Deck 8: Plio-Pleistocene Hominins and the Genus Homo

Question 1

The hallmark of humanity is

A) the ability to devise and employ complex tools.
B) a complex process called biocultural evolution.
C) a cranium large enough to accommodate a large brain.
D) extremely complex forms of culture and language.

Answer 1

a complex process called biocultural evolution.

Question 2

Which of the following did NOT occur as a result of the frequent climatic fluctuations during the Plio-Pleistocene?

A) Many animal lineages diversified.
B) New species evolved to exploit newly created ecological niches.
C) A radiation of hominin forms in eastern Asia began.
D) Patterns of mixed habitat types developed.

Answer 2

A radiation of hominin forms in eastern Asia began.

Question 3

Which of the following is one of the hominin morphological groups of late Pliocene fossils?

A) a robust group with stout mandibles, massive teeth, and large chewing adaptations
B) a robust group with stout mandibles, small teeth, and a large cranium
C) a gracile group with small teeth and a small cranium
D) a gracile group with large teeth and large chewing adaptations

Answer 3

a robust group with stout mandibles, massive teeth, and large chewing adaptations

Question 4

The earliest robust hominin fossil is

A) Paranthropus boisei.
B) Paranthropus aethiopicus.
C) Australopithecus garhi.
D) Australopithecus africanus.

Question 5

When initially discovered, Paranthropus boisei was assigned to the species

A) Paranthropus aethiopicus.
B) Paranthropus robustus.
C) Zinjanthropus robustus.
D) Zinjanthropus boisei.

Question 6

The difference in the degree of facial prognathism between P. boisei and P. aethiopicus results primarily from

A) the dramatic reduction in the size of the mandible.
B) the dramatic reduction in the size of the incisors and canines.
C) the dramatic increase in the size of the cranium.
D) There is little or no difference in the degree of facial prognathism between P. boisei and P. aethiopicus.

Question 7

The robust hominin that has hands quite similar to human hands is

A) Paranthropus boisei.
B) Paranthropus aethiopicus.
C) Paranthropus robustus.
D) Australopithecus garhi.

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT a specialized chewing adaptation found in the robust australopithecines?

A) the sagittal ridge
B) the expanded molars
C) the flaring zygomatic arches
D) the smaller premolars and canines

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT true of the robust hominins' habitat?

A) There was a general global warming trend.
B) It included a broader set of climates and habitats than existed for earlier hominins.
C) There were rapid fluctuations in the global climate.
D) It was a grassland and woodland environment with numerous lakes.

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT true of the paranthropines?

A) They exhibited extreme morphologies in their skulls and teeth.
B) They were exclusively vegetarian.
C) They likely relied heavily on a tough vegetarian diet of seeds, roots, nuts, and hard-to-process leafy matter.
D) They likely ate meat.

Question 11

Recent measures of the megadontia quotient suggest that _____________ had the largest teeth relative to body size of any hominin.

A) Paranthropus boisei
B) Paranthropus aethiopicus
C) Paranthropus robustus
D) Australopithecus garhi

Question 12

____________ is found at four major sites in South Africa dating to between 2 and 1.5 million years ago.

A) Paranthropus boisei
B) Paranthropus aethiopicus
C) Paranthropus robustus
D) Australopithecus garhi

Question 13

_____________ was found on the west side of Lake Turkana in East Africa.

A) Paranthropus boisei
B) Paranthropus aethiopicus
C) Paranthropus robustus
D) Australopithecus garhi

Question 14

____________ is known from multiple fossils, all from East Africa, dating to about 2.3 to 1.3 million years ago.

A) Paranthropus boisei
B) Paranthropus aethiopicus
C) Paranthropus robustus
D) Australopithecus garhi

Question 15

Simple modified stone tools are found in the same general time and vicinity as

A) both P. aethiopicus and P. robustus fossils.
B) both P. boisei and P. robustus fossils.
C) both P. aethiopicus and P. boisei fossils.
D) all Paranthropus fossils.

Question 16

We cannot say for certain that the paranthropines were the makers or users of tools found with their fossils because

A) at least two other types of hominins were around at the same time.
B) there has never been a find in which the tools were associated exclusively with Paranthropus fossils.
C) Both A and B are correct.
D) Neither A nor B is correct.

Question 17

At least two other australopithecine forms, ____________, shared areas with Paranthropus during the same time period.

