Question 1

Which of the following statements about australopiths is true?

Accepted Answer

A)   They have been found predominantly in West Africa.
B)   They were fully bipedal.
C)   They lived in the tropical forest.
D)   They had a greater cranial capacity than Homo erectus.
E)   They were primarily carnivores.

Question 2

The earliest widely accepted hominin genus is

Accepted Answer

A)   Kenyanthropus platyops.
B)   Ardipithecus.
C)   Paranthropus.
D)   Australopithecus.
E)   H. erectus.

Question 3

Which of the following statements about the South African australopiths and Homo sapiens is true?

Accepted Answer

A)   Australopiths probably relied more on the use of tools than did the early Homo.
B)   Australopith Au. sediba is a Homo sapiens ancestor.
C)   Australopith sexual dimorphism was less pronounced than it is in Homo sapiens.
D)   As compared to Homo sapiens, australopiths had large chewing muscles that ran up the jaw.
E)   Australopith brain size was approximately the same as Homo sapiens.

Question 4

Fossils of Au. afarensis are particularly significant because

Accepted Answer

A)   Au. afarensis remains are the oldest to be found in association with evidence of both stone tools and fire use.
B)   they show that the gracile australopiths were not hominins after all.
C)   they are the oldest hominin fossils yet found in the New World.
D)   they comprise the first fossil evidence to confirm that bipedalism preceded the evolution of a humanlike brain.
E)   they show that humans evolved in Asia rather than Africa.

Question 5

Of the following features belonging to Au. afarensis, which is evidence of its adaptation to bipedal locomotion?

Accepted Answer

A)   the development of an opposable thumb
B)   its relatively large grinding surfaces on the back teeth, compared to earlier primate fossils
C)   its cranial capacity
D)   the presence of crude stone tools
E)   the position of its foramen magnum underneath the skull

Question 6

As compared to the robust australopiths, the gracile australopiths

Accepted Answer

A)   had smaller teeth and faces.
B)   were not sexually dimorphic.
C)   had bony crests on their skulls.
D)   were carnivorous.
E)   had larger skulls.

Question 7

The footprints at the site of Laetoli in northern Tanzania were made by Au. afarensis.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 8

Which of the following statements about the relationship between Australopithecus sediba and the human line (Homo)  is accurate?

Accepted Answer

A)   Au. sediba is the direct evolutionary link to between modern humans and australopiths.
B)   Au. sediba allowed scientists to confirm that australopiths had a different anatomical makeup than humans.
C)   Au. sediba dates to well after the human line diverged from the australopith line.
D)   Au. sediba is the earliest known fossil member of the genus Homo.
E)   Au. sediba did not have many human-like features but walked bipedally.

Question 9

Which of the following statements about Au. garhi is FALSE?

Accepted Answer

A)   It was found along with the earliest evidence yet discovered of animal butchery.
B)   It was not likely to have had the capacity to use stone tools.
C)   It was discovered in 1999 in Ethiopia.
D)   It was found with the remains of antelopes and horses.
E)   It was a previously undiscovered hominin that dated to 2.6-2.5 m.y.a.

Question 10

Which of the following characterized Paranthropus robustus?

Accepted Answer

A)   human-sized skull
B)   large back teeth
C)   oversized canines
D)   weak chewing muscles
E)   thin face

Question 11

Compared to the australopiths, early Homo had larger cheek teeth and a larger cranial capacity.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 12

One of the reasons the discovery of the specimen Au. garhi and other materials in its site is important is that it provided evidence that large mammals were being butchered, which suggests that australopiths were stone toolmakers with some capacity for culture.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 13

In 2015 it was announced that stone tools 700,000 years older than the previously recognized oldest stone tools were found in Kenya.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 14

"Lucy's Baby," an important Au. afarensis fossil from northern Ethiopia, includes a complete skull, mandible, and face. What is an important outcome of this find?

Accepted Answer

A)   It has a human-like skull and upper body, unlike Lucy.
B)   It indicates that Au. afarensis had a prolonged childhood period of slow brain growth.
C)   It was found to have a large cranial capacity but was not bipedal, drawing into question how these traits develop in childhood.
D)   It sheds light on growth processes in human ancestors, including brain and dental development.
E)   It is the first fossil hominid child found alongside its mother.

