Exam Questions Animals and Human Evolution Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Animals and Human Evolution

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. The correct two-word Latin scientific name for modern humans is

2. Which of the following could NOT be used to describe humans?

3. The first vertebrates to evolve lacked jaws and had skeletons made from a strong flexible tissue called cartilage. As shown in the figure below, ________ are a modern example of this ancient group of vertebrates known as jawless fishes.

4. The phylum Chordata includes several subgroups of organisms. To which of these subgroups would humans belong?

5. Rafael is relaxing on the veranda of his beachfront home on the Gulf of Mexico when he notices a small (about 5 inches long) green quadruped clinging to the ceiling. As it begins to run down the wall, he catches it and notices that it is covered with dry scales, has a long tail, and has specialized toe pads that allow it to stick to surfaces. According to the figure below, this animal most likely belongs to which class?

6. Which of the groupings of animals shown in the figures below are MOST closely related to each other?

7. According to the phylogenetic tree below, which of the groups of animals listed would display radial symmetry?

8. Which of the following organisms displays bilateral symmetry?

9. Which of the following organisms displays radial symmetry?

10. Which of the following is an example of the last segment of an arthropod’s body having evolved into a beneficial trait?

11. Based on the image below, which of the following identify the body segments of lobster?

12. Damien is camping in the south central United States when he happens across an animal with several “armored” plates covering its back and shoulders. The plates are bony and separated by thin bands of flexible skin. The belly of this short-legged quadruped is covered with skin and soft fur. He also notices four young ones scurrying along behind the adult. This animal is most likely a(n)

13. Echidnas are spiny animals named after a character in Greek mythology who was half woman and half snake and perceived to have characteristics of both. Echidnas are covered in coarse hair or spines, they lay eggs, and the poorly developed young quickly attach to the mother’s mammary glands after they hatch. Echidnas are

14. Baleen whales are large ocean-dwelling animals once hunted for their modified hair, baleen. The young are fully developed at birth and nurse on their mother’s mammary glands. Baleen whales are

15. Possums are found throughout much of Central and North America. Although their bodies are covered in hair, their tails and ears are hairless. They have many teeth and opposable clawless “thumbs” on their rear appendages. They produce poorly developed young that live in mom’s pouch for about two and a half months before climbing on her back. Possums are

16. The development of upright posture in hominins is likely an adaptation for

17. Which of the following is an advantage of bipedalism in hominins?

18. All primates have opposable thumbs. This means the thumbs can be touched

19. According to the evolutionary tree shown below, when did hominins branch away from the other apes?

20. Which of the following is a feature of hominins that helps to distinguish them from other apes?

21. Which of the following traits was likely deleterious for early hominins?

22. Which of the following anatomical changes was an especially important contributor to the development of full bipedalism in hominins?

23. Fossilized foot bones show that some hominids living between 3 and 3.5 mya walked upright but had partially opposable big toes. This suggests that

24. The positioning of the toe indicated by the arrow in the figure below suggests that the animal with this fossil hominid foot

25. An archaeological dig in Africa discovers a collection of stone tools along with several skeletons in a cave. These bipedal skeletons date to about 3.5 million years ago and show no evidence of a partially opposable toe. Measurements indicate the brains would have been a little less than a third of the volume of modern humans. The teeth found on these skeletons look more like those of an ape than those of a human. This skeletal discovery is most likely which of the following?

26. Examine the skulls shown in the figure below. What can be said regarding trends in braincase size and teeth over time?

27. How is mitochondrial DNA inherited in humans?

28. How is nuclear DNA inherited?

29. Which of the following best describes the source of a human’s mitochondrial DNA?

30. Which of the following best describes the source of a human’s DNA?

31. Eggs provide ________ to the zygote.

32. Sperm provide ________ to the zygote.

33. The hypothesis that Neanderthals evolved sometime after hominins migrated out of Africa would be supported by the presence of Neanderthal DNA in the

34. If a female’s mitochondrial DNA was sequenced and compared to the sequence of mitochondrial DNA isolated from her mother’s paternal grandmother (the mother of her mom’s dad), she likely ________be a significant match because ________.

35. DNA from a fossil is found, and it is hypothesized that the mother was a Neanderthal and the father was a human. Which of the following would support this hypothesis?

36. The infamous American outlaw Jesse Woodson James died April 3, 1882. His body was originally interred on the James’ farm but was later moved to Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Kearney, Nebraska. Some people have hypothesized that his death was staged. Researchers have exhumed the body and analyzed mitochondrial DNA found in the teeth with that of mitochondrial DNA from hair samples from the James’ farm burial site; they matched. These samples were then compared to the mitochondrial DNA of Jesse’s sister Susan’s great-grandson and her great-great-grandson. The hypothesis that the body buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery is not Jesse James would be supported if the mitochondrial DNA from the grave

37. In 2010, Dr. Svante Pääbo published research indicating that all modern ethnic groups, other than Africans, carry traces of Neanderthal DNA in their nuclear genomes. His earlier work indicated no overlap between Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA and that of Homo sapiens. Which of the following is NOT a likely possible hypothesis that could be supported by this information?

