Q&A Hero

Q: Which of the following Oligocene haplorrhines had the most primitive traits?a. The propliopithecids b. The parapithecids c. The oligopithecidsd. The omomyids

Q: The fossil haplorrhines and the propliopithecidsa. were nocturnal. b. had claws. c. had a 2.1.2.3 dental formula.d. had a 2.2.4.4 dental formula.

Q: Which of the following derived characteristics did the earliest oligopithecid primates share with modern haplorrhines? a. Their eye sockets were fully enclosed by bone. b. They had a 2.1.3.3 dental formula. c. They were nocturnal. d. They had prehensile tails.

Q: Compared with the Eocene, the Oligocene was characterized by a. continued separation of North and South America. b. colder, more variable global temperatures. c. a change in the Northern Hemisphere from deciduous to tropical forests. d. warmer, more consistent temperatures.

Q: Which of the following statements correctly characterizes the Fayum Depression during the Oligocene? a. Its community included strepsirrhines, omomyids, and haplorrhines. b. It was a desert. c. It did not have any animals other than primates. d. It is where the oldest primate fossils on record came from.

Q: The first primates that were similar to modern monkeys appeareda. at Fayum in Egypt. b. during the Paleocene. c. about 5 million years ago.d. at the same time as the dinosaurs.

Q: The Adapidae were a group of early primates that a. had smaller eye sockets than the Omomyidae. b. were nocturnal. c. were smaller than the Omomyidae. d. had longer tarsal calcaneus bones than the Omomyidae.

Q: The Omomyidae were a group of early primates thata. were similar to modern tarsiers. b. specialized in fruit. c. had small eye sockets.d. had large bodies.

Q: Imagine a fossil specimen with huge eye sockets. This animal was most likelya. a predator. b. a prey animal. c. nocturnal.d. diurnal.

Q: The Eocene primates had most of the features that modern primates share, includinga. grasping hands and feet. b. claws. c. small brains.d. long snouts.

Q: During which era did the first primates with modern features evolve?a. The Paleocene b. The Eocene c. The Oligocened. The Miocene

Q: Plesiadapiforms had several primitive features, including a. nails instead of claws. b. eyes that were placed on the sides of their heads. c. the presence of a postorbital bar. d. habitual terrestrial behavior.

Q: The plesiadapiforms a. were alive during the Oligocene. b. lived in forested habitats. c. were the earliest mammals. d. had teeth that were adapted to eat only fruits.

Q: The earliest primatesa. were large-brained, diurnal monkeys found in Africa.b. had nails on their fingers like modern humans.c. had fully enclosed eye sockets like modern humans.d. were small, nocturnal, and found in North America and Europe.

Q: The discovery of Carpolestes simpsoni supports the idea thata. the earliest primates were insect predators.b. primate characteristics coevolved to facilitate leaping.c. orbital convergence evolved after grasping hands and feet.d. the earliest primates foraged on plant resources and insects at night.

Q: Early primates likely evolved to exploit new niches provided bya. arboreality. b. flowering plants. c. the breakup of Pangaea.d. insectivory.

Q: Radiometric dating is problematic because a. it cannot be used in conjunction with other dating techniques. b. the earth's magnetic field changes periodically. c. these methods have relatively large margins for error. d. many fossils of interest were present only during a limited period of time.

Q: ________ are important in electron-spin-resonance dating.a. Apatite crystals b. Volcanic rocks c. Unstable carbon isotopesd. High-energy nuclear particles

Q: ________ is based on an effect of high-energy nuclear particles traveling through rock.a. Radioactive decay b. Electron-spin-resonance c. Thermoluminescenced. Carbon-14

Q: Radiometric dating is possible because a. isotopes decay at a known rate. b. older layers are deeper than younger layers. c. when rocks are formed, chemical signatures determine how long they will last. d. when rocks are formed, their chemical configuration never changes.

Q: Carbon-14 dating can be used to datea. old volcanic rocks. b. old sedimentary rocks. c. young organic material.d. young apatite crystals.

Q: Potassium"argon dating can only be used to datea. recent archaeological sites. b. very young rocks. c. young fossils.d. very old fossils or rocks.

Q: Carbon-14 is described as unstable becausea. it starts to decay after a plant or animal dies.b. it changes to carbon-12 faster than carbon-12 changes to carbon-14.c. it is more susceptible to radiation than is carbon-12.d. it never changes and is not a good isotope for radiometric dating.

Q: ________ dating determines an accurate age of single rock crystals.a. Carbon-14 b. Thermoluminescence c. Electron-spin-resonanced. Argon"argon

Q: Radiometric techniques provide researchers with the ability to a. search for extraterrestrials. b. extract DNA from inside fossils. c. determine the morphology of a fossil. d. determine the age of a fossil.

Q: Fossils are formed when a. rocks are heated by volcanic activity. b. rocks are cooled after volcanic activity. c. bone is mineralized by surrounding rock. d. animals die slowly through starvation.

Q: In general, larger continents have a. calmer weather than smaller continents. b. the same weather as smaller continents. c. more severe weather than smaller continents. d. more consistent weather than smaller continents.

