Deck 12: Human Variation and Adaptation

Question 1

The application of evolutionary principles to the study of human variation

A) reinforced traditional views of races as fixed biological entities that do not change
B) allowed scientists to ignore the adaptive significance of most traits
C) helped replace earlier views based solely on observed phenotypes
D) allowed scientists to divide the human species precisely into well-defined races
E) has been of little value for understanding human variation

Answer 1

helped replace earlier views based solely on observed phenotypes

Question 2

Which of the following contributes most to skin color?

A) hemoglobin
B) melanin
C) carotene
D) vitamin D
E) short-term acclimatization

Answer 2

melanin

Question 3

The evolutionary development of the species H. sapiens

A) is determined solely by genetic factors
B) is determined solely by environmental factors
C) can be accurately measured by IQ tests
D) is a Mendelian trait
E) is the result of both genetic and environmental factors

Answer 3

is the result of both genetic and environmental factors

Question 4

Deterministic or racist) views concerning human variation were once or presently held by all of the following except

A) Benjamin Franklin
B) Thomas Jefferson
C) Oliver Wendell Holmes
D) Abraham Lincoln
E) biologists

Question 5

What is the false belief that there is a relationship between physical traits and certain behavioral traits such as intelligence and morality?

A) eugenics
B) monogenism
C) polygenism
D) biological determinism
E) homeostasis

Question 6

Population geneticists use the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium equation to determine

A) whether evolution is occurring at all loci throughout the genome simultaneously
B) whether allele frequencies in a population are changing
C) the mode of inheritance of Mendelian traits
D) whether a particular trait is polygenic
E) if human populations are operating on evolutionary forces

Question 7

The ABO system is interesting from an anthropological perspective because it

A) illustrates that allele frequencies do NOT vary among populations
B) illustrates that some allele frequencies DO vary among populations
C) demonstrates that natural selection does not alter allele frequencies
D) has never been convincingly demonstrated for any allele
E) is no longer present in human populations

Question 8

What is the term for the philosophy of "race improvement" through the forced sterilization of some groups and the encouraged reproduction of others?

A) eugenics
B) genetics
C) monogenism
D) polygenism
E) polytpyic

Question 9

Who was responsible for popularizing eugenics among 19^th century Europeans?

A) Charles Darwin
B) Francis Galton
C) Georges Cuvier
D) Charles Lyell
E) Thomas Jefferson

Question 10

The eugenics movement

A) formed the basis for notions of racial equality in Nazi Germany
B) was popular throughout the 1970s.
C) is a now discredited view of racial purity
D) was begun by Charles Darwin
E) is supported in biological data

Question 11

A polytypic species

A) is one that has no phenotypic variability
B) has never been observed in nature
C) is one composed of local populations that differ from one another with regard to the expression of no more than three traits
D) is one composed of local populations that differ from one another with regard to the expression of one or more traits
E) is composed of widely dispersed populations

Question 12

Which factors do not influence mate choice?

A) geographical
B) ecological
C) social
D) biological
E) isolation from other vicinities

Question 13

In its most common biological usage, the term race

A) has precise definitions agreed upon all anthropologists
B) refers to the geographically patterned phenotypic variation within a species
C) refers only to skin color
D) refers only to IQ
E) refers to a person's nationality

Question 14

Lactose intolerance can be characterized by all of the following except

A) results from the lack of lactase
B) has a genetic basis
C) is a good example of biocultural evolution
D) can be influenced by the environment
E) does not involve a person's ability to digest milk

Question 15

Biological systems are balanced systems maintained by the interaction of physiological mechanisms that compensate for both external and internal changes. Such a balanced system is in

A) hypoxia
B) homeostasis
C) heterostasis
D) acclimatization
E) polystasis

Question 16

Categorizing people on the basis of skin color

A) is mostly a twentieth century phenomenon
B) has been practiced only by Western Europeans
C) is a valid approach to racial taxonomy
D) has a long history and has been practiced by many peoples
E) began with Christopher Columbus

Question 17

What is significant about areas in the DNA that contain repeated segments?

A) They are termed SNPs
B) They are the basis for DNA fingerprinting
C) They are the same from person to person
D) They cannot be mapped
E) They disprove the belief that there are variations of the human genome

Question 18

Adaptations are

A) seen only in nonhuman animals
B) the same as acclimatization responses
C) always temporary
D) long term evolutionary changes
E) short-term evolutionary changes

Question 19

The frequency of the O allele is almost 100 percent in indigenous

A) Northern Europeans
B) Chinese
C) Eurasians
D) Africans
E) South Americans

Question 20

Acclimatization refers to which of the following?

A) long-term adaptations of species to certain environmental conditions
B) an individual's short-term physiological responses to the environment
C) the appearance of a new species
D) slow genetic changes in populations
E) changes in climate

Question 21

The World Heath Organization lists ______ as the world's leading killer of adults.

A) car crashes
B) reality show stunts
C) tuberculosis
D) cholera
E) AIDS

Question 22

Studies have shown that UV radiation rapidly depletes ______, which plays a crucial role in neural tube development of the embryo.

A) melanin
B) melanocytes
C) carotene
D) folate
E) vitamin C

Question 23

Francis Galton, Darwin's cousin, originated the eugenics approach to "race improvement."