38. Fossil evidence indicates that the first members of the genus Homo arose in Africa approximately ________ years ago.

39. Examine the Hominin evolutionary tree below. Which of the following are MOST closely related?

40. Evidence indicates that archaic Homo sapiens gave rise to which of the following?

41. Is it possible for Homo sapiens and Neanderthals to be related even if humans are not the direct descendants of Neanderthals?

42. Fossilized hominin bones have been found in Germany along with some tools and evidence of charred and fossilized bones from large animals dating to about 350,000 years ago. The hominin bones bear resemblance to both Homo erectus and Homo sapiens. Which of the following is the MOST likely possible identity of these fossils?

43. Fossils from different species of the genus Homo dating from 1.7–1.9 mya have been found in ecologically diverse areas across central Asia, China, and Indonesia. These species appear to be closely related to Homo erectus. Which of the following is a likely explanation of these findings?

44. It is possible that modern humans may have comingled with which of these other ancestors?

45. When researchers determined that the jawbone of an Italian Neanderthal dating to around 43,000–45,000 years ago showed the presence of an intermediate chin and mitochondrial Neanderthal DNA, they hypothesized that the jawbone belonged to an individual who was the product of a mating between a modern human and a Neanderthal. This hypothesis would be further supported if the fossil had

46. When researchers found a fossilized jawbone from a late (about 43,000–45,000 years ago) Italian Neanderthal, they noted that the shape of the jawbone suggested the individual had an intermediate chin instead of no chin like most Neanderthals. This would provide evidence supporting which of the following hypotheses?

47. Consider that fossils of Homo erectus dating between 1.66 and 1.85 mya have been found scattered across Eastern Europe through China and Southeast Asia and dating back to 2.4 mya in Africa. The earliest known specimens of anatomically modern Homo sapiens in Africa date back to roughly 200,000 years ago and 40,000 to 60,000 years ago across Europe and Asia, with some at 115,000 years ago in India. Additionally, Homo neanderthalensis was present across Europe by 150,000 years ago and then spread into western Asia. If there were no evidence indicating the presence of any other early Homo species in Europe, which of the following hypotheses might be supported by this information?

48. You are a researcher excavating a site in a cave in Israel. There are many layers of sediment and primitive artifacts (flint tools for cutting and scraping) from ancestral Homo species within the cave. As you work your way deeper and deeper through the layers, you notice that artifacts in the deeper layers (laid before 350,000 years ago) do not show any signs of having been exposed to fire. Artifacts in layers less than 350,000 years ago show rapidly increasing evidence of exposure to fire. Your colleagues working in nearby caves and caves scattered around the eastern Mediterranean Sea have found similar evidence dating in the same time frames. The evidence is also consistent with that of European sites. What does this suggest about the use of fire by ancestral humans?

49. Which of the following is the strongest evidence that suggests Homo sapiens may have intermingled with other species such as H. heidelbergensis and H. neanderthalensis?

50. In light of the out-of-Africa hypothesis, which of the following is a parsimonious reason why species like Homo neanderthalensis, Homo floresinensis, and Homo erectus do not exist today?

51. Consider that fossils of Homo erectus dating between 1.66 and 1.85 mya have been found scattered across Eastern Europe through China and Southeast Asia and dating back to 2.4 mya in Africa. The earliest-known specimens of anatomically modern Homo sapiens in Africa date back to roughly 200,000 years ago and 40,000 to 60,000 years ago across Europe and Asia, with some at 115,000 years ago in India. Additionally, Homo neanderthalensis was present across Europe by 150,000 years ago and then spread into western Asia. Concerning the out-of-Africa hypothesis, this suggests that

52. Which of the following organisms are extant eutherian mammals and most closely related to humans?

1. All chordates have a dorsal ________, a flexible rod along the center of the body that is critical for development.

2. In vertebrates, the dorsal notochord has evolved to become the cushioning discs between ________, the strong, hollow sections of the backbone.

3. An animal that can be divided by just one vertical plane into two halves that mirror each other displays ________ symmetry.

4. If an animal’s body can be sliced symmetrically along any number of vertical planes passing through the center of the animal, this displays ________ symmetry.

5. Egg-laying mammals that lack a placenta are ________.

6. Humans and polar bears are examples of ________, mammals that nourish their developing offspring through a well-developed placenta prior to birth.

