Biological Anthropology

Sample Exam 4 Fall 2010

This sample exam, which contains questions from exams given sometime in the past, will provide you with an idea of the types of questions you will face on your own exam. The short answer portion of the exam will include images of fossil finds together with questions about those finds. So be sure that you learn the distinguishing features of each of those fossil species! Dont worry that the questions are not completely sequential I pulled out those questions that did not relate to the material that will be covered on this exam. NOTE WELL! On those questions which involve you having to identify a fossil hominid species, you must provide the proper species identification for the remainder of that question to receive points. So be sure that you learn the distinguishing features of each of those fossil species! Multiple Choice 1) By studying a fossil, scientists may be able to determine A) the kind of organism it represents C) its age when it died B) the environment in which it lived D) all of these

2) The field that investigates the processes that occur between the time an organism dies and the time it is recovered as a fossil is A) geology C) paleontology B) taphonomy D) none of these

3) Which part of an organism is most likely to be preserved by fossilization? A) its skin and internal organs C) its bones and teeth B) its brain D) its hair

4) The field of geology that studies the distribution of layers of rock is called A) biostratigraphy C) stratigraphy B) geology D) taphonomy

11) The famous fossil specimen "Lucy" is a representative of which Australopithecus species? A) garhi C) afarensis B) anamensis D) africanus

12) Australopithecus afarensis lived from

A) 4.2 to 3.5 mya C) 5.1 to 4.5 mya

B) 3.2 to 2.5 mya D) 3.9 to 2.9 mya

13) The Taung child belongs to which hominid species? A) Australopithecus idonthaveaclueicus C) Australopithecus africanus B) Homo erectus D) Australopithecus afarensis

14) Because of their anatomical features, robust australopithecines are considered to be A) more social than gracile australopithecines B) much more aggressive than gracile australopithecines C) an evolutionary dead end D) meat eaters 15) Which was the first hominid to leave Africa? A) Homo habilis C) Homo sapiens B) Australopithecus robustus D) Homo erectus

16) The earliest evidence for humans in Australia dates back to ________ years ago. A) 30,000 B) 60,000 C) 90,000 D) 20,000 17) The Bering land bridge between Asia and North America was most recently open from ________ years ago. A) 45,000-31,000 C) 25,000-11,000 B) 75,000-25,000 D) 75,000-45,000

18) The replacement model of human origins A) is often called the "Out of Africa" model B) suggests humans had a localized origin C) implies that modern human variation evolved recently D) all of these 19) Direct dating techniques A) are the only ways that are now used to date fossils. B) have the relative disadvantage that the dates are more unreliable. C) are seldom used on fossils because they involve some destruction of the object. D) can only be used at archaeological sites that contain hominid fossils.

20) Marks on bones that indicate that stone tools were used to skin an animal and slice
through its muscles are known as A) cut marks C) hack marks B) incision marks D) saw marks

21) The teeth which hominids use for grinding their food are the

A) incisors and canines. C) molars and premolars.

B) incisors and molars. D) none of the answers are correct

22) The hole at the bottom (or back) of the skull, through which the spinal cord enters the brain, is known as the A) endocast. C) foramen magnum. B) basicranial flexion. D) morphadont.

23) The anatomical feature that best distinguishes the hominids from all other primates is A) their reduced canines C) their fully bipedal skeleton B) a less protruding facial skeleton D) their opposable thumbs

25) The Piltdown find was revealed to be a fraud by A) careful analysis of the dental work B) the chemical method known as fluoride analysis C) the English Board of Education, who voted that it was a fraud D) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Short Answer Questions

26) This mandible was discovered in Eastern Africa in 1964. Among the features typical of this species are the very small incisors and canines, the very large premolars and molars, and the thick bone that supports the grinding teeth. What species does this specimen represent? (2 pts.) When does this species date to? (2 pts.) In what other region(s) of the world have specimens of this species been found? (1 pt.)

29) This specimen was discovered in Southern Africa in 1924. Although the individual was quite young at the time of its death, the fossil nevertheless provided enough evidence for Raymond Dart to consider it to be more closely related to modern humans than to modern apes. When full grown, it would have had a cranial capacity of around 400-450 cm. What species does this find represent? (2 pts.) What are the dates for this species? (2 pts.) What type of culture might this species have possessed? (2 pts.)

30) This hominid maxilla exhibits features that are found in many (about 1/3) but not most members of this species. What are these features? (2 pts.)

Which species does this specimen represent? (2

pts.)

What are the dates for this species (2 pts.)

Describe the postcranial skeleton of this species pts.)

(2

31) This fossil is the most complete skeleton of this species that has ever been found. The individual has not yet grown to its adult height; if it had, it would have been over 6 feet tall! The find dates to about 1.6 million years ago. What species does this find represent? (2 pts.) Tell me three things which this species did first (i.e., before any other hominid)? (3 pts.)

For each of these questions, answer with wither yes or no (1 pt. each) Did this species possess a sagittal crest? ________ Did this species possess a mandible? ________

Did this species possess a simian shelf? ________

32) What is mosaic evolution? In the hominid evolutionary record, what is the general sequence of mosaic events? (4 pts.)

33) You are a paleoanthropologist excavating in Southern Africa. You have been excavating a limestone cave for the last 3 field seasons. So far, the only fossils you have found have come from antelopes, elephants, and monkeys. You chip away at a piece of limestone, and suddenly you come face to face with this find.

Not expecting it to be a hominid, you consider the possibility that it might be related to a living ape. Which species of ape does this skull most closely resemble? (1 pt.)

What features visible in the image would lead you to this conclusion? (2 pts.)

Now, you pick up this find and inspect all of it. You find two features that make you think that the fossil is a hominid after all. One of the features concerns the teeth. What aspects of its teeth might lead you to this conclusion?? (1 pt.)

The other feature has to do with the skull itself. What feature of the skull might lead you to think that this fossil belonged to a hominid and not an ape species? (1 pt.)

34) This fossil specimen was found in Southwest Asia. It possesses one very modern feature (look carefully!) What is the most modern feature of this specimen? (1 pt.)

What species does this specimen represent? (2 pts.) What is the cranial capacity of this species? (1 pt.) List 3 cultural innovations of this species (i.e., things that no other species had done before) (3 pts.)

36) The hominid footprints that were discovered at Laetoli are unique because they provide us with a great deal of information about hominid locomotion at the time they were made. When do these footprints date to? (1 pt.) What species is thought to have made these footprints? ( 2 pts.)

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What do these footprints tell us? (2 pts.)

38) The "dietary" hypothesis" was developed to explain some of the important differences exhibited by the various Australopithecine species? What is this hypothesis and how does it organize the four main Australopithecus species? What kinds of evidence support the claims of this hypothesis? (5 pts.)