Plio-Pleistocene Hominins And The + Complete Test Bank Ch.8

Biological Anthropology: Concepts and Connections, 3e (Fuentes)

Chapter 8 Plio-Pleistocene Hominins and the Genus Homo

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.

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 the newly created ecological niches.

C) The radiation of hominin forms in eastern Asia began.

D) New patterns of mixed habitat types developed.

3) Identify a hominin morphological group 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

4) The earliest robust hominin fossil is:

A) Paranthropus boisei.

B) Paranthropus aethiopicus.

C) Australopithecus garhi.

D) Australopithecus africanus.

5) When initially discovered, Paranthropus boisei was assigned to the species:

A) Paranthropus aethiopicus.

B) Paranthropus robustus.

C) Zinjanthropus robustus.

D) Zinjanthropus boisei.

6) A major difference between Paranthropus boisei and Paranthropus aethiopicus is in their degree of facial prognathism. This was because, unlike Paranthropus aethiopicus, Paranthropus boisei:

A) had a prominently protruding jaw.

B) had a flat face.

C) had large incisors.

D) had large canines that were slightly incisiform.

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.

8) Identify a specialized chewing adaptation of the robust australopithecines.

A) a sagittal ridge

B) a narrow face

C) narrow zygomatic arches

D) very small teeth

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.

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 relied heavily on a tough vegetarian diet of seeds, roots, nuts, and hard-to-process leafy matter.

D) They ate meat.

11) Recent measures of the megadontia quotient suggest that ________ had the largest relative molar and premolar teeth to body size of any hominin.

A) Paranthropus boisei

B) Paranthropus aethiopicus

C) Paranthropus robustus

D) Australopithecus garhi

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

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

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

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.

16) Megadontia refers to the characteristic of having ________ than would be expected for body size.

A) longer upper limbs

B) wider zygomatic arches

C) larger postcanine teeth

D) a larger cranium

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

18) ________ is known from fossils representing more than 50 individuals from at least three sites in South Africa.

A) Paranthropus boisei

B) Australopithecus africanus

C) Paranthropus aethiopicus

D) Australopithecus garhi

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

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.

21) ________ fossils dating from a little more than 2 million years ago to about 1.6 million years ago were found in Olduvai Gorge in east Africa in 1964.

A) Homo rudolfensis

B) Homo erectus

C) Homo habilis

D) Homo ergaster

22) The majority of ________ material comes from about 12 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

23) Which of the following is NOT one of the main perspectives of the current debate over the classification of the fossils of the genus Homo dating to between about 1.8 and 0.3 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.

24) Identify a characteristic of Homo habilis.

A) a relatively prognathic face

B) a pronounced sagittal ridge

C) tiny incisors

D) a large body

25) Which of the following is true of 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 sub-continent, so far they have been uncovered at only a few H. erectus sites in eastern and 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 sub-continent.

26) Which of the following is NOT true of Acheulean tools?

A) They were named after a site in France.

B) They were more complex and diverse than earlier Olduwan tools.

C) Their main characteristic was bifacial flaking.

D) The "hand axe" was so named because it was hafted like a modern axe.

27) Which of the following is NOT true about 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.

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.

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.

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

A) firm

B) unchangeable

C) precision

D) accurate

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

32) Identify a characteristic of Paranthropus aethiopicus.

A) a broad, dish-shaped face

B) a prominent forehead

C) extremely small molar teeth

D) narrow zygomatic arches

33) Which of the following is NOT true of 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.

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.

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) maxilla and the orbital bones.

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.

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.

38) Identify a characteristic of Paranthropus boisei.

A) large canines and incisors

B) a prominently protruding jaw

C) a relatively parabolic tooth row

D) inconspicuous zygomatic arches

39) Shovel-shaped incisors:

A) have a pitted inner surface.

B) have a ridge on their inner surface.

C) have a grooved inner surface.

D) have a flat inner surface.

40) Identify a characteristic of Paranthropus robustus.

A) large incisors and canines

B) arms that were longer than legs

C) a pronounced forehead

D) an inconspicuous zygomatic arch

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 2.3 million to 10,000 years ago.

D) the epoch dating from 10,000 years ago to the present.

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.

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.

44) Identify a characteristic of Australopithecus garhi.

A) relatively small canines

B) extremely large molars and premolars

C) divergent rather than parallel tooth rows

D) molars with thin enamel

45) Identify a characteristic of Australopithecus africanus?

A) the absence of a curve in the vertebral column

B) legs that were longer than arms

C) a slightly divergent and mobile big toe

D) large incisors and canines

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.

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.

48) Discuss the following with regard 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.

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. Further, compare/contrast these with hominins who existed before H. erectus.

50) Some argue that either Homo habilis or Homo rudolfensis (or both) are in the Homo sapiens lineage. 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.