question

Fossils

answer

Remains of organisms chemically changed into rock

question

Taphonomy

answer

Study of what happens to an organism's remains after death. Describes circumstances for fossilization, how they got to where they are.

question

Where are fossils usually found?

answer

In sedimentary or volcanic rock.

question

Fossils are most commonly found in

answer

sedimentary rock (deposit of sediments)

question

Fossils can also be found in ash from

answer

Volcanic activity

question

Sometimes vestiges of ____ can be found within fossils

answer

DNA

question

Chemical segments of bone can also be

answer

analyzed

question

Paleontologists are concerned with

answer

long expanses of time

question

It is necessary to place fossils in time and space to

answer

fully understand their significance

question

What are the three eras of time in Earth's history that describe the evolution of major life-forms: Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic.

answer

Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic.

question

Pangaea was

answer

The first supercontinent that eventually separated

question

The process of separation is often referred to as

answer

Continental drift

question

Changes to earth and oceans occurred while mammals, primates, and humans were evolving

answer

True

question

Primate evolution started in what era?

answer

Cenzoic

question

What did Bishop Ussher do?

answer

Calculated the age of Earth bases on the Old Testament of the Bible.

question

Other scholars of the seventeenth century turned to ________information to date Earth

answer

non-historical

question

Stratigraphy

answer

A branch of geology which studies rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered olcanic rocks

question

Who hypothesized that the lower a stratum or layer, the older its age?

answer

Danish physician Nicolaus Steno

question

Steno's law of superposition paved the way for

answer

Relative dating

question

What is relative age?

answer

Defined by comparing..one event to another. Older, new, same age, etc. Relative age is the comparison of time with two or more events.

question

Events or items at the bottom of a stratum are ___

answer

older

question

Stratigraphic correlation

answer

Matches up strata..in time in a large region.

question

Chemical dating

answer

Fluorine dating measures levels of fluorine in bones to determine relative age

question

Biostratigraphic (Faunal) Dating:

answer

Faunal dating compares different fossil forms and determines relative age

question

Cultural dating

answer

Using changes in material culture (such as stone tools) to establish a chronology

question

Absolute (numerical) age

answer

Determined through methods that result in a numerical time scale. (Determining something in absolute years)

question

What are some absolute (numerical) age methods

answer

Dendrochronology, radiometric methods, non-radiometric methods.

question

Dendrochronology

answer

Counts the rings of trees; each ring marks one year of growth

question

Radiocarbon dating

answer

Measures the half-life of carbon isotopes in once living organisms that took on C-14. Can only be used on organic material-- not rocks

question

What is a non-radiometric method that involves tree rings?

answer

Dendrochronology

question

Radiocarbon dating is organic and measures

answer

the absolute age

question

Radiopostassium dating

answer

Absolute method and radiometric method that measures the potassium radioisotope in volcanic rock associated with fossils

question

Potassium has a long

answer

half-life

question

Radiopostassium dating is used to date fossils older than

answer

200,000 years

question

Amino acid dating

answer

Absolute but non-radiometric method using the decay of protein molecules (razemizating, chemical decomposition)

question

Paleomagnetic dating

answer

Non-radiometric absolute method that dates changes in the earth's magnetic field to date rock up to 5 mya

question

Electron spin resonance

answer

Non-radiometric absolute method that measures radioisotope buildup in fossils

question

Thermoluminescence

answer

Non-radiometric absolute method that measures amount of the sun's energy in sediment, stone, or cermaic

question

Molecular clock

answer

Measures change in DNA over time

question

A species accumulates genetic difference at a more or less ___ rate

answer

constant rate

question

Development chronology

answer

Shows when two species diverge and examines the timing of the splits in primate and human evolution

question

Molecular and anthropologists and paleoanthropologists find general consistency in ____

answer

dates

question

In addition to constructing time scales, researchers also try to reconstruct

answer

ancient environments

question

Temperature

answer

Drives climate and is linked to biology and chemistry

question

Dramatic changes in temperature occurred around

answer

6 mya

question

Important factors in the interpretation of the fossil record include

answer

time, space, habitat, diet

question

Chemical analysis of bones and teeth can

answer

reconstruct diets and habitats based on plants the animals ate. Different environments associated with different types of plants

