Deck 6: Early Hominins

Question 1

__________ was found in South Africa.

A)A.boisei
B)A.robustus
C)A.anamensis
D)Ardipithecusramidus
E)A.afarensis

Answer 1

A.robustus

Question 2

Oldowan tools were manufactured by

A)chipping flakes off a core.
B)chipping blades off a prepared core.
C)using deer antlers to pressure-flake a core.
D)striking steel against a stone core.
E)grinding a coarser stone against a softer one.

Answer 2

chipping flakes off a core.

Question 3

A fact about australopithecines is that they

A)have been found only in East Africa.
B)were the first hominins to migrate out of Africa.
C)developed and used Acheulian stone tools.
D)included both gracile and robust species.
E)are well known for their cave paintings.

Answer 3

included both gracile and robust species.

Question 4

A.afarensis's ___________ indicates bipedal locomotion.

A)shape of pelvis and lower spine
B)opposable thumb
C)decreased body hair
D)cranial capacity
E)relatively large grinding surfaces on its back teeth

Question 5

According to Johanson and White, __________ was the last common ancestor of A.boisei and H.habilis.

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

Question 6

Australopithecine skulls, jaws, and teeth indicate that

A)australopithecines had a high incidence of warfare.
B)australopithecines were strict carnivores.
C)australopithecines spoke complex languages.
D)australopithecines were largely vegetarian.
E)australopithecines were cannibals.

Question 7

__________ is not a trend in early hominin evolution.

A)Enlargement of the back teeth
B)The development of bipedal locomotion
C)Decreasing cranial capacity
D)Greater reliance on tools
E)Elaboration of cultural means of adaptation

Question 8

A probable adaptive advantage of bipedalism does not include the fact that bipedalism

A)increased hominins' ability to brachiate through trees and thus escape from predators.
B)helped hominins survive in open savanna environments.
C)allowed hominins to carry things to a home base.
D)helped to reduce exposure to solar radiation.
E)increased hominins' ability to see over tall grass and thus to spot food and predators.

Question 9

Ardipithecus possibly evolved into

A)A.garhi.
B)H.erectus.
C)A.anamensis.
D)H.habilis.
E)A.boisei.

Question 10

The presence of very large molars and a sagittal crest on top of the skull is evidence of

A)adaptation to cold climates.
B)the earliest use of domesticated plants.
C)humanlike brain organization.
D)a dramatic increase in hunting activity.
E)adaptation to a diet based on tough, fibrous, and gritty vegetation.

Question 11

A.afarensis is most clearly identified as a hominin because

A)its postcranial remains indicating bipedalism
B)its pointed canines project beyond the other teeth
C)it had stereoscopic vision
D)it had a small brain case
E)its molars larger than those of later Australopithecus

Question 12

The earliest stone tools (dating to 2.6 m.y.a.) discovered thus far

A)may have been made by A.garhi.
B)were made by H.erectus.
C)come from the Djurab Desert in Chad.
D)belong to the Mousterian toolmaking tradition.
E)were probably made by the last common ancestor of hominins and the African apes.

Question 13

__________ was a major hominin group that lived from about 4 million to 1 million years ago.

A)Homo sapiens
B)Homo erectus
C)Ramapithecus
D)Australopithecus
E)Dryopithecus

Question 14

The femur of Orrorin tugenensis suggests that it was

A)unable to climb in trees.
B)able to walk on two legs.
C)strictly arboreal.
D)nearly twice the size of a modern gorilla.
E)nearly identical to a modern human.

Question 15

Australopithecine robustness was most pronounced in

A)Ardipithecus
B)afarensis
C)anamensis
D)boisei
E)robustus

Question 16

The first hominins appear during the ___________ epoch.

A)Oldowan
B)Miocene
C)Würm
D)Pleistocene
E)Oligocene

Question 17

The statement.__________, best summarizes the relationship between the birth canal and brain size during the course of hominin evolution.

A)"natural selection has favored a tendency toward decreased brain size and a reduction in the size of the pelvic opening throughout hominin evolution"
B)"brain size has become more important than bipedalism over the course of hominin evolution, and the pelvic opening has continually expanded to compensate for larger brains"
C)"natural selection has struck a balance between the structural demands of upright posture in bipedalism, which limits the expansion of the pelvic opening, and the tendency toward increased brain size"
D)"the birth canal has become narrower throughout hominin evolution, even as brain size has continued to increase"
E)"the human pelvic opening has continually expanded to allow for increased brain size, and the upright posture of bipedalism has been unaffected by these structural changes"

Question 18

The statement, __________, is not true.

A)"australopithecines mainly ate savanna vegetation."
B)"australopithecines exhibited greater sexual dimorphism than do modern humans."
C)"australopithecines lived between approximately 4.2 and 1 m.y.a."
D)"australopithecines started out as knuckle-walkers (A.anamensis) and ended up bipedal (A.boisei)."
E)"australopithecines became more robust through time".

Question 19

Current evidence suggests that the last common ancestor of hominins and the African apes existed

A)15 to 20 m.y.a.
B)30 to 35 m.y.a.
C)6 to 8 m.y.a.
D)1.2 to 1.8 m.y.a.
E)300,000 to 400,000 years ago.

Question 20

Researchers know Ardipithecus

A)was a knuckle-walking proto-chimpanzee.
B)was a bipedal hominin with very apelike characteristics.
C)was merely a male Australopithecus anamensis.
D)is a New World monkey.
E)is ancestral to Neandertals but not to Homo sapiens.