7. Members of the “human” branch of the ape family, including modern humans as well as our extinct relatives, are properly referred to as ________.

8. Humans did not evolve from chimpanzees. Humans and chimpanzees share a ________.

9. All of your mitochondrial DNA was inherited from your ________.

10. The fossil record indicates that the first Homo sapiens originated between 400,000 and 300,000 years ago. Homo erectus, who had a brain larger than Homo habilis and a skull more similar to H. sapiens, probably migrated from Africa about 2 mya. The fact that these species often existed in the same locations at the same time and their fossils share certain characteristics while displaying some intermediate characteristics suggests that these prehistoric ________ species may have reproduced with each other.

11. Fossil evidence from around the world indicates that anatomically modern humans first evolved in Africa about 195,000–200,000 years ago from a population of archaic Homo sapiens and then successfully migrated to and inhabited almost all continents by 13,000 years ago. During literally tens of thousands of years, modern humans lived alongside other ________ genera, eventually replacing them.

12. The DNA compared across species in this infographic is ________ DNA.

1. Between annelids, chordates, cnidarians, echinoderms, and nematodes, which two groups of organisms are most closely related? Support your answer with information from the phylogenetic tree below.

2. Compare and contrast amphibians with reptiles and birds using the phylogenetic tree shown below.

3. How might being bilaterally symmetrical be an evolutionary advantage for a fish?

4. Explain segmentation and its significance for an animal such as a lobster.

5. Compare and contrast the three types of mammals.

6. The kangaroo is a marsupial. Briefly discuss the developmental state of a young kangaroo at birth and how it would be nourished until it is ready to survive on its own.

7. Briefly explain the difference between hominids and hominins.

8. Which of the primates shown in the figure below could act as an outgroup (a group closely related to the rest of the organisms on the tree, but it clearly stands apart) to be compared to the other primates when constructing an evolutionary tree? Support your answer.

9. The fossil of a male hominin is discovered, and it appears to share traits with both humans and Neanderthals. What could mitochondrial-DNA sequencing and whole-genome DNA sequencing convey about the fossil’s parents?

10. In 2012, researchers determined that the Neanderthal DNA had been introduced into the human genome between 90,000 and 40,000 years ago. Does this support the hypothesis that Neanderthal DNA present in the human genome is a remnant from a common hominin ancestor? Support your answer by indicating roughly when DNA from Neanderthals would have been introduced to the human genome if that Neanderthal DNA was a remnant from a common hominin ancestor.

11. Consider that fossils of Homo erectus dating between 1.66 and 1.85 mya have been found scattered across Eastern Europe through China and Southeast Asia and dating back to 2.4 mya in Africa. The earliest known specimens of anatomically modern Homo sapiens in Africa date back to roughly 200,000 years ago and 40,000 to 60,000 years ago across Europe and Asia, with some at 115,000 years ago in India. Additionally, Homo neanderthalensis was present across Europe by 150,000 years ago and then spread into western Asia. If there were no evidence indicating the presence of any other early Homo species in Europe, propose a hypothesis that would be supported by this information.

12. You are a researcher excavating a site in a cave in Israel. There are many layers of sediment and primitive artifacts (flint tools for cutting and scraping) from ancestral Homo species within the cave. As you work your way deeper and deeper through the layers, you notice that artifacts in the deeper layers (laid before 350,000 years ago) do not show any signs of having been exposed to fire.

Artifacts in layers less than 350,000 years ago show rapidly increasing evidence of exposure to fire. Your colleagues working in nearby caves and caves scattered around the eastern Mediterranean Sea have found similar evidence dating in the same time frames. The evidence is also consistent with that of European sites. What does this suggest about the use of fire by ancestral humans?

13. What evidence would support the hypothesis that a male Homo sapiens mated with a female Homo neanderthalensis and produced offspring?

14. You and your brother share the same father but have different mothers. Compare and contrast the mitochondrial and nuclear DNA profiles of you and your brother.

1. amniotic egg

2. backbone

3. bony skeleton

4. four limbs

5. fur, mammary glands

6. jaws

7. lobed fins

8. notochord

9. scales

10. skull

OBJ: 17.1 Identify the key characteristics of animals, and give an example organism for each group within the chordates. MSC: Remembering

OBJ: 17.1 Identify the key characteristics of animals, and give an example organism for each group within the chordates. MSC: Remembering

OBJ: 17.1 Identify the key characteristics of animals, and give an example organism for each group within the chordates. MSC: Remembering

OBJ: 17.1 Identify the key characteristics of animals, and give an example organism for each group within the chordates. MSC: Remembering

OBJ: 17.1 Identify the key characteristics of animals, and give an example organism for each group within the chordates. MSC: Remembering