question

Time, space, habitat, and diet are

answer

important factors in the interpretation of the fossil record

question

Different plants have different types of

answer

carbon photosynthesis

question

Soil and animal bones studies for

answer

ratios of types of carbon

question

Palocene

answer

1st primates? Proprimates

question

Eocene/Euprimates/True Primates

answer

Prosimians

question

Oligocene

answer

Anthropoid, radiaton

question

Miocene

answer

Hominoid (ape) radiaton

question

Primates evolved from

answer

insectivores

question

First true primates are

answer

prosimian-like

question

Monkey-like anthropoids evolve from

answer

prosimian level

question

Hominoid apes evolve from earlier

answer

anthropoid level

question

Geological time periods (within Cenozoic)

answer

Paleocene, eocene, oligocene, and miocene

question

Primate evolution levels include

answer

Prosimian, anthropoid, hominoid, hominid

question

Arboreal hypothesis: Primate traits such as grasping hands and binocular vision were adaptions to

answer

life in the trees

question

Arboreal hypothesis: Moving from the ground to the trees caused

answer

selective pressures that resulted in the ancestral primate

question

Visual predation hypothesis: Primate traits evolved in response to ____

answer

preying on insects and other small creatures

question

Visual predation hypothesis: The exploitation of small prey resulted in

answer

the primate suite of adaptions

question

Angiosperm radiation hypothesis: Proposed that primate traits were a response to the development of fruit-bearing angiosperm plants. T or F

answer

Brooke has herpes So true

question

The two plesiadapiforms include

answer

Plesiadapis and Carpolestes

question

Paleocene fossils are a possible candidate for

answer

the early primate ancestor

question

Plesidapiforms are found in

answer

Western North America, Western Europe, Asia, and possibly Africa

question

Plesiadapiforms are potentially related to

answer

primates

question

First true primates (euprimateS) in Eocene epoch began as early as

answer

56 mya

question

Adapids and omomyids are

answer

widely diverse species, most with small body size

question

Adapids and omomyids may have evolved from

answer

proprimates in Paleocene

question

The Oligocene was a period of

answer

global cooling and widespread plant and animal extinctions

question

Most primate fossils from the Oligocene period came from the

answer

Fayum region of Egypt

question

Aegyptopithecus was likely ancestral to the

answer

catarrhines

question

Catarrhines are

answer

Old World primates

question

There is evidence of ancestors to Old World Primates at ___

answer

Fayum

question

The origins of the platyrrhines are ____ clear T or F

answer

less

question

The earliest known New World primate is

answer

the Branisella from Bolivia

question

New World Higher Primates likely originate from

answer

South American monkeys

question

Platyrrhines evolved from

answer

an African anthropoid and either migrated across the Atlantic Ocean to South America or migrated south on land to Antarctica and then to South America

question

African and South American anthropoids did not evolve

answer

independently

question

African and South American anthropoids both originated in

answer

Africa

question

There is no evidence of evolving from earlier anthropoids in North America and migrating to South America T or F

answer

True

question

There is no evidence of evolving from an independent prosimian lineage in

answer

South America

question

Anthropoids originating in Africa is supported by

answer

DNA evidence

question

The Miocene deposits in Africa provide evidence for a group of primates called ______, which date to 22-17 mya.

answer

proconsulids

question

Proconsulids contained a diverse number of taxa, with __ genera and ___ species

answer

10 genera and 15 species

question

Proconsul is the best known

answer

proconsulid species

question

Fossils records suggest that apes evolved in

answer

Africa and spread to Europe and Asia

question

Dryopithecids were

answer

Apes in Europe that were larger than earlier apes and resembled living apes in many traits

question

Sivapithecus is thought to be ancestral to _______ due to skull similarities

answer

Orangutans

question

Newly found Khoratipithecus is more similar to orangutans than

answer

Sivapithecus

question

Gigantopithecus

answer

Ape that is related to orangutans and dates back to 8-.5 mya. Thought to have stood nearly 3 m (9.8 ft) tall.

