Deck 7: The Primates

Question 1

Bonobos, which belong to the same genus as chimpanzees, are exceptional among primates because of

A) their ability to withstand the pressures of deforestation.
B) their male-centered communities.
C) the frequency with which they have sex, a behavior associated with conflict avoidance.
D) their marked sexual dimorphism.
E) their cannibalism.

Answer 1

the frequency with which they have sex, a behavior associated with conflict avoidance.

Question 2

The tribe hominini consists of

A) all the human species that ever existed (including extinct ones), excluding chimps and gorillas.
B) what scientists used to refer to as hominoids 20 years ago.
C) all bipedal primates that are represented in living species today.
D) all of the great apes.
E) all primates that share a genetic relationship with humans.

Answer 2

all the human species that ever existed (including extinct ones), excluding chimps and gorillas.

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT a hominoid?

A) gibbon
B) lemur
C) Homo sapiens
D) orangutan
E) siamang

Answer 3

lemur

Question 4

What is the term for a trait that organisms have jointly inherited from a common ancestor?

A) analogy
B) homology
C) phenotype
D) allele
E) meiosis

Question 5

Ancient anthropoids began to have fewer offspring that required longer and more attentive care. What did this select for?

A) pair bonding, which resembles the nuclear family, among 90 percent of present-day anthropoids
B) a greater capacity for brachiation
C) a greater reliance on nuts and tubers
D) increased reliance on life in trees, which protected the young from predators
E) increased social complexity

Question 6

Which of the following is an example of an analogy?

A) the mammary glands of dogs and the mammary glands of cats
B) similarities in chromosomal DNA between apes and humans
C) pentadactyly (having five digits on the hands and feet) among baboons and macaques
D) dolphin fins and fish fins
E) bony eye sockets in chimps and similar structures in gorillas

Question 7

Which of the following statements about orangutans is true?

A) The large size of the orangutan protects it from extinction.
B) Orangutans are the most sociable primates.
C) As is typical of arboreal species, the orangutan exhibits little sexual dimorphism.
D) Orangutans are less arboreal than gorillas.
E) Orangutans used to live over much of Asia but now are found only on two islands in Indonesia.

Question 8

Which of the following primate traits are believed to have been selected for life in trees?

A) fewer offspring and bipedalism
B) meat eating and aggression
C) larger females and gentle males
D) fingernails (instead of claws) and soft fingertips
E) stereoscopic vision and an opposable thumb

Question 9

Platyrrhines are to catarrhines as

A) terrestrial is to arboreal.
B) Old World monkeys are to New World monkeys.
C) New World monkeys are to Old World monkeys.
D) brachiators are to nonbrachiators.
E) prosimians are to anthropoids.

Question 10

New World monkeys are the only anthropoids that

A) have rough patches of skin on the buttocks.
B) exhibit sexual dimorphism.
C) have prehensile tails.
D) are capable of brachiation.
E) have orthograde posture.

Question 11

Which of the following is shared by all anthropoids?

A) the ability to knuckle-walk and carry tools
B) bipedalism and one offspring born at a time
C) prehensile tails
D) a decrease in the size of canines and an increase in the size of molars
E) stereoscopic vision

Question 12

Which of the following was NOT one of the trends that distinguished anthropoids from other primates?

A) a shift from reliance on smell to reliance on sight
B) improved stereoscopic and color vision
C) increased reliance on smell
D) a tendency toward being active during the day
E) none of these; all were part of the anthropoid revolution

Question 13

Which of the following primates is arboreal, active during the day, and has a prehensile tail?

A) prosimian
B) a New World monkey
C) an Old World monkey
D) a gibbon
E) extinct

Question 14

Which of the following is NOT one of the general primate tendencies discussed in the textbook?

A) relatively large brain size
B) aquatic lifestyle
C) five-fingered hands
D) small litter size
E) stereoscopic vision

Question 15

Primatology helps anthropologists make inferences about the early social organization of hominids and untangle issues of human nature and the origins of culture. Of particular relevance to these types of questions are two kinds of primates:

A) those with whom we share the least number of homologies, and those with whom we share the most analogies.
B) those that are in the tribe hominini, and those in the family hominidae.
C) those whose ecological adaptations are similar to our own (terrestrial monkeys and apes), and those most closely related to us, the great apes (chimpanzees and gorillas).
D) catarrhines and platyrrhines.
E) Gigantopithecus and Pierolapithecus.

Question 16

Which of the following are most closely related to chimpanzees?

A) humans
B) gibbons
C) lemurs
D) siamangs
E) orangutans

Question 17

What is a taxonomy?

A) an adaptive trait due to convergent evolution
B) a classification scheme where organisms are assigned to categories
C) a trait inherited from a common ancestor
D) a set of selective forces enacted on one lineage
E) a way to define an organism's repertoire of social behaviors

Question 18

Common ancestry isn't the only reason for similarities between species. Similar traits can also arise if species experience similar selective forces and adapt to them in similar ways. This process is known as

A) gene flow.
B) genetic evolution.
C) molecular convergence.
D) homology.
E) convergent evolution.

Question 19

Which of the following is not considered an anthropoid trend?

A) a shift from a moist muzzle and tactile hairs to fingers as the primary organs of touch
B) the evolution of a complicated visual system
C) an increase of cranial capacity relative to body size
D) an increase in hearing capacity at the expense of smell
E) a decrease in litter size

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT an adaptive trend in anthropoids?

A) stereoscopic vision
B) enhanced sense of touch
C) grasping hands and feet
D) decreased sociality
E) increased brain complexity

Question 21

In terms of numbers and range, what is the most successful living hominoid species?