Question 24

The term race currently has only biological connotations and is without any social significance.

Question 25

Developmental acclimatization occurs in those individuals who

A) have recently moved to a high altitude environment
B) have spent their adult life at high altitude
C) were born in a high altitude environment, but who grew up in a low altitude environment
D) grow up in high altitude environments
E) live at high altitude and are lactose intolerant

Question 26

What causes rickets?

A) overexposure to ultraviolet radiation
B) too much vitamin D
C) an insufficient amount of melanin
D) too few melanocytes
E) an insufficient amount of vitamin D

Question 27

Sweating

A) is a uniquely human response to heat
B) has no detrimental physiological effects
C) is not an effective means of dissipating heat
D) permits cooling through evaporation
E) is an ability that varies from one human population to another

Question 28

Melanocytes

A) are cells that produce carotene
B) are found in the dermis
C) only occur in dark-skinned individuals
D) produce melanin
E) cause cancer

Question 29

Dark skin is found in populations near the equator. Why?

A) It protects from frostbite.
B) It protects from overexposure to ultraviolet radiation.
C) It helps prevent rickets.
D) It protects from the damaging effects of UV radiation on folate.
E) It increases the skin's exposure to ultraviolet radiation.

Question 30

Hypoxia

A) is the reduced availability of oxygen
B) occurs at higher altitudes because the atmosphere contains less oxygen than at sea level
C) exerts no stress on humans
D) is a problem for people living at sea level
E) is not a concern for humans

Question 31

Anders Retzius was the first European scientist to classify humans into races.

Question 32

Ultraviolet radiation can be an important factor in selection for increased melanin production because UV radiation can cause which of the following?

A) rickets
B) albinism
C) skin cancer
D) the rebuilding of folate
E) spina bifida

Question 33

Which of following protects from ultraviolet radiation?

A) carotene
B) hemoglobin
C) vitamin D
D) melanin
E) melanocytes

Question 34

Mechanisms for radiating body heat include which of the following?

A) increased production of red blood cells
B) vasodilation
C) vasoconstriction
D) increased activity levels
E) increased metabolic rate

Question 35

Light-skinned people, when compared to dark skinned people

A) produce too much melanin
B) have rickets
C) lack melanin
D) have no melanocytes
E) are not found in African populations

Question 36

What is an extensive outbreak of disease affecting large numbers of people over a wide area called?

A) pandemic
B) epidemic
C) vector
D) endemic
E) pathogen

Question 37

What are disease-causing organisms such as bacteria and viruses called?

A) pathogens
B) vectors
C) pandemics
D) endemics.
E) antigens

Question 38

Bergmann's rule

A) states that a linear body with long arms and legs is optimal for cold climates
B) concerns the relationship between climate and shape and size of appendages
C) states that bodies with increased mass or volume to surface area are optimal for cold climates
D) is based upon the principle that as arms increase in length, there is a corresponding increase in surface area
E) is based on the principle that heat is retained at the body surface

Question 39

When a disease is continuously present in a population it is said to be

A) pandemic
B) chronic
C) epidemic
D) lethal
E) endemic

Question 40

What is AIDS caused by?

A) mosquito bites
B) a bacterium
C) a mutation on a cell's receptor site
D) a virus
E) bad meat

Question 41

How did the adoption of a settled lifestyle affect patterns of infectious disease in human populations?

Question 42

Forensic anthropologists must deal with the race concept because they are asked by law enforcement agencies to identify an individual's race from skeletal remains.

Question 43

Discuss developmental acclimatization to high altitude.

Question 44

The most interesting fact about human skin color is that there appears to be no adaptive significance whatsoever to population-level variations in skin color.

Question 45

Thanks to the modern medicine, many infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and cholera are no longer a threat to human populations.

Question 46

Developmental acclimatization occurs in high-altitude natives during growth and development.

Question 47

The term ethnicity was originally proposed in order to avoid the emotional baggage associated with the term race.

Question 48

Define the term race. How does the modern use of race differ from the 19^th century use of race?

Question 49

Explain the historical views on human variation.

Question 50

What is the physiological mechanism of lactose intolerance? Why is the ability to digest milk sugars an example of biocultural evolution?

Question 51

Define vasoconstriction and describe its role in the human physiological response to cold.

Question 52

Explain what HIV is and the hypothesis of its origin. Describe why it is seen as the best example of evolution and adaptation in a pathogen.

Question 53

Infectious diseases have exerted enormous selective pressures on our species.

Question 54

Define vasodilation and describe its role in the human physiological response to heat.

Question 55

What is the adaptive value of dark skin tones in equatorial regions such as Africa? If all humans are ultimately from Africa, what hypotheses might explain why skin tones lightened as humans came to occupy more northern latitudes?

Question 56

What polymorphisms exist at the DNA level?

Question 57

The majority of modern anthropologists regard biological determinism as a valid mode of explaining human racial differences.

Question 58

What does it mean when one states that humans are members of the same polytypic species?

Question 59

Outline the general principles of Bergmann's and Allen's rules. Can we use these rules to explain human phenotypic variation at the level of the population?

Question 60

Discuss the factors that are contributing to the reemergence of infectious diseases that used to be close to extinction.