Multiple Choice Quiz

1		In the author’s two-hour movie representing the history of the universe when do the earliest members of the human family appear?
			A)	80 minutes
			B)	90 minutes
			C)	118 minutes
			D)	1 hour, 59 minutes, 57 seconds
2		In human terms what does the answer to the above question amount to?
			A)	500,000 years
			B)	2 million years
			C)	4 million years
			D)	6 million years
3		The epoch in which our nearest living non-human relatives first made their appearance is called the:
			A)	Miocene.
			B)	Pliocene.
			C)	Triassic.
			D)	Cambrian.
4		Which of the following is true about the first apes?
			A)	There were a far greater number of genera then than today.
			B)	They flourished in a broader area of the world than today’s apes.
			C)	Some of ancient species were larger than today’s apes.
			D)	All the above.
5		Moving through trees by swinging arm over arm is called:
			A)	bipedal locomotion.
			B)	brachiating.
			C)	quadrupedal locomotion.
			D)	arboreal.
6		From which of the following primates do humans descend?
			A)	chimpanzees
			B)	gorillas
			C)	orangutans
			D)	none of the above
7		To which primate are humans most closely related?
			A)	chimpanzees
			B)	gorillas
			C)	orangutans
			D)	gibbons
8		At the end of the Miocene period many species of ape became extinct due to:
			A)	humans killing them.
			B)	an asteroid hitting the Yucatan Peninsula.
			C)	a change in the environment.
			D)	dinosaurs eating them.
9		In primates the location of what determines if it is a quadruped or biped?
			A)	the feet
			B)	the skull
			C)	the foramen magnum
			D)	the ulna
10		Genetic analysis shows that humans and chimps have been evolving separately for about how long?
			A)	2 million years
			B)	5 million years
			C)	7 million years
			D)	10 million years
11		Having a forward-thrusting lower face is called
			A)	arboreal.
			B)	prognathism.
			C)	post-cranial.
			D)	mandible.
12		What do Homo sapiens and Australopithecus afarensis have in common?
			A)	A mode of locomotion.
			B)	A level of intelligence.
			C)	A reliance on culture.
			D)	All the above.
13		The ridge of bone that runs along the top of the skull in Australopithecus robustus is called a
			A)	diastema.
			B)	mandible
			C)	maxilla.
			D)	sagittal crest.
14		Which species is first associated with the fashioning and use of stone tools?
			A)	Homo habilis
			B)	Australopithecus afarensis
			C)	Homo sapiens
			D)	Australopithecus robustus
15		The first hominids could be described as:
			A)	quadrupedal apes.
			B)	quadrupedal humans.
			C)	bipedal apes.
			D)	bipedal humans.
16		How can the paleoanthropologist determine if a species is bipedal?
			A)	The bone structure of the pelvis.
			B)	The position of the foramen magnum.
			C)	The absence of a divergent big toe.
			D)	All the above.
17		Which of the following is not a hypothesis of why hominids walked on two legs?
			A)	Bipedalism freed the hands to carry things.
			B)	Bipedalism allowed for braincase expansion.
			C)	Bipedalism expends less energy than quadropedalism for going long distances.
			D)	Bipedalism allowed hominids to see greater distances.
18		The mean size of a Homo habilis brain is roughly:
			A)	300 cc.
			B)	450 cc.
			C)	500 cc.
			D)	650 cc.
19		A mode of evolution in which long periods of stasis or equilibrium in a species are interrupted by short, relatively rapid bursts of great change, producing a new species is called:
			A)	punctuated equilibrium.
			B)	turnover-pulse.
			C)	half-life.
			D)	natural selection.
20		From which species does Lucy belong?
			A)	Homo habilis
			B)	Australopithecus afarensis
			C)	Homo sapiens
			D)	Australopithecus robustus