A) gorilla
B) Homo sapiens
C) baboon
D) gibbon
E) chimpanzee

Question 22

Which of the following statements about Proconsul is NOT true?

A) It was the most abundant and successful of the anthropoids during the early Miocene.
B) It is probably the last common ancestor shared by Old World monkeys and apes.
C) It was a carnivore.
D) It had marked sexual dimorphism.
E) It lacked the capacity for brachiation.

Question 23

Analogies are similarities that are shared by organisms that belong to the same genus.

Question 24

How is individual fitness measured?

A) With techniques developed for anthropometry.
B) By the number of direct descendants an individual has.
C) By maximum lung capacity.
D) By the amount of genetic diversity in a breeding population.
E) By the gene an individual shares with relatives.

Question 25

Humans and apes belong to the same taxonomic superfamily, Hominoidea.

Question 26

Homologies are similarities between two species that have been jointly inherited from a common ancestor.

Question 27

Behavioral ecology studies the evolutionary basis of social behavior. What is one of the discipline's main assumptions?

A) Phenotype is the overwhelming result of genotype.
B) The genetic features of any species reflect a long history of differential reproductive success (that is, natural selection).
C) Natural selection best translates to "survival of the fittest."
D) There is no distinction between individual and inclusive fitness.
E) Individual fitness among hominins is measured differently than in other nonhuman primate species.

Question 28

Which of the following suggests that primates became primates by adapting to life in the trees?

A) visual predation hypothesis
B) terrestrial theory
C) deciduous hypothesis
D) mixed diet hypothesis
E) arboreal theory

Question 29

Primatology is relevant only to applied anthropologists concerned about deforestation and poaching.

Question 30

When scientists use the word hominid today, they mean pretty much the same thing as when they used this word 20 twenty years ago.

Question 31

Based on scientific theories of evolution, humans are not descended from gorillas or chimps. Rather,

A) they are descended from gorillas.
B) they are descended from chimps.
C) it is the other way around: gorillas and chimps are descended from humans.
D) humans and African apes share a common ancestor.
E) humans are descended from Adam and Eve.

Question 32

When do the first hominoid fossils appear?

A) Oligocene
B) Miocene
C) Pliocene
D) Pleistocene
E) Holocene

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT a threat to endangered primates?

A) interspecies conflict
B) deforestation
C) capture for laboratory testing
D) capture for pets
E) poachers

Question 34

In primate evolution, in which of the following epochs did prosimians dominate?

A) Miocene (24-5 m.y.a.)
B) Paleocene (65-54 m.y.a.)
C) Oligocene (34-23 m.y.a.)
D) Eocene (54-34 m.y.a.)
E) Pliocene (5-2 m.y.a.)

Question 35

What species coexisted with Homo erectus in Asia?

A) Afropithecus
B) Pierolapithecus
C) Gigantopithecus
D) Sivapithecus
E) Dryopithecus

Question 36

Opposable thumbs evolved as early primates adapted to terrestrial life.

Question 37

What are the eras of ancient, middle, and recent life, respectively?

A) Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic
B) Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic
C) Jurassic, Cretaceous, Tertiary
D) Proterozoic, Paleozoic, Recent
E) Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian

Question 38

Which of the following statements about the Oligocene epoch is NOT true?

A) Hominins first appear during this epoch.
B) It belongs to the Tertiary period.
C) This period dates to 38-23 m.y.a.
D) It was a time of major geological and climatic change.
E) Most of what we know about primates from this period comes from fossils found in the Fayum.

Question 39

All primates share a common arboreal heritage.

Question 40

A tiny euprimate skull found recently in China confirms that

A) our earliest ancestors were nocturnal, like Asian tarsiers.
B) euprimates were the first primates to live in the Paleozoic.
C) primates were already geographically widespread by 55 m.y.a., and their common ancestor must have evolved earlier than previously believed.
D) larger euprimates lived only in Europe.
E) the specimens previously thought to be euprimates from Europe and North Africa were actually mislabeled.

Question 41

Old World monkeys include both arboreal and terrestrial species.

Question 42

Sexual dimorphism tends to be more pronounced in terrestrial primate species.

Question 43

Because primates are highly social animals, they provide less care to offspring over a shorter period of time.

Question 44

Review this chapter and answer the following questions: What are the parts of the skeleton that seem to be more commonly found as fossils? What are the anatomical clues that these fossils provide to help scientists address questions about hominin origins?

Question 45

Discuss two cases of confirmed or possible convergent evolution between different primate species, indicating similarities and differences in natural selective forces and means of adaptation.

Question 46

It was during the Oligocene that anthropoids became the most numerous of the primates.

Question 47

Phylogenetically, who are our closest relatives? What evidence is used to support this relationship?

Question 48

Chimpanzees' social networks involve complex systems of dominance relationships.

Question 49

Describe the features that Old World monkeys, apes, and humans have in common that confirm they share more recent common ancestry with each other than they do with New World monkeys and prosimians.

Question 50

Because they are predominantly terrestrial, gorillas exhibit only minor sexual dimorphism.

Question 51

Platyrrhines are New World monkeys.

Question 52

Most New World monkeys have a tendency to use orthograde posture.

Question 53

Primates are among the most endangered of Earth's creatures, and anthropologists who study them have played key roles in efforts to save them. What threats do primates face? In terms of expanding anthropological knowledge, why is it important to conserve our nearest relatives?

Question 54

We live in the Cenozoic era.

Question 55

What are the general trends in hominoid evolution during the Miocene? What derived hominoid traits appeared during this time?

Question 56

Prosimians are found only in Madagascar.

Question 57

According to the arboreal theory, primates became primates by adapting to life in the savanna.

Question 58

Like apes and hominids, Old World monkeys have stereoscopic and full color vision.