Deck 8: Overview of the Fossil Primates

Question 1

Which are the two main branches of euprimates, grouped into superfamilies?

A)Tripoidea and Omomyoidea
B)Carpolestids and Propithecus
C)Adapoidea and Giganthopoidea
D)Pongo and Aegyptopithecus
E)Omomyoidea and Adapoidea

Answer 1

Omomyoidea and Adapoidea

Question 2

Which is NOT true about Apidium ?

A)It is the most abundant of Oligocene fossils of the parapithecid family.
B)It has an unusually large degree of sexual dimorphism.
C)Its teeth suggest a diet composed of fruits and some seeds.
D)Its limb remains show that this creature was a small arboreal quadruped.
E)It lived in polyandrous social groups composed of one female to many males.

Answer 2

It lived in polyandrous social groups composed of one female to many males.

Question 3

Why is the Egyptian site of Fayum relevant to Oligocene primates?

A)It is where the vast majority of Old World primate fossils from this period were found.
B)It was the only part of the world where any primates have been found.
C)It is the site where written records of primate existence were found.
D)Archaeologists love to excavate this site due to its beautiful climate.
E)Purgatoriids radiated from here.

Answer 3

It is where the vast majority of Old World primate fossils from this period were found.

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT true about carpolestids?

A)They were mouse to rat sized.
B)They exhibited specialized dental traits.
C)A skeleton of one was discovered in Wyoming recently.
D)Their postcranial anatomy reveals many traits adapted to highly arboreal environment.
E)They were much bigger than the Plesiadapis ,

Question 5

Which of the following is true about the tarsier-like omomyoids?

A)They have a tarsier-like dental formula (1.1.3.3).
B)They have small orbits and large snouts.
C)They include the Sub-Saharan Ramahala.
D)Members of the genus Teilhardina are found in America only.
E)Analysis of related species of Teilhardina has shown that the most primitive species were from Europe.

Question 6

Identify which of the following is NOT a New World monkey characteristic.

A)Sideways-facing nostrils
B)Three premolars
C)Tube-like ear hole
D)Grasping tail
E)Distribution: Mexico and South America

Question 7

Which is true about Aegyptopithecus ?

A)It is part of the Oligocentric family.
B)It weighed over 50 pounds.
C)It is a proposed ancestor of Old World monkeys and hominoids.
D)The skull is gigantic and resembles a tiger skull.
E)It was a very fast, large limbed biped.

Question 8

During which of the following epochs did the first archaic primates (65 to 55.8 mya)appear?

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

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT general anthropoid characteristics?

A)Nails instead of claws on all digits
B)Back of eye socket formed by bony plate
C)Dental comb
D)Shorter snouts with greater emphasis on smell
E)Larger brain

Question 10

Which of the following statements is NOT true about lemur-like adapoids?

A)They are the best known of the Eocene euprimates.
B)They have a primitive dental formula (2.1.4.3).
C)Most prominent families are the notharctids, adapids, amphipithecids.
D)They can only be found in Africa.
E)They belong to the genus Cantius.

Question 11

During which of the following epochs did the first euprimates, early strepsirrhines and haplhorines (55.8 to 33 mya)appear?

A)Holocene
B)Eocene
C)Miocene
D)Paleocene
E)Pliocene

Question 12

The most complete remains of an early African anthropoid is a new species of Biretia that

A)is dated to 37 mya.
B)weighs over 150 lbs.
C)was a diurnal primate based on its large orbits.
D)exhibits dental morphology typical of lemuriforms.
E)was placed into the extinct superfamily Peptobismoidea .

Question 13

In the study of the evolution of true lemurs and lorises, which of these factors took place?

A)The existence of an African loris in Egypt supports the idea that lemurs were from Africa.
B)It is believed that lemurs colonized Antarctica by rafting over the Magellanes Channel.
C)Lemurs were bats during early stages and flew to Madagascar from Africa.
D)Discovery was made of fossils in the Yuma depression of Arizona.
E)Hundreds of truly fossilized lemur remains were discovered in Madagascar.

Question 14

The early primates of the Oligocene are placed into which three families?

A)Oligopithecids, parapithecids, and propliopithecids
B)Parapithecids, adapids, and oligopithecids
C)Lemurcids, parapithecids, and propliopithecids
D)Rooneyia, oligopithecids, and adapids
E)Peptobismolidoids, orthodpecids, and adaptoids

Question 15

In Eocene euprimates one of the recognizable and modern derived primate traits is

A)forward-facing eyes.
B)lack of opposable big toes.
C)claws instead of nails.
D)reduced encephalization.
E)absence of a post-orbital bar.