question

Oreopithecids

answer

Branch of apes that are believed to be an evolutionary dead end. Existed from about 8-7 mya.

question

Oreopithecid fossils are primarily found in

answer

coal mines in Italy.

question

Climate changes occured during this time in

answer

Europe, Africa, and Asia

question

Tropical forest changed to

answer

cooler, drier mixed woodlands and grasslands

question

Disappearance of fruit resources commonly exploited by the ____

answer

apes

question

Late Miocene apes of Europe may have

answer

migrated back to Africa

question

A few survivors of the habitat disruption evolved into

answer

modern apes

question

Late Miocene apes may be common ancestor to

answer

African apes and hominids. But not many fossils, so link is unknown.

question

Gap in fossil record before first hominids is

answer

about 6 million years ago

question

Two earliest humanlike ancestor groups include

answer

Pre-australopithecines and australopithecines

question

Pre-australopithecines lived ________ ago

answer

7 to 4 million years ago

question

Australopithecines lived ______ ago

answer

4 to 1 million years ago

question

Homid can be best understood as having what two behaviors?

answer

Bipedal locomotion and non-honing chewing

question

Took hominids several years to develop large brain, speech, and material culture T or F

answer

large brain, speech, and material culture

question

Bipedal locomotion was a foundational behavior of

answer

hominids (hominidae)

question

What is bipedal locomotion?

answer

Walking on two libs (associated skeletal changes) Evolved before large brain size

question

What are the seven distinguishing characteristics associated with bipedalism?

answer

Foramen magnum - bottom of skull (human head on top of body) S-shaped spine (more stability) Ilium short (pelvis bowl shaped-not elongated) Legs longer (increased stride) Knees angled inward (place feet beneath center of gravity) Longitudinal foot arch (leverage and shock absorbing) Big toe not opposable (support body - not grasping)

question

Nonhoning chewing is:

answer

Lack of projecting canine and no diastema (gap between teeth). Nonsharpening chewing

question

Distinguishing anatomical complexes of hominidae include

answer

Bipedal locomotion (acquiring and transporting food) and mastication, non-honing chewing (chewing food).

question

Fossil record and genetic information indicate hominids first appeared in

answer

late Miocene (5 to 10 million years ago)

question

Most arguments regarding the evolution of hominids involve

answer

bipedalism, which is the focal point in the study of human origins.

question

The three hypotheses involving how humans evolved include

answer

Darwin's Hunting Patchy Forest Provisioning

question

Charles Darwin's Hunting Hypothesis argues:

answer

Bipedalism developed to free the hands for carrying weapons. Intelligence increased; size of canines diminished. Tool production and use essential for development of human intelligence. New evidence shows this argument to not be the case.

question

Patchy Forest Hypothesis argues:

answer

Human origins and bipedalism is related to the greater efficiency in moving on two limbs rather than four. Bipedalism arose in areas where forests were fragmented and food resources also became scattered. As forest fragmented, bipedalism freed the hands to pick up food allowing for both tree and ground food resources to be exploited.

question

Provisioning Hypothesis

answer

Freeing the hands was important in allowing males to assist females more efficiently in procuring food "Provisioning" form of sexual competition among males for females. Birth spacing would also be reduced, since females would have to move around less and would have access to greater food resources. Hypothesis makes the argument for monogamous fathers.

question

Some scientists see little sexual dimorphism in early hominids. Males were more cooperative and less competitive. Could include pair bonding. Pattern necessary for ______

answer

Provisioning

question

Only in the last few years that hominids older than ____ mya have been discovered

answer

4 mya

question

Pre-australopithecines fossils were found in

answer

North-central and east Africa.

question

The pre-australopithecines fill the gap between ______ apes and the first ______

answer

Late miocene apes and the first hominids

question

The Pre-australopithecines (first hominds) were _____ in many ways

answer

apelike

question

The Pre-australopithecines were

answer

the first recognizable ancestors of lineage leading to humans

question

Sahelanthropous tchadensis

answer

Genera of Pre-australopithecines that existed 7 to 6 million years ago in Central Africa. Brain size (cranial capacity) of 350 cc. Foramen magnum indicative of likely bipedality. Had nonhoning chewing complex and was close to pongid/hominid divergence. This genera was only found recently in 2001.

