologists are quite sure that bipedalism developed quickly during the evolution of the early hominids.

Question 14

What is MYH16?

A) An australopithecine specimen.
B) A cranial bone.
C) A myosin gene.
D) A sexually transmitted disease.
E) A site in East Africa.

Question 15

Paleoanthropologists attempt to determine if a stone flake is a tool by looking for a

A) striking platform.
B) occipital keel.
C) sagittal crest.
D) residue.
E) sharp edge.

Question 16

Jonathan Wells and Jay Stock argue that ___________ led humans to become "colonizing apes," able to live in diverse environments.

A) convergent evolution
B) bipedalism
C) large brains
D) environmental change
E) tool use

Question 17

The group of fossil hominids discovered in Afar region of Ethiopia in 1999 and dated to about 2.5 million years ago are called

A) Australopithecus anamensis.
B) Australopithecus garhi.
C) Australopithecus afarensis.
D) Ardipithecus ramidus.
E) Australopithecus africanus.

Question 18

Which of the following statements about hominid bipedalism is incorrect?

A) Stone tool manufacturing appears well over a million years after the emergence of bipedalism
B) Bipedalism first emerged as an adaptive response to predator pressure -- early hominids had to out-run predators to survive.
C) Bipedal walking is more energy efficient over long distances than quadrupedal walking
D) The emergence of bipedalism was an evolutionary compromise -- it brought both adaptive benefits and costs.
E) Bipedalism, with the weight of the trunk over the pelvis, places considerable biomechanical strain on the hips, lower back, knees, ankles and feet.

Question 19

Which of the following is not a site at which hominin fossils have been discovered?

A) Alnif.
B) Taung.
C) Laetoli.
D) West Turkana.
E) Olduvai.

Question 20

By the time Homo habilis appeared just over 2 million years ago

A) hominid brain size was roughly the same as that of chimpanzees.
B) hominid brain size had been steadily increasing since the time of the earliest hominids.
C) hominid brain size was roughly 50% that of modern humans.
D) hominid brain size averaged 1000 cc.
E) the brain size of Homo habilis was virtually unchanged from that of earlier hominids.

Question 21

Reduction in the size of the face, cheek teeth and jaws over the course of hominid evolution was likely due to natural selection for a big, strong chewing apparatus being relaxed.

Question 22

Many anthropologists think that the increase in brain size in early Homo is linked to the emergence of stone tool making around 2.5 million years ago.

Question 23

Why does the presence of patterned stone tools at some hominin fossil sites indicate that early hominins had probably developed culture?

Question 24

One advantage of bipedalism is the ability to cover large areas, very quickly.

Question 25

The earliest australopithecines, Australopithecus anamensis and A. afarensis, are sometimes classified in the genus Paranthropus.

Question 26

In both ancient and modern apes, the spinal column enters the skill toward the back.

Question 27

In contrast to Australopithecus africanus, the robust australopithecines generally had thicker jaws but smaller molar and premolars.

Question 28

One of the possible consequences of brain expansion was that offspring are born more developed.

Question 29

What evidence suggests that bipedalism evolve first and increasing brain development followed later?

Question 30

The lumbar curve is a trait found in all primates.

Question 31

The hominin pelvis shifts the orientation of the femur from the front of the pelvis to the side.