Question 16

The best known of the giant lemurs

A)was named Megaladapis and weighed 170 pounds.
B)probably became extinct due to malaria.
C)was built more like a lizard than a lemur.
D)thrived with the presence of homo sapiens in Madagascar.
E)had very high reproductive rates.

Question 17

Which of the following is true about plesiadapidae?

A)They originated in North America.
B)They were mouse to rat size.
C)They had short incisors.
D)They had aerodynamic anatomy.
E)They appeared during the Miocene.

Question 18

During which of the following epochs did the first monkeys, apes, and humanlike creatures (23 to 5.3 mya)appear?

A)Holocene
B)Eocene
C)Miocene
D)Paleocene
E)Pliocene

Question 19

Branisella represents a branch from the clade of living New World monkeys. What else is known about these early platyrrhines?

A)It was found in the Arctic.
B)It gives us specific insights into modern-day platyrrhines.
C)It migrated from the Old World to South America about 37 mya.
D)It was able to reach South America by "island cruising."
E)It originated in El Dorado.

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT a general lemuriform characteristic?

A)Grooming claw
B)Dental comb
C)Eye sockets not completely enclosed in bone
D)Fusion of the two sides of the mandible to form one bone
E)Smaller brain size relative to body size

Question 21

Molecular evidence indicates that the gibbon-great ape split occurred

A)2 mya.
B)10 mya.
C)20 mya.
D)15 mya.
E)12 mya.

Question 22

Proconsul

A)lived in Africa from 7-2 mya.
B)was a carnivous, apelike creature.
C)ranged greatly in size from 100 to 1,500 pounds.
D)is likely to have had a tail.
E)had its first example (a skull)discovered on Rusinga Island, Kenya, in 1948.

Question 23

Pliopithecoidea, like the proconsuloids, are also generally known from the

A)early Archean.
B)early Proterozoic.
C)Cambrian.
D)early Ordovicians.
E)early Miocene.

Question 24

The emergence of the first hominoids dates back about 23 to 5.3 million years ago during the Miocene.

Question 25

Which of the following belongs to the distinct great ape lineage in Asia?

A)Gigantopithecus
B)Australopithecus
C)Pithecantropus
D)Afropithecus
E)Robustopithecus

Question 26

___________ is an extinct family that represents the earliest member of the lineage leading to present-day Old World Monkeys.

A)Victoriapithecus
B)Aegypithecus
C)Macaca
D)Proconsul
E)Changopithecus

Question 27

The abbreviation LCA stands for "Last Common Ancestor."

Question 28

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of Great Apes?

A)Narrow nose and palate
B)Y-5 molars
C)Larger brain
D)Shorter torso
E)Longer arms

Question 29

There is strong evidence that Khoratpithecus  is most likely the ancestor of the

A)Chimpanzee.
B)Orangutan.
C)Gibbon.
D)Colobine.
E)Rhesus monkey.

Question 30

Which of the following is NOT true about the Asian radiation of hominoids?

A)The hominoids were geographically dispersed from Turkey in the west to China in the east.
B)It includes Sivapithecus, a large hominoid of 70 to 150 pounds.
C)It includes from the late Miocene a hominoid descendant, known as Gigantopithecus.
D)Hominoids do not appear to have colonized Asia until about 15 mya.
E)Sivapithecus has been recovered from Northwest Asia.

Question 31

The best known of the first true apes (Hominoidea)appeared in Africa during the middle Miocene approximately

A)5 mya.
B)170 mya.
C)17 mya.
D)7 mya.
E).7 mya.

Question 32

During the Miocene, the drifting of ___________ away from Antarctica significantly altered ocean currents.

A)Southeast Asia and Australia
B)South America and Australia
C)South America and Africa
D)Australia and Africa
E)Atlantis and Pangea

Question 33

Identify which of the following is NOT an Old World monkey characteristic.

A)Downward-facing nostrils
B)Three premolars
C)Tube-like ear hole
D)Ischial callosities
E)Distribution: Africa, southern Asia, and Japan

Question 34

Cercopithecines

A)include baboons and macaques.
B)are members of Victoriapithecus.
C)include tarsiers.
D)are a group of New World monkeys.
E)means "primates who live close to each other."

Question 35

Which of the following is NOT true about the East African baboon-like Theropithecus?

A)Dietary niche was almost exclusively grasses.
B)It contained some notable fossil specimens, like a 225-pound monkey.
C)It is the only extant (still living)species is the Gelada.
D)Most of its members went extinct at some point during the middle Ordovician.
E)Competition with Papio baboons was a probable cause for extinction.