Question 15

A 2001 fossil find called Orrorin tugenensis, dated 6 million years of age,

Accepted Answer

A)   lacks any possible evidence that it was bipedal.
B)   is older than the famous Toumai find.
C)   is the undisputed "missing link."
D)   was found in South America, suggesting that the transition into bipedalism may have happened there.
E)   appears to have been a chimp-sized creature that climbed easily and walked on two legs when on the ground.

Question 16

Which of the following is NOT discussed in this chapter as a probable cause of the anatomical variety found in australopith fossils?

Accepted Answer

A)   sex differences
B)   differences in natural selective forces operating in specific environments
C)   age differences
D)   the long time span within which they existed
E)   the poor condition of the fossils

Question 17

Which of the following was a key obstacle that hominins' increase in brain size had to overcome?

Accepted Answer

A)   overcoming the trend of ever more self-sufficient children eager to separate themselves from their mothers
B)   overcoming the trend of clumsy locomotion that makes hominins vulnerable to predators
C)   the challenges of walking with a head that is too heavy
D)   larger skulls demanding more elastic birth canals, even though the requirements of skeletal development during a woman's lifetime limit the elasticity of birth canals
E)   larger skulls demanding larger birth canals, even though the requirements of upright bipedalism impose limits on the expansion of the human pelvic opening

Question 18

In trying to determine whether a fossil is a human ancestor, we should always look for traits that make us human today.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT a location where australopith fossils have been found?

Accepted Answer

A)   Kenya
B)   Tanzania
C)   Gibraltar
D)   South Africa
E)   Ethiopia

Question 20

Which of the following statements about the recent discovery of the world's oldest child, dubbed "Lucy's Baby," is FALSE?

Accepted Answer

A)   The 3.3-million-year-old fossilized toddler was uncovered in northern Ethiopia.
B)   The fossil supports the theory that Au. afarensis walked upright on two legs but still retained an apelike upper body, including two complete shoulder blades similar to a gorilla's, so it could have been better at climbing than are humans.
C)   The fossil suggests that the child died because her brain, which appears to have been larger than an average chimp brain at that age, was too large for her slowly developing skull.
D)   She is a member of Au. afarensis.
E)   Her remains, which are amazingly complete, include a remarkably well-preserved skull, baby teeth, tiny fingers, a torso, a foot, and a kneecap.

Exam 6: Early Hominins

In trying to determine whether a fossil is a human ancestor, we should always look for traits that make us human today.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which of the following is NOT discussed in this chapter as a probable cause of the anatomical variety found in australopith fossils?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

The footprints at the site of Laetoli in northern Tanzania were made by Au. afarensis.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

In 2015 it was announced that stone tools 700,000 years older than the previously recognized oldest stone tools were found in Kenya.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which of the following statements about Au. garhi is FALSE?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which of the following statements about the South African australopiths and Homo sapiens is true?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Of the following features belonging to Au. afarensis, which is evidence of its adaptation to bipedal locomotion?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

As compared to the robust australopiths, the gracile australopiths

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which of the following characterized Paranthropus robustus?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

The earliest widely accepted hominin genus is

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

One of the reasons the discovery of the specimen Au. garhi and other materials in its site is important is that it provided evidence that large mammals were being butchered, which suggests that australopiths were stone toolmakers with some capacity for culture.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which of the following statements about australopiths is true?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which of the following is NOT a location where australopith fossils have been found?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

"Lucy's Baby," an important Au. afarensis fossil from northern Ethiopia, includes a complete skull, mandible, and face. What is an important outcome of this find?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

A 2001 fossil find called Orrorin tugenensis, dated 6 million years of age,

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Fossils of Au. afarensis are particularly significant because

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Compared to the australopiths, early Homo had larger cheek teeth and a larger cranial capacity.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which of the following statements about the relationship between Australopithecus sediba and the human line (Homo) is accurate?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which of the following statements about the recent discovery of the world's oldest child, dubbed "Lucy's Baby," is FALSE?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which of the following was a key obstacle that hominins' increase in brain size had to overcome?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

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