Deck 10: Early Hominin Origins and Evolution: The Roots of Humanity

Question 1

What was the foundational behavior of hominins?

A)hunting
B)tool use
C)bipedalism
D)speech

Answer 1

bipedalism

Question 2

Based on the morphology of the hand phalanx,where did Orrorin tugenensis live?

A)a dry savannah
B)a woodland environment
C)a jungle environment
D)a forest environment

Answer 2

a forest environment

Question 3

Which of the following is a derived trait of Sahelanthropus tchandensis?

A)big toe opposability
B)larger body size
C)length of the calcaneus
D)nonhoning chewing complex

Answer 3

nonhoning chewing complex

Question 4

Which of the following is an adaptive characteristic of bipedalism?

A)opposable thumb
B)nails instead of claws
C)convergent eyes
D)longitudinal arch in the foot

Question 5

Ardi was adapted to life in trees and:

A)on the ground.
B)in the desert.
C)near water.
D)in snowy mountain ranges.

Question 6

An increased ability to see greater distances is one of the adaptations of:

A)bipedalism.
B)diurnal sleeping patterns.
C)improved diet.
D)becoming larger.

Question 7

Hominins have canines that are:

A)small,blunt,and nonprojecting,with no diastema.
B)large and pointed,with a diastema.
C)projecting,with a diastema.
D)part of a honing complex.

Question 8

What does the patchy forest hypothesis propose?

A)Forests became patchy and food more dispersed.
B)Forests became lush woodlands.
C)Forests became wet and swamplike.
D)Forests did not change.

Question 9

Adaptations by hominins include using tools and tool making.To what are these adaptations linked?

A)improved diet
B)bipedalism
C)sleeping
D)becoming larger

Question 10

Ardi's intermediate form of bipedality included the use of:

A)longer hind limbs for clinging and leaping.
B)palms and feet to move along tree branches.
C)long phalanges to wrap around tree branches.
D)a tail to grip tree trunks.

Question 11

Humans use their molars to ________ their food.

A)bite
B)crush
C)shear
D)slice

Question 12

Thick dental enamel in ________ helps with crushing food.

A)gorillas
B)hominins
C)chimpanzees
D)eosimians

Question 13

Darwin's hunting hypothesis,Rodman and McHenry's patchy forest hypothesis,and Lovejoy's provisioning hypothesis are three very different explanations for the rise of hominins,but all three invoke the same anatomical feature. What feature is this?

A)bipedalism
B)loss of diastema
C)increased brain size
D)changes in the hand that allow tool making and use

Question 14

Which of the following is true of speech,advanced cognition,and complex material culture?

A)They do not define a hominin.
B)They define a hominin.
C)They define a higher primate.
D)They did not evolve through the primate lineage.

Question 15

Based on the research of Philip Reno,early hominins show reduced sexual dimorphism.What is this evidence of?

A)competitive males
B)multifamily grouping
C)cooperative males
D)multimale grouping

Question 16

What do bipedalism's advantages over quadrupedalism include?

A)an ability to transport food more easily
B)an ability to run faster
C)reduced burden on the circulatory system
D)less exposure to predators

Question 17

What was one of the first recognizable ancestors of the lineage leading to humans?

A)Australopithecus afarensis
B)Paranthropus
C)Sahelanthropus tchandensis
D)Orrorin tugenensis

Question 18

What does ecological evidence from the site where Ardi was found show?

A)Early hominins lived in a lush jungle.
B)Early hominins lived in a savannah.
C)Early hominins lived in a forest.
D)Early hominins migrated out of the area due to drought.

Question 19

What does Owen Lovejoy's provisioning hypothesis propose?

A)Bipedalism meant less body surface to expose to the sun,resulting in a smaller body size.
B)Monogamy and food provisioning created the necessity for bipedalism.
C)Bipedalism arose in areas where the forest was disappearing.
D)Bipedalism arose as a result of a shift to hunting as a primary source of food.

Question 20

Which of the following two obligate features is a hominin defined as having?

A)speech and advanced cognition
B)bipedal locomotion and nonhoning chewing complex
C)bipedal locomotion and speech
D)nonhoning chewing complex and advanced cognition

Question 21

In East Africa,what are robust australopithecines also called?

A)Orrorin
B)Sahelanthropus
C)Gigantopithecus
D)Paranthropus

Question 22

What did the Laetoli footprints have that demonstrated that the foot of Australopithecus afarensis was humanlike?

A)long and curved toe bones
B)a divergent big toe
C)a single arch and five toes
D)a rounded heel and a double arch

Question 23

Along with other distinct traits a robust australopithecine had ________ adapted for grinding food.

A)large premolars and molars as well as a sagittal crest
B)small temporalis muscles and large canines
C)large front teeth and small back teeth
D)a small tongue and a small face

Question 24

Australopithecus robustus was likely the longest-surviving species of australopithecine in South Africa.What features did it have?

A)a big brain,big teeth,and a big face
B)large molars,a big face,and a sagittal crest
C)a large body,large teeth,and a sagittal crest
D)a big face,large teeth,and a large body

Question 25

Evidence indicating that Orrorin tugenensis was bipedal comes mainly from which part of the skeleton?