question

Orrorin tugenensis

answer

Genera of Pre-australopithecines that existed 6 million years ago in east Africa near Lake Turkana. Femur indicative of bipedalism. Curved hand phalanx, suggesting time spent in trees. Contained Nonhoning chewing complex and lived in a forest.

question

Ardipithecus kadabba and ardipithecus ramidus

answer

Generea of pre-australopithecines that existed 5.8 to 4.4 million years ago in east Africa at Aramis Ethiopia. Partial skeleton, other bones, and teeth. Variation in tooth wear; possessed thin enamel. Lived in a forest. Time spent on ground and in trees. Huge assemblage of fossils means this species is well understood, comparatively.

question

The australopithecines

answer

Existed 4 to 1 million years ago. Hundred of fossils have been found, with nine or more species from one genus. Variation mostly in size and robusticity. Small and gracile to large and robust. Small brains. Small canines and large premolars and molars. Later australopithecines have very large face, jaws, and teeth.

question

Australopithecus Anamensis

answer

Existed 4 million years ago and is the oldest australopithecine. From east africa, specifically, Kenya and Ethiopia. Physically somewhat similar to ardipithecus. Lived in woodland environments.

question

Australopithecus afarensis

answer

Genera of Australopithecus that existed 3.6 to 3 million years ago in East Africa. Best known australopithecine. Lucy (type of specimen). Hadar (Ethiopia). Very complete... 40% of her skeleton recovered. Lucy stoold slightly more than one meter or 3.5 feet. Males stand about 5-5.5 feet. Bipedal, may have had stride similar to modern humans. Long arms, curved finger bones, suggesting tree use. Cranial capacity of 430 cc. Laetoli. East Africa, Ethiopia. A. Aferensis fossils. Includes footprints of three hominids in volcanic ash. Afarensis lived in varied habitats. Forest, woodlands, and open country. Successfully adapting to and exploiting new habitats. More diverse diet than predecessors.

question

Australopithecus (Kenyanthropus) playtops

answer

Existed 3.5 million years ago in East Africa. Lake Turkana, Kenya. Woodland habitat. Flat face with some primitive characteristics

question

Two lineages of hominid evolution emerge from the first earlier more primitive australopithecines and reflect multiple adaptions. One adaptive pattern associated with (leads to) origin and evolution of genus Homo. Other adaptive patterns leads to several later australopithecine lineages in East and South Africa which are evolutionary ____ ___

answer

dead ends

question

Australopithecus garhi

answer

Existed 2.5 million years ago in East Africa, Ethiopia. Bones, teeth, partial skeleton, and a skull. Cranial capacity of 450 cc. More humanlike humerus-to-femur ratio. Longer legs (femur), less arboreal than earlier australopithecines. Lived on lakeshore, probable ancestor of Homo. Based on features and chronological position.

question

What were the primitive stone tools in East Africa found by paleoanthropologists named?

answer

"Oldowan", by Louis and Mary Leakey working at Olduvai Gorge. Thought to have been made by larger-brained early Homo.

question

Garhi stone tools

answer

mammal bones with cutmarks, leading to conclusion that A. garhi used stone tools earlier to process food. Cut meat off bone and get at marrow. Stone tools were long associated with meat consumption. Bone tools were also used for digging in the ground. Australopithecus were the first hominids to make stone tools.

question

Australopithecus aethiopicus

answer

Early robust species of East Africa that existed 2.5 million years ago.

question

Australopithecus boisei

answer

A later robust species of East Africa that existed 2.3 to 1.2 million years ago.

question

The Robust Australopithecines of East Africa

answer

Compared with earlier australopithecines. Larger back teeth, sagittal crest is visually striking. Massive attachment area on skull for chewing muscles. Dietary focus on harder foods. Requiring heavy chewing. Robust australopithecines ended before 1 million years ago in East Africa.

