Human Evolution Chapter 8

Early fossil primates from the Eocene would most likely have shared their habitat with: a. rodents. b. trilobites. c. kangaroos. d. dinosaurs.

A

If you are digging in a 20,000,000-year-old fossil site in eastern Africa, which primate are you most likely to come across? a. Proconsul b. Oligopithecus c. Theropithecus d. Khoratopithecus

A

If you traveled back in time to Africa about 27 mya and came across a group of the early ape Proconsul feeding in a tree, what would NOT expect to see them doing? a. hanging by their tails b. grasping fruit in their hands c. walking on all fours above branches d. sitting upright

A

The group of archaic mammals that lived during the Paleocene epoch and are likely very closely related to the earliest primates are: a. plesiadapiforms. b. omomyids. c. adapids. d. tarsiers.

A

Which Eocene primate from China has recently been proposed as an extremely primitive, and tiny, anthropoid? a. Eosimias b. Khoratopithecus c. Adapis d. Notharctus

A

Which of the following apes has been proposed as the last common ancestor of living African apes and humans? a. Ouranopithecus b. Sivapithecus c. Dryopithecus d. Gigantopithecus

A

Which of the following is NOT an early anthropoid family from the Fayum? a. Victoriapithecidae b. Parapithecidae c. Oligopithecidae d. Propliopithecidae

A

Which of the following is not a typical primate trait? a. sideways-facing eyes b. grasping hands and grasping feet c. relatively large brain size d. a reduced snout

A

A fossil primate with legs and arms of about equal length would most likely have gotten around using which form of locomotion? a. leaping b. quadrupedalism c. swinging under branches d. bipedalism

B

High, shearing crests on the molar teeth of a fossil primate suggests that it probably ate mostly: a. fruits. b. leaves. c. insects. d. hard seeds.

B

Sivapithecus is widely recognized as an ancestral member of which ape lineage? a. gorilla b. orangutan c. chimpanzee d. gibbon

B

The calcaneus (heel bone) of Eosimias suggests that it may be a very primitive: a. primate. b. anthropoid. c. New World monkey. d. ape.

B

The earliest known South American primate is a 26,000,000-year-old monkey from Bolivia called: a. Theropithecus. b. Branisella. c. Proconsul. d. Afropithecus.

B

The most likely contender for the common ancestor of all later catarrhines is: a. Oligopithecus. b. Aegyptopithecus. c. Parapithecus. d. Apidium.

B

33. Both colobines and cercopithecines appear in the late Miocene fossil record, representing the two subfamilies of living: a. apes. b. lemurs. c. Old World monkeys. d. New World monkeys.

C

About when did the African tectonic plate contact the Eurasian plate, allowing early African apes to migrate throughout the Old World? a. 5 mya b. 12 mya c. 17 mya d. 28 mya

C

Apes went extinct in southern Europe (e.g., France, Spain, Italy, Greece) during the late Miocene, probably as the result of: a. a meteor impact. b. a disease pandemic. c. climate change. d. early humans hunting them for food.

C

Based on the existing fossil record and the genetics of living primates, the most likely place of origin for New World monkeys is: a. Indonesia. b. North America. c. Africa. d. South America.

C

During the Miocene epoch of the Cenozoic era, there was an adaptive radiation of which kind of primate? a. prosimians b. monkeys c. apes d. humans

C

Gigantopithecus, the largest primate that ever lived, weighed approximately: a. 3 kg b. 30 kg c. 300 kg d. 3,000 kg

C

If you are examining the fossil remains of the genus Dryopithecus, they are most likely from where? a. India b. Bolivia c. France d. China

C

Primitive Old World monkeys from the middle to the late Miocene of Africa are members of which family? a. Propliopithecidae b. Proconsulidae c. Victoriapithecidae d. Dryopithecidae

C

The most distinctive feature of ape dentition, which clearly distinguishes apes from Old World Monkeys, is: a. a 2 / 1 / 2 / 3 dental formula. b. a long canine tooth in males. c. a Y-5 molar pattern. d. bilophodont molars.

C

The northern African fossil primate called Biretia may be an early anthropoid, based on the morphology of its: a. ankle. b. skull. c. lower premolar tooth. d. pelvis.

C

The plesiadapiform genus that had an opposable big toe with a nail at the end and therefore may be ancestral to euprimates is: a. Paromomys. b. Ignacius. c. Plesiadapis. d. Carpolestes.

C

Which anatomical feature would you expect to find in the fossil remains of a nocturnal species? a. long legs b. pointy teeth c. large eye orbits d. short fingers and toes

C

Which fossil group is characterized by an eye orbit fully enclosed by bone? a. adapids b. plesiadapiforms c. anthropoids d. omomyids

C

Which of the following is not one of the main hypotheses to explain primate origins? a. arboreal hypothesis b. angiosperm radiation hypothesis c. aquatic ape hypothesis d. visual predation hypothesis

C

Which of the following is not true of the Eocene euprimates? a. They possessed a postorbital bar. b. They had grasping digits on both hands and feet. c. They were quite large, greater than 20 kg. d. They had a relatively large brain.

C

Based on genetic analysis of living primates calibrated by the fossil record, it is estimated that apes and Old World monkeys diverged into separate lineages around: a. 5 mya. b. 10 mya. c. 15 mya. d. 25 mya.

D

Fossil primates have NOT been recovered from which continent? a. Europe b. North America c. Asia d. Australia

D

The space between the canine and the first premolar in the lower jaw of some primates is a(n): a. retro-canine space. b. alveolus. c. mandibular gap. d. diastema.

D

The very large baboonlike monkey (up to 80 kg) that lived during the African Plio-Pleistocene was: a. Proconsul major. b. Oreopithecus bambolii. c. Sivapithecus indicus. d. Theropithecus oswaldi.

D

Which of the following is not true of the fossil ape Oreopithecus? a. It lived during the late Miocene. b. It had specialized molar teeth adapted for eating leaves. c. Its fossils are found almost exclusively in coal deposits in Italy. d. It had very short arms and long legs and was probably well suited for leaping.

D

n which of the following extinct primates would you expect to find a 2 / 1 / 2 / 3 dental formula? a. Adapis b. Notharctus c. Branisella d. Proconsul

D