A)femur (thighbone)
B)skull
C)foot
D)pelvis

Question 26

What two different types of locomotion were australopithecines using in East Africa?

A)One was a quadruped and the other a leaper.
B)One was a clinger and the other a climber.
C)One was a knuckle walker and the other a quadruped.
D)One was a climber and the other more of a biped.

Question 27

What was probably the environment of the earliest hominins?

A)dense tropical forest
B)complex hybrid habitats
C)open savannah grassland
D)arid,high-altitude uplands

Question 28

By when were robust australopithecines extinct?

A)1 mya
B)3 mya
C)4 mya
D)6 mya

Question 29

Beginning more than 3 mya,at least two lineages of hominin emerged,one that led to the genus Homo and one that:

A)included the now extinct descendants of Au.afarensis.
B)gave rise to the genus Ardipithecus.
C)was an evolution of other australopithecine lineages.
D)ended with Au.africanus.

Question 30

At the Bouri site in Ethiopia,what did paleoanthropologists find accompanying the fossils attributed to Australopithecus garhi?

A)abundant stone tools
B)animal bones with cutmarks
C)evidence for early Homo
D)fossil footprints

Question 31

What is the only pre-australopithecine found outside the East African Rift Valley?

A)Orrorin tugenensis
B)Ardipithecus kadabba
C)Sahelanthropus tchadensis
D)Ardipithecus ramidus

Question 32

Australopithecus garhi may be the ancestor of:

A)Homo habilis.
B)Australopithecus afarensis.
C)Orrorin tugenesis.
D)Australopithecus africanus.

Question 33

What do distinctive traits of robust australopithecines include?

A)small front teeth,large back teeth,a big face,and a sagittal crest
B)a small brain and a large body
C)large front teeth,large back teeth,and no sagittal crest
D)a large diastema and no sagittal crest

Question 34

What is the name of the ravine in northern Tanzania where many early hominin fossils have been recovered (often referred to as the "cradle of humankind")?

A)Lake Turkana
B)Olduvai Gorge
C)Swartkrans
D)Hadar

Question 35

The adaptive radiation of the australopithecines after their split from the lineage that led to early Homo seems to have focused on:

A)bipedalism.
B)mastication.
C)brain size increase.
D)body size increase.

Question 36

What tools does the Oldowan Complex include?

A)hand axes,flakes,and cores
B)cobbles,flakes,and side scrapers
C)choppers,cobbles,flakes,and bone tools
D)choppers,hand axes,and side scrapers

Question 37

Australopithecus robustus's large masticatory complex (large molars,face,and muscles)indicate an adaptation to:

A)eating hard food with sand in it.
B)eating a great deal of red meat.
C)eating foods requiring heavy chewing.
D)gnawing on bones.

Question 38

The diversity of the hominins included increasingly specialized:

A)locomotion.
B)social patterns.
C)body sizes.
D)diets.

Question 39

What was the main reason the discovery of Australopithecus deyiremeda was important?

A)It had a small brain like an ape's.
B)It was discovered in Kenya.
C)It showed diversity in the hominin fossil record 3.5 mya.
D)It probably lived in woodlands.

Question 40

What time period does the Oldowan Complex fall under?

A)the Upper Paleolithic
B)the Lower Paleolithic
C)the Eocene
D)the Solutrean

Question 41

You find a fossil that you are sure shows evidence of bipedalism.The presence of which of the following anatomical traits allows you to know this?

A)a narrow pelvis
B)posterior position of the foramen magnum
C)opposable hallux
D)thighbones that angle in toward the knees

Question 42

Discuss the anatomical changes that occurred in the bipedal hominin and how they reflect certain habitat adaptations,and then discuss the hypotheses that propose why the change occurred.

Question 43

The earliest australopithecines first show up in the fossil record more than:

A)0.5 mya.
B)1 mya.
C)2 mya.
D)4 mya.

Question 44

What is the main reason that Australopithecus garhi has been proposed as an ancestor for Homo?

A)Australopithecus garhi had a bigger brain than other australopithecines.
B)Australopithecus garhi had smaller molar teeth than other australopithecines.
C)Australopithecus garhi had longer legs relative to arm length than other australopithecines.
D)Australopithecus garhi was bipedal.

Question 45

Discuss the Ardipithecus ramidus fossil and its implications for understanding human evolution.

Question 46

In an ape,what is the space between the upper lateral incisor and the canine,which accommodates a large,projecting lower canine,called?

A)a dental gap
B)a gingival space
C)a mesial bridge
D)a diastema

Question 47

A pre-australopithecine most likely has which of the following characteristics?

A)nonhoning dentition,primitive apelike traits,and increased brain size
B)modified honing dentition,primitive apelike traits,and increased brain size
C)modified honing dentition,primitive apelike traits,and small brain size
D)nonhoning dentition,loss of apelike traits,and small brain size

Question 48

Discuss the two obligate traits,including specific anatomical features,that first emerge in the pre-australopithecines to eventually become firmly established in australopithecines.

Question 49

What was Piltdown Man? Why was it significant?