A) Australopithecus garhi in North Africa and Australopithecus africanus in East Africa
B) Australopithecus garhi in East Africa and Australopithecus africanus in South Africa
C) Australopithecus garhi and Australopithecus africanus in both East and South Africa
D) Australopithecus garhi and Australopithecus africanus in both East and North Africa

Question 18

_____________ is known from fossils of more than 50 individuals from at least three sites in South Africa.

A) Paranthropus boisei
B) Australopithecus africanus
C) Paranthropus aethiopicus
D) Australopithecus garhi

Question 19

_____________ was discovered at the Hata area in the Bouri geological formation of Ethiopia in 1999.

A) Paranthropus boisei
B) Australopithecus africanus
C) Paranthropus aethiopicus
D) Australopithecus garhi

Question 20

The face of A. africanus is

A) as prognathic as A. afarensis but less so than P. boisei or P. robustus.
B) as prognathic as P. robustus but less so than P. boisei or A. afarensis.
C) less prognathic than that of P. boisei but more so than A. afarensis or P. robustus.
D) more prognathic than that of P. boisei or P. robustus but less so than A. afarensis.

Question 21

_____________ fossils dating from a little more than 2 million years ago to about 1.6 million years ago were found in 1964 in East Africa's Olduvai Gorge.

A) Homo rudolfensis
B) Homo erectus
C) Homo habilis
D) Homo ergaster

Question 22

The majority of _____________ material comes from about twelve fossils, with very little postcranial material, found in East Africa and dating to between 2.4 and 1.6 million years ago.

A) Homo rudolfensis
B) Homo erectus
C) Homo habilis
D) Homo ergaster

Question 23

Which of the following is NOT one of the main perspectives of the current debate over the classification of fossils belonging to the genus Homo dating to between about 1.8 and 0.5 million years ago?

A) All members of the genus Homo occurring between roughly 1.8 and 0.3 million years ago are one species, Homo erectus.
B) The genus Homo included at least three or four species between 1.8 and 0.3 million years ago, and there were repeated movements out of Africa.
C) All fossils of the genus Homo from about 1.8 million years ago through the present day are members of the same species, Homo sapiens.
D) All members of the genus Homo occurring between roughly 1.8 and 0.3 million years ago are one species, Homo sapiens.

Question 24

In central Eurasia, the earliest hominin finds come from a site in

A) the Republic of Georgia called Dmanisi and date to about 1.7 million years ago.
B) the Republic of Georgia called Dmanisi and date to about 0.3 million years ago.
C) the Izmir region of Turkey and date to about 1.4 million years ago.
D) northern Syria and date to about 1.9 million years ago.

Question 25

Which of the following is true regarding Acheulean tools?

A) They are commonly found at all locations where H. erectus fossils are found.
B) Although they show up in many (but not all) H. erectus sites from Eastern and Southern Africa, none have been found at any H. erectus sites outside of the African locales.
C) Although they show up in many (but not all) H. erectus sites from Southern Africa to the British Islands to the Indian subcontinent, so far they have been uncovered at only one H. erectus site in East or Southeast Asia.
D) Although they show up in many (but not all) H. erectus sites from Southern Africa to the British Islands, so far they have been uncovered at only one H. erectus site in East or Southeast Asia, and none on the Indian subcontinent.

Question 26

Which of the following is NOT true regarding Acheulean tools?

A) They were named after a site in France.
B) They were more complex and diverse than Olduwan tools.
C) The main characteristic was bifacial flaking.
D) The "hand axe" was so named because it was hafted like a modern axe.

Question 27

Which of the following is NOT true regarding Acheulean tools?

A) The flakes had weak, dull edges.
B) The most typical tool was the bifacial "hand axe".
C) The tools were made in a variety of forms and sizes.
D) Analyses indicate that some of the tools were used to process meat and hides.

Question 28

The megadontia quotient (MQ) is a measure of

A) incisor/canine tooth area relative to body size.
B) canine/premolar tooth area relative to body size.
C) premolar/molar tooth area relative to body size.
D) molar/incisor tooth area relative to body size.

Question 29

A sagittal crest is

A) located on the top of the skull, between the parietal bones.
B) located on the top of the skull, between the temporal bones.
C) a fairly robust projection at the front of the temporal bones.
D) a fairly robust projection at the front of the frontal bone.

Question 30

The ability to use a(n) _____________ grip is an important requirement for making tools.

A) firm
B) unchangeable
C) precision
D) accurate

Question 31

A precision grip is which of the following?

