Deck 5: Biology in the Present: Living People

Question 1

Which of the following are related to the biological process of homeostasis?

A)senescence
B)Wolff's law
C)osteoporosis
D)both A and B

Answer 1

osteoporosis

Question 2

Populations that have lived in hot climates for most of their history have more sweat glands than other populations.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE)consists of basal metabolic requirements plus all other energy requirements.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

DNA:

A)largely determines development from conception through death.
B)schedules growth,but environment and events influence actual development.
C)is the sole influence on growth and development.
D)none of the above

Question 5

Functional adaptations in humans during their lifetimes are usually associated with environmental conditions.

Question 6

The fact that Turkana children are often initially shorter than American children is indicative of:

A)the growth acceleration and deceleration associated with this life stage.
B)the fact that growth is often related to nutrition and other environmental factors.
C)the relationship between genes and the environment.
D)all of the above

Question 7

A cline:

A)is continuous variation that follows a continuum.
B)is variation that falls into discrete categories.
C)describes the pattern of occurrence of trisomy 18.
D)describes the pattern of variation of skin color in relation to latitude.
E)both A and D

Question 8

Human phenotypic and genotypic traits are correlated in their distribution.

Question 9

C.Loring Brace argued that the race concept:

A)was first used by Marco Polo as he recorded huge amounts of information during his travels in Asia.
B)has been present throughout human history.
C)can be traced to the Renaissance,when seafaring travelers observed differences between people from distant lands.
D)originated in ancient Egypt.

Question 10

According to the text,males and females differ in their ability to adapt to excessive heat.

Question 11

Bergmann's rule states that heat-adapted mammals will have long limbs,which maximize the body's surface area.

Question 12

Both undernutrition and overnutrition can lead to cardiovascular disease.

Question 13

Loss of body hair during human evolution may have resulted from thermoregulatory adaptation to sweating in hot climates.

Question 14

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach:

A)discovered the existence of three races.
B)categorized skulls into five racial types.
C)used blood types and skin colors to create a racial taxonomy for humans.
D)showed that skull shape changed over time.

Question 15

Vasodilation is the expansion of blood vessels near the body's surface in response to excessive cold.

Question 16

The postnatal stage in humans consists of:

A)the neonatal period.
B)the neonatal period through the end of lactation.
C)infancy,childhood,juvenile period,puberty,adolescence,and adulthood.
D)the neonatal period,infancy,juvenile period,puberty,and adolescence.

Question 17

Franz Boas:

A)was a big supporter of the race concept.
B)created racial categories based on living populations in the United States.
C)showed that U.S.-born children had the same head shapes as their immigrant parents.
D)showed that U.S.-born children had different head shapes than their immigrant parents.

Question 18

Results from anthropomorphic measurements of Turkana pastoralists indicate long limbs.This suggests which of the following?

A)The population is one point on the continuum of variation observed in Allen's rule.
B)The population represents the variability that results from Wolff's law of skeletal replacement.
C)The population has body proportions that are not well adapted to warmer climates.
D)According to Allen's rule,pastoralist populations are well adapted for life at high latitudes.

Question 19

Adaptations function to maintain internal homeostasis.

Question 20

Robert Lewontin found that human "races" have no taxonomic significance.He demonstrated this:

A)through research indicating that most genetic variation is found among human races.
B)through research indicating that most genetic variation is found across human populations.
C)through the examination of variation in multiple human skull characteristics.
D)through research that examined genetic diversity across different species of mammals.

Question 21

Relative to people with a history of living in temperate climates,the Inuit and other cold-adapted populations:

A)have lower BMR.
B)consume more carbohydrates.
C)reduce peripheral body temperatures to maintain core temperatures.
D)none of the above

Question 22

Although Bergmann's and Allen's rules most often explain body shape and morphology,we occasionally see variations from the correct patterns.This indicates that:

A)the long-term association between body shape and climate is an example of acclimatization.
B)body shape and morphology reflect both evolutionary and developmental processes.
C)the association between body shape and morphology does not respond to environmental stressors.
D)the association between body shape,morphology,and the environment is not a result of natural selection.