Q: During the last 65 million years, the climate a. first warmed, then cooled, and most recently became variable. b. underwent a constant cooling trend, with decreasing variability. c. underwent a constant warming trend, with some recent variability. d. did not change.

Q: Which of the following statements concerning climate change is correct? a. Because Pangaea was so large, it probably had much colder winter weather than Asia does today. b. Because Pangaea was so large, it facilitated the circulation of water from the tropics to the poles. c. Cold areas of the world today, such as Alaska, were always cold. d. Europe was never tropical.

Q: Gondwanaland was a landmass that consisted of a. all present-day continents. b. all present-day continents except for Asia. c. none of the continents that are present today. d. most of the continents in the Southern Hemisphere.

Q: Laurasia was a landmass that consisted of a. all present-day continents. b. all present-day continents except for Asia. c. none of the continents that are present today. d. North America, Europe, and Asia.

Q: Why is continental drift important to our understanding of primate evolution? a. It can facilitate speciation. b. It can cause random changes in gene frequencies. c. It produces adaptations. d. It increases mutations.

Q: Which of the following important geological events occurred approximately 150 mya? a. Laurasia divided into Pangaea and Gondwanaland. b. Gondwanaland divided into North America and Europe. c. Pangaea divided into Laurasia and Gondwanaland. d. India moved north to join Europe.

Q: What is Pangaea? a. A single landmass that contained all present-day continents. b. The view that all mammals evolved in Gaea. c. The specific geographic location where all life originated. d. Evidence of an ancient underwater biome.

Q: Around 200 mya, contemporary continents a. had not been formed into land yet. b. were underneath the ocean. c. were joined together into a single continent. d. were joined together into two continents.

Q: Continental drift is a. the movement of continents. b. the presence of genetic drift in a continental population. c. the presence of a founder effect within a single continent. d. the cooling of a single continent due to a drift in climatic conditions.

Q: The first mammals evolved froma. dinosaurs. b. birds. c. therapsids.d. reptiles.

Q: The first mammals werea. large and diurnal. b. small and nocturnal. c. large and cathemeral.d. small and crepuscular.

Q: During the Permian and Triassic eras, much of the world's fauna was dominated bya. trilobites. b. amphibians. c. reptiles.d. mammals.

Q: Organisms that reproduce early tend to have a. large body size and small brains. b. short gestation times and large litters. c. high rates of mortality and long life spans. d. low rates of mortality and short life spans.

Q: Selection is likely to favor fast/short life histories in species a. that suffer intense predation pressure. b. that experience a juvenile phase. c. whose members are able to invest more energy in growth and maintenance. d. that are subjected to severe competition for nutritional resources needed for reproduction.

Q: Animals that reproduce at later ages have a. smaller brain and body sizes. b. longer gestation times. c. shorter life spans and higher rates of mortality. d. a menopausal stage.

Q: Why does natural selection favor alleles that kill individuals late in life? a. Because genes eventually mutate and grow old, so the elderly must perish to increase group fitness b. Because natural selection favors young alleles for reproduction c. Because individual fitness is determined early in life d. Because genes that enhance early fertility at the cost of a shortened life span increase individual fitness

Q: All things being equal, fast maturation and early reproduction are advantageous because a. they increase the length of the reproductive life span. b. they increase generation time. c. they result in a juvenile stage. d. they give offspring a longer learning period.

Q: Resource competition is an example of an environmental condition that influencesa. predator avoidance. b. mating patterns. c. life history traits.d. secondary sex characteristics.

Q: If predation pressure is very high, we can expect that natural selection favors animals witha. long life histories. b. slow life histories. c. intermediate life histories.d. fast life histories.

Q: Why does senescence occur? a. Because of the relative magnitude of the benefits that animals can derive from current reproduction versus from living longer. b. Because things must eventually wear down, like the transmission on a car. c. Because everything must grow old and die as a part of the cycle of life. d. As yet there is no good Darwinian explanation for this.

Q: The extent to which selection favors a strategy in which an animal makes an investment is determined by a. senescence. b. the cost of the investment alone. c. the benefit derived from the investment alone. d. the net benefit (benefit minus cost) of the strategy.

Q: Some mammals give birth to one offspring at a time, and others to larger litters. Since more offspring per birth could mean higher reproductive success, why doesn"t natural selection favor large litters in all mammals? a. Natural selection does this; most mammals will eventually evolve the ability to have multiple offspring per litter. b. The number of offspring per litter has no effect on reproductive success because in most cases only one survives anyway. c. Reproducing involves a number of trade-offs, including quantity (number) versus quality of offspring. Larger litters mean lower-quality individual offspring. d. It is not possible to change the number of offspring per litter in mammals; all mammals have about the same number of offspring.

Q: Animals with long life histories, like primates, grow for a long time at the expense of theira. later fertility. b. early fertility. c. later growth.d. early growth.