A) the ability to grip objects gently and exert fine-tuned control of the movement of the objects
B) the ability to grip objects forcefully yet exert fine-tuned control of the movement of the objects
C) the ability to grip items between two hands
D) the ability to grip items between the thumb and the index finger

Question 32

Olduwan/Oldowan refers to

A) modified stones.
B) modified blades.
C) a site in E. Africa.
D) a site in S. Africa.

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT true regarding Olduwan/Oldowan tools?

A) They consist of relatively simple flakes.
B) They consist of choppers.
C) They date to about 3.5 million years ago.
D) They were the first stone tools in the archeological record.

Question 34

A supraorbital torus is

A) located on the top of the skull, between the parietal bones.
B) located on the top of the skull, between the temporal bones.
C) a fairly robust projection at the front of the temporal bones.
D) a fairly robust projection at the front of the frontal bone.

Question 35

Zygomatic arches are made up of the

A) maxilla and the parietal bones.
B) maxilla and the temporal bones.
C) maxilla and the frontal bones.
D) the maxilla and the orbital bones.

Question 36

The best definition for a mosaic habitat is

A) a habitat that includes both savanna and woodland habitat types.
B) a habitat that includes both woodland and forested habitat types.
C) a habitat that includes both wet and dry habitat types.
D) a habitat that includes mixed habitat types.

Question 37

Homo is best characterized by

A) bipedal locomotion, large brains, and biocultural evolution.
B) large tools, bipedal locomotion, and large brains.
C) bipedal locomotion, large tools, and biocultural evolution.
D) bipedal locomotion, large brains, and monogamy.

Question 38

In this text, the australopithecines are best described as

A) all species of Australopithecus.
B) all species of Paranthropus.
C) all species of both Australopithecus and Paranthropus.
D) H. habilis and all species of hominin in the Plio-Pleistocene fossil record before it.

Question 39

Shovel-shaped incisors

A) have a pitted inner surface.
B) have a ridge on the inner surface.
C) have a grooved inner surface.
D) have a flat inner surface.

Question 40

The Pliocene ended

A) about 8 million years ago.
B) about 5 million years ago.
C) about 1.8 million years ago.
D) about 10,000 years ago.

Question 41

The Pleistocene is

A) the epoch dating from 8 to 5 million years ago.
B) the epoch dating from 5 to 1.8 million years ago.
C) the epoch dating from 1.8 million to 10,000 years ago.
D) the epoch dating from 10,000 years ago to the present.

Question 42

A sagittal crest usually represents

A) decreased bone area for the attachment of more gracile chewing muscles.
B) increased bone area for the attachment of more massive chewing muscles.
C) decreased bone area for the attachment of more gracile neck muscles.
D) increased bone area for the attachment of more massive neck muscles.

Question 43

An occipital/nuchal torus is

A) a pronounced ridge, at the rearmost point on the occipital bone.
B) a pronounced ridge, at the foremost point on the occipital bone.
C) a pronounced ridge, at the rearmost point on the frontal bone.
D) a pronounced ridge, at the foremost point on the frontal bone.

Question 44

Which of the following species is NOT represented in the Plio-Pleistocene hominin fossil assemblages?

A) Paranthropus robustus
B) Australopithecus anamensis
C) Paranthropus aethiopicus
D) Homo habilis

Question 45

Which of the following species is represented in the Plio-Pleistocene hominin fossil assemblages?

A) Paranthropus boisei
B) Homo rudolfensis
C) Australopithecus afarensis
D) Homo erectus

Question 46

Name and compare/contrast the robust and gracile australopithecines. Your answer should include the names of at least three hominin species and at least two traits for each.

Question 47

Who were the robust hominins, and how were they different from other Plio-Pleistocene hominin forms? Your answer should include the names of at least three hominin species and at least two traits for each. OR Who were the gracile hominins? How are they related to later forms? Your answer should include the names of at least three hominin species and at least two traits for each.

Question 48

Discuss the following with regards to the Olduwan/Oldowan and Acheulian tool traditions How they were named, where they were found, which species used them, what they looked like, and for what they were used.

Question 49

In H. erectus, material cultures expand and begin to play an ever more important role in human evolution. Discuss three of the following; the use of tools, fire, shelters, food sources, or social grouping patterns of H. erectus and compare/contrast these with pre-H. erectus hominins.

Question 50

Some argue that either Homo habilis or Homo rudolfensis (or both) are in the Homo sapiens lineage (i.e., that one or both are our direct ancestors). Give two pieces of evidence for Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis being an ancestor of H. sapiens. Give two pieces of evidence against Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis being an ancestor of H. sapiens.