Question 23

Functional adaptations to high altitude include all of the following EXCEPT:

A)smaller diameter of blood vessels.
B)greater lung volume.
C)more efficient use of oxygen.
D)high oxygen saturation in hemoglobin.

Question 24

Children living at high altitudes develop a larger chest cavity by adulthood than children living at lower altitudes.This is an example of:

A)developmental adaptations that occur at the population level.
B)acclimatization at the individual level.
C)developmental adaptations that occur at the level of the individual during critical life stages.
D)none of the above

Question 25

Anthropological research on the Turkana people in Kenya shows:

A)that adaptations to harsh environments are primarily biological and demographic.
B)that they primarily use cultural buffering strategies to adapt to a harsh environment.
C)the importance of both biological and cultural adaptations to ecological stress.
D)none of the above

Question 26

Puberty is marked by:

A)menarche in girls.
B)similar body size in boys and girls.
C)completion of brain growth.
D)adult social roles.

Question 27

The growth potential of populations:

A)has been reached worldwide thanks to improvements in genetic technology.
B)has not yet been reached in most wealthy countries.
C)has been reached even in less wealthy populations where growth periods are slow.
D)can be achieved with improvements in disease control and nutrition.

Question 28

The provisioning of food to post-reproductive women in a population of Turkana pastoralists:

A)suggests that women at this age are not capable of producing food due to low genetic fitness.
B)supports the theory that post-reproductive women play an important role in the community and as caretakers.
C)suggests that women at this age can contribute to overall genetic fitness although they are past the reproductive stage.
D)all of the above

Question 29

Human brain growth is completed by age:

A)three.
B)18 months.
C)six.
D)10.

Question 30

Exercise improves physical fitness by contributing to all of the following EXCEPT:

A)increased bone strength.
B)increased heart and lung function.
C)increased cholesterol.
D)lower blood pressure.

Question 31

In an anatomy lab you are shown both of the upper arm bones of a single individual.You note in your lab book that the diameter of the left arm bone is significantly larger than that of the right arm bone.From this you infer that:

A)the individual was likely ambidextrous,lacking the dominant arm required for athletics.
B)this particular individual is a good example of the properties of Allen's rule.
C)this individual predominantly used his or her left arm for either sporting activities or daily use.
D)this individual predominantly used his or her right arm for either sporting activities or daily use.

Question 32

While conducting a study on hypoxia among individuals living in the Peruvian Andes you have been able to show that individuals in the population have likely suffered hypoxia and/or resided there for long periods of time.You know this because:

A)individuals in your sample have a smaller chest cavity than do individuals who live in the village at the base of the mountains.
B)individuals who moved to the region as children have greater lung volumes than individuals who moved to the area as adults.
C)individuals in the population had very low red blood cell counts.
D)none of the above

Question 33

For women with very low body weight,high amounts of exercise can result in:

A)increased female fertility.
B)increased ovarian function.
C)reduced ability to conceive relative to women who do not exercise.
D)higher rates of conception than in women who do not exercise.

Question 34

Infancy ends:

A)at 36 months.
B)before deciduous dentition has completely erupted.
C)with completion of brain growth.
D)with weaning,which occurs at the same time across cultures.

Question 35

When epiphyses fuse to the diaphyses:

A)long bone growth is slowed.
B)full adult height is attained.
C)the adolescent growth spurt begins.
D)is largely determined by the environment.

Question 36

The average heights of European-American males in the United States fluctuated between 1710 and 1970 and:

A)were not affected by improvements in sanitation.
B)were positively affected by increasing population density.
C)were mostly influenced by shifts in immigrants' geographic origins.
D)were positively affected by access to medical care.