Question 36

Y-5 molars

A)are molars that have the 4 cusps positioned in 2 parallel rows or lobes.
B)have 5 cusps with grooves running between them.
C)is characteristic of all primates.
D)means that 5 incisors are present.
E)are present in polar bears.

Question 37

Which of the following is NOT a general characteristic of Old World monkeys?

A)Broad nose and palate
B)Smaller brain (in absolute terms and relative to body weight)
C)Shorter arms
D)Longer torso
E)Tail

Question 38

Which of the following hominoids resulted from a European radiation around 12 to 10 mya?

A)Dryopithecus from southern France and northern Spain
B)Paralelepithecus from Greece
C)Proconsul from Italy
D)Germanopithecus from Germany
E)Ronaldopithecus from Portugal

Question 39

Strepsirrhines include tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans.

Question 40

__________are often called the cheek-pouch monkeys, because of hamster-like pockets in their mouths that allow them to store food.

A)Cheekopithecus
B)Lemuriforms
C)Cercopithecines
D)Cebidea
E)Pitheciidae

Question 41

List the seven epochs of the Cenozoic era, and indicate which epoch saw the rise of the first archaic primates.

Question 42

Describe the evolution of true lemurs and lorises, and discuss the characteristics of the giant lemur Megaladapis.

Question 43

The term "subfossil" refers to a fossil of a more primitive species.

Question 44

Describe the main characteristics of New World monkeys and their ancestors, up to the last common ancestor with the Old World monkeys.

Question 45

Where is the Fayum Depression, and how is it significant in primate evolution?

Question 46

Plesiadapiforms are best known from a large number of fossil finds in South America.

Question 47

Hominoids disappear from the African fossil record about 13 mya, and they didn't reappear until the late Miocene about 10 mya.

Question 48

Discuss the three families associated with the order Plesiadapiformes, and describe some of the characteristics associated with them.

Question 49

Discuss the mysterious arrival of Platyrrhines in South America and explain the different theories.

Question 50

At the beginning of the Eocene epoch, North America and Europe were connected, and they shared many species in common.

Question 51

The presence of nails in Carpolestes is likely due to homoplasy rather than a shared derived characteristic.

Question 52

Describe the evolution of anthropoids, including the characteristics of New vs. Old World Monkeys.

Question 53

The term "euprimate" refers to the primate-like primitive species that preceded plesiadapids.

Question 54

Describe the main characteristics of Old World monkeys and their ancestors, up to the last common ancestor with the New World monkeys.

Question 55

Ouranopithecus shares many features with the living African great apes.

Question 56

The most likely scenario for the arrival of platyrrhines to South America involves floating across the Atlantic Ocean on rafts made of naturally forming mats of vegetation.

Question 57

Adapoids are the most primitive of the euprimates as shown by their dental anatomy.

Question 58

A paleoprimatologist is someone who specializes in the study of the modern nonhuman primate fossil record.

Question 59

Early platyrrhines, or New World anthropoid fossils, are found in the late Oligocene of Brazil and are placed into the genus Branisella.

Question 60

After flourishing for more than 8.5 million years, Giganto went extinct during the late Miocene period due to human predation and/or environmental change.

Question 61

Give an overview of the evolution of primates according to the epochs and their characteristics. Construct a family tree of the various families of primates and their ancestor/descendant relationships.

Question 62

Discuss the climatic and geological changes during the Miocene and the direct implications on the first ape-like primates.

Question 63

Describe the European continent during the Miocene and the characteristics of primates in the region.

Question 64

Describe the genus Theropithecus and its geographical areas of influence.

Question 65

Describe the differences and similarities of Pliopithecoids and Oligocene Catarrhines.

Question 66

Describe four of the most important fossil ape names, the epoch they lived, regions they were found, etc.

Question 67

Describe Gigantopithecus: how it lived, and its region, diet and locomotion. Detail how paleoanthropologists learned of it and what happened to it.

Question 68

Name and describe the hominoids that took part in the Asian radiation.

Question 69

Describe the importance of molecular anthropology for paleoprimatology. Explain how both of these work together to reconstruct the evolutionary history of primates and give examples of their research.

Question 70

List the ancestor of the orangutan, and describe their anatomic characteristics.

Question 71

Describe the extinction of primate species during the Miocene, and the new species that appeared with these changes.

Question 72

Describe the theories of primate migration to the New World, list the evidence used to support this theory, including its weaknesses.