Q: What is the fundamental evolutionary trade-off between variables that constrains reproduction in mammals? a. Number of estrous cycles versus female's life span b. Number of adult males versus number of adult females in a group. c. Sex ratio of offspring versus quantity of offspring d. Quality versus quantity of offspring

Q: A key derived primate trait is a relatively large brain relative to body size, with humans having among the largest. How much metabolic energy do human brains consume in a day?a. 15% b. 20% c. 25%d. 30%

Q: Explain the conflict over great ape cognitive abilities. Given the evidence, what do you think about great ape versus monkey cognitive abilities?

Q: What evidence is there that primates understand third-party relationships? How is this knowledge beneficial?

Q: Give two examples of the experimental evidence that some primates have the ability to recognize the nature of kin relationships among other conspecifics.

Q: Give two examples indicating that primates deliberately deceive conspecifics.

Q: Explain why coalitional behavior may require sophisticated cognitive abilities.

Q: Give two examples showing that primates have intelligence designed for navigating social relationships.

Q: What is the neocortex ratio? Explain how data on the neocortex ratio of primate species have been used to address hypotheses accounting for the evolution of primate intelligence.

Q: List the four main lobes of the cerebrum and briefly describe what the cerebral cortex is and why anthropologists are interested in it.

Q: Compare and contrast the two main hypotheses accounting for the evolution of intelligence in monkeys and apes.

Q: How does life history theory explain the trade-offs regarding reproduction and offspring? Illustrate your answer with animal examples.

Q: Chimpanzees and orangutans perform as well as 2-year-old humans in which domain?a. Memory b. Imprinting c. Social cognitiond. Physical cognition

Q: There are two chimpanzees in an experimental design: a dominant one and a subordinate one. The subordinate can see two caches of food, but the dominant can see only one. If chimpanzees have a theory of mind, which of the caches of food do you predict the subordinate chimp will attempt to acquire? a. The one in view of the dominant chimpanzee b. The one hidden from the dominant chimpanzee c. Neither d. Both

Q: Monkeys and apes may be able to predict another's behavior. If they haven"t acquired this skill by having a theory of mind, they likely have acquired it bya. natural selection. b. associative learning. c. imitation.d. deception.

Q: Imagine you are a capuchin monkey that has been enlisted to support another groupmate. Which of the following do you support in an aggressive interaction?a. A female. b. A distant associate. c. A subordinate.d. None; they are on their own.

Q: Imagine you are a male macaque. Another individual is threatening you. Which monkey do you try to enlist for support?a. A female relative. b. A subordinate male. c. A dominant male.d. None; you are on your own.

Q: Vervet monkeys and baboons appear to know a. which monkey provides the best alarm calls. b. how to deceive other monkeys to gain hidden food. c. rank relationships among other individuals. d. how to choose related individuals from pictures.

Q: Examples of redirected aggression in vervet monkeys demonstrate that they understanda. dominance rank. b. theory of mind. c. social intelligence.d. third-party relationships.

Q: When a juvenile distress vocalization is played for a troop of vervet monkeys and the mother of the juvenile orients toward the speaker, we can infer that vervet mothers a. recognize the sound of their own kin. b. like their offspring. c. are subordinate to their offspring. d. are located in the center of vervet troops.

Q: Associative learning a. does not require understanding conceptual categories like dominance hierarchies. b. requires theory of mind. c. involves knowing the mental states of others. d. is a level of learning that all animals possess.

Q: Effective deception requiresa. ecological knowledge. b. a theory of mind. c. associative learning.d. a large neocortex.

Q: A theory of mind includes the ability a. to form complex social coalitions. b. to visually distinguish kin from nonkin. c. to understand the mental states of other individuals. d. to use tools.

Q: An example of associative learning isa. watching the behavior of parents. b. imprinting. c. memory of past events.d. understanding cause and effect.

Q: Cognitive differences between humans and great apes a. are related to their differences in physical cognition. b. do not exist because both have a theory of mind. c. seem to reflect the specialized skills humans evolved for living and exchanging knowledge in cultural groups. d. are manifested within the act of deception.

Q: When comparing the abilities of 2-year-old humans with chimpanzees and orangutans of all ages, researchers concluded that humans and great apes differ in terms of tasks that involvea. physical cognition. b. social cognition. c. the ecological world.d. morphological characteristics.

Q: There is evidence that monkeys and apes are able to a. deceive one another. b. create fictive kin categories. c. make the connection between what others are looking at and what they are attending to. d. recognize themselves in a mirror.

Q: In one study of capuchin monkeys, researchers found that capuchins follow basic rules when they form coalitions. The rules include which of the following? a. Males support each other against females. b. Dominants are supported against subordinates. c. Individuals intervene only when the ally outwits both individuals. d. Individuals support members of the same matriline.

Q: Primates who understand the nature of third-party relationships may a. have a good idea about who will support them in a conflict. b. enlist aid from the most dominant male in the group. c. follow basic social rules, including supporting subordinates against dominants. d. recruit allies who are close to their opponents.

Q: When forming coalitions, monkeys a. enlist only the physically largest group members as allies. b. will act altruistically on behalf of allies. c. respond positively only if it is beneficial to them. d. choose lower-ranked animals to help them.