Question 21

Both Ardipithecus and
A.anamensis appear to have been bipedal.

Question 22

The ancestors of Homo split off and become reproductively isolated from the later australopithecines

A)between 5 and 4 m.y.a.
B)between 7 and 6 m.y.a.
C)between 3 and 2 m.y.a.
D)between 1 m.y.a.and 500,000 years ago.
E)None of the above is correct.

Question 23

Identify and discuss the major features of australopithecine dentition.Discuss what these teeth reveal about australopithecine adaptation.

Question 24

The Laetoli footprints tell us that

A)A.afarensis was a large bodied, knuckle-walking ape.
B)A.afarensis did not have any natural predators.
C)A.afarensis lived in large social groups.
D)A.afarensis was a prey species for lions.
E)A.afarensis was a small, bipedal hominin.

Question 25

There is consensus among researchers that the gracile and robust australopithecines were different species.

Question 26

___________ is a difference between Homo erectus and the australopithecines.

A)H.erectus was fully bipedal.
B)The australopithecines' teeth suggest that they ate a lot more meat.
C)H.erectus's cranial capacity was much larger.
D)H.erectus had the largest sagittal crest of any hominin.
E)H.erectus's mortuary practices were less elaborate.

Question 27

The fossil known as

A)sediba is important because A.there is debate if it should be a member of Homo sapiens.
B)it has no evidence of being bipedal, but it has a large brain.
C)it was found with the earliest stone tools.
D)it has anatomy similar to both australopithecines and Homo.
E)a team of prominent paleoanthropologists found it on their first day in the field.

Question 28

The extinction of the australopithecines suggests that the

A)australopithecines ultimately were unsuccessful in competing with early Homo populations.
B)broad-spectrum revolution was not adaptive.
C)australopithecines had no social organization.
D)transitional stage between apes and humans was very short.
E)australopithecines are relatively unimportant in the study of human evolution.

Question 29

Australopithecine fossils been found in

A)Southern and western Africa.
B)Eastern Africa and the Middle East.
C)Eastern Africa, the Middle East, and India.
D)Southern and eastern Africa.
E)Eastern Africa, the Middle East, and southern Europe.

Question 30

The skeleton of "Lucy's baby" reveals that A.afarensis

A)was still completely arboreal.
B)was bipedal but still adapted to climbing.
C)was a chimpanzee ancestor.
D)had no period of infant dependency.
E)was able to make precise stone tools.

Question 31

Identify the most significant differences between the australopithecines and early Homo, and discuss how these differences related to environmental niches.

Question 32

The narrowing of the birth canal is a trend in hominin evolution.

Question 33

Identify the critical factors in the evolution of bipedalism.Include the primary theories about why humans became bipedal, and list the biological changes that take place.

Question 34

A.africanus

A)lived in eastern Africa.
B)had more sexual dimorphism than modern humans did.
C)lived 6 m.y.a.
D)had teeth very similar to modern humans.
E)was a hyperrobust species of australopithecine.

Question 35

A.anamensis Is best described as

A)being bipedal with large canines.
B)having lived 2 m.y.a.
C)A being bipedal with a large brain.
D)capable of making e first stone tools.
E)having lived in southern Africa.

Question 36

Analyze what makes us human.List and discuss the four key attributes of humans, and evaluate how these traits distinguish between human ancestors and apes.Include australopithecine examples in your answer.

Question 37

The 6 to 7 million-year-old primate skull discovered in northern Chad is

A)Lucy.
B)Proconsul.
C)Sahelanthropus tchadensis.
D)Homo erectus.
E)Homo sapiens.

Question 38

The teeth and skulls of australopithecines are indicative of a vegetarian diet.

Question 39

Decreasing brain size is a trend in hominin evolution.

Question 40

Discuss the place of Ardipithecus and Australopithecus anamensis in hominin evolution, as well as the current dates associated with both species.

Question 41

Robust australopithecine fossils have been found only in east Africa.

Question 42

By 1 m.y.a., H.erectus was the only hominin species that existed.

Question 43

Because an upright posture helps to conserve body heat, bipedalism may have developed among early hominins as an adaptation to the cooler conditions of the ice ages.

Question 44

Sexual dimorphism is less pronounced in modern humans than in the australopithecines.

Question 45

Bipedalism would have allowed early hominins to see above tall savanna grass, and thus to watch out for food and predators.

Question 46

The cranial features of
A.afarensis reflect a diet consisting primarily of soft fruits.

Question 47

A.afarensis made the footprints at the site of Laetoli in northern Tanzania

Question 48

A polytypic species is one in which there is a lot of phenotypic variation.

Question 49

The earliest known stone tools belong to the Acheulian tradition.

Question 50

The
A.afarensis fossils show that as recently as 3.0 m.y.a.our ancestors had a mixture of apelike and hominin features.

Question 51

Oldowan tools were made by striking flakes off the sides of cobbles.

Question 52

The genus Homo did not appear until after all of the australopithecines had become extinct.

Question 53

Compared to the australopithecines, early Homo had larger molars and the same cranial capacity.

Question 54

The dentition of
A.afarensis exhibits some similarities to that of modern apes.

Question 55

The oldest known stone tools date roughly to 2.6 m.y.a.