Question 37

Ethnographic evidence from around the world shows that postmenopausal women do all of the following EXCEPT:

A)die young.
B)play important roles in provisioning grandchildren.
C)act as repositories of information about culture and society.
D)contribute to their daughters' reproductive success.

Question 38

David Barker's research on poor early health led to the hypothesis that:

A)poor fetal nutrition increases the likelihood of death from stroke.
B)low birth weight is correlated with death from coronary heart disease.
C)small babies are more likely to be underweight as adults.
D)poor health during the fetal period results in the reduced ability to maintain homeostasis.

Question 39

Osteoporosis is:

A)less common in postmenopausal women with low amounts of estrogen.
B)more common in men than in women because of testosterone.
C)decreased susceptibility to bone fracture that comes with changes in bone mass.
D)a main cause of hip fractures in older women.

Question 40

Before adulthood,height deficits can be made up by:

A)rapid growth following disruption.
B)longer duration of growth.
C)neither A nor B
D)both A and B

Question 41

Reports show that in the last forty years the average weight of six- to eleven-year-old children has gone from 65 to 74 pounds.We know that:

A)a weight increase can lead to physiological conditions that put the children at greater risk of heart disease among other conditions.
B)a weight increase of this amount is likely related to increased consumption of foods high in micronutrients.
C)these children will have no adverse effect from being overweight or obese.
D)none of the above

Question 42

Is race a valid,biologically meaningful concept? Why or why not?

Question 43

Discuss the problems and consequences of undernutrition and overnutrition around the world.

Question 44

Discuss how adaptations to local environments have likely influenced the evolution of skin color in different geographic regions of the world.

Question 45

Low birth weight can result from a mother's:

A)malnutrition.
B)excessive alcohol consumption.
C)smoking.
D)all of the above

Question 46

Friedrich Blumenbach categorized humans into the following races:

A)Negroids,Caucasoids,Mongoloids.
B)Mongoloids,Negroids,Inuit,Caucasoids.
C)Mongoloids,Malays,Ethiopians,American Indians,and Caucasoids.
D)Mongoloids,Negroids,Malays,Europeans,and Caucasoids.

Question 47

While reading an ethnography of women living in a rural African community,you notice that women in this community have a significantly greater workload than men.The data show that women spend more time clearing and planting fields than men of an equivalent age.What influence will this have on the overall population?

A)The population size will rapidly increase because women show greater fitness.
B)The population may remain the same or decrease due to lowered birth rate of women.
C)The population will remain the same because gendered difference in workload has no relationship to fluctuations in population size.
D)The population will only increase if the workload of women remains the same.

Question 48

How does human life history (prenatal stage,infancy,childhood,juvenile stage,adolescence,adulthood,old age)shed light on the interaction between genes and environment?

Question 49

Hypoxia has been shown to be an agent of natural selection in that Tibetan women:

A)at high altitudes had fewer surviving children.
B)with alleles for high oxygen saturation in their hemoglobin had more surviving children.
C)with alleles for high oxygen saturation in their hemoglobin had fewer surviving children.
D)have poor nutrition.

Question 50

Wolff's law:

A)is the principle that the lengths of limb bones are related to environmental conditions.
B)applies to the maintenance of the endocrine system.
C)accounts for the remodeling of bone when it is under stress.
D)says that bone mass is taken away where it is needed and produced where it is not needed.

Question 51

Inherited human adaptations include all of the following EXCEPT:

A)genetic adaptation at the population level.
B)acclimatization.
C)more efficient use of oxygen.
D)none of the above

Question 52

Discuss the significance of workload adaptation for skeletal function and maintenance of bone strength.

Question 53

The strength and mass of bone:

A)do not affect the tendency to fracture.
B)are entirely genetically determined.
C)vary with an individual's level of physical activity.
D)none of the above

Question 54

Dark skin (a result of increased melanin production in equatorial peoples)is likely a response to ultraviolet radiation,because UV radiation can cause:

A)skin cancer.
B)hypoxia.
C)rickets.
D)none of the above