question

Australopithecines robustus

answer

Found in South Africa and dated back 2 million years ago. Found in cave sites in South Africa (unlike rift valley of East Africa). Large premolars and molars, large face and well-developed sagittal crest. Similar to East African robust forms. Indicates widespread adaption to chewing hard foods and eating significant amounts of low-quality foods.

question

Australopithecines sediba

answer

Found in Cave site Malapa, South Africa and existed 2 o 1.5 million years ago. Had relatively small face, jaws, and teeth. Had small body and long arms like those of australopithecines. Broad pelvis and overall shape are more Homo-like. Presence of Homo-like features suggest a place in the ancestry of genus Homo.

question

Evolution of the Australopithecines

answer

Went extinct in East Africa and South Africa by 1.0 million years ago. Lineage leading to Homo had increasing flexible and generalized diet. Later robust australopithecines had increasing focus on narrower range of food. Diet had role in extinction. Australopithecine brains show very little increase in size.

question

Earliest hominids began to evolve from late Miocene era continuing from 6 to 1 million years ago through the Pilocene and in the Pleistocene. Diverse hominids appearing had increasingly

answer

specialized diets

question

Cranial morphology reflected diet (including teeth, jaw, skull) No appreciable increase in brain and body size. Evolution focused on _____

answer

mastication (chewing)

question

New Homind

answer

A new hominid habilis appears. A gracile hominid with larger brain and reduced chewing complex. Evolved from an australopithecine...possibly A. garhi.

question

Eons, era, periods, and epochs are

answer

Geological time period (but theyre based on life forms)

question

The study of what happens to an organism's remains after death is called

answer

Taphonomy

question

Pangea was an early____

answer

Continent

question

______ is the process of matching strata from several sites using chemical, physical, and other properties

answer

Stratigraphic correlation

question

Fluorine dating measures a ___ in bones

answer

chemical

question

Biostratigraphy is ____

answer

Relative

question

A radiometric method of dating

answer

Carbon 14

question

The absolute dating method that involves counting the annual rings visible in the cross-section of a tree is called

answer

Dendrochronology

question

Amino acid, paleomagnetic, electron spin resonance, and thermoluminescence are examples of ______ dating methods

answer

Non radiometric absolute

question

Paleomagnetic dating works because the earth's magnetic field

answer

Changes

question

The 'molecular clock" measures changes in ___ over time`

answer

DNA

question

A diagram (family tree) that proposes hypothetical ancestor-descendant relationships between species is a

answer

Phlogeny (I think)

question

Chemical analysis of teeth provides

answer

To reconstruct diets and habitats

question

In the sequence of primate evolution, the anthropoids were _____ than the homioids

answer

Earlier (older)

question

Which of the following is not one of the main hypotheses to explain primate origins?

answer

Aquatic ape

question

Which of the following is not a typical primate trait?

answer

Sideays facing eyes (Know the other 3 reasons)

question

The earliest primates were becoming bipedal as early as 60 millions years ago because of a combination of environmental and cultural influences

answer

False-bipedal about 6 million years ago and no cultural influence

question

The early primate ancestors (Paleocene fossils) such as the Plesiadapiforms are found in

answer

North America and Europe

question

Adapids and Omomyids are true primates

answer

True (prosimians)

question

The Fayum region is known for

answer

Primates including early anthropoids in Egypt (I think)

question

Aegytopithecus

answer

Anthropoid

question

Most evidence shows New World Monkeys (platyrrhines) evolved from ____

answer

African anthropoids

question

Hominiouds (apes) radiated and dominated the primate world during the

answer

Miocene

question

Proconsul is a well-known fossil genera of ____

answer

Africa

question

Sivapithecus is widely recognized as an ancestral member of which ape lineage?

answer

Orangutan

question

Apes became extinct in southern Europe during the late Miocene, probably as a result of

answer

Climate Change

question

Modern apes are descended from survivors of Miocene apes

answer

True

question

Which of the following statements is true of hominid evolution?

answer

Bipedal locomotion preceded the appearance of large brains

question

Dentally, which of the following best describes the earliest hominids?

answer

They had small, non-projecting canines

question

Hypothesis about bipedal locomotion focusing on efficient movement on two limbs

answer

Patchy forest

question

Fossil remains of the pre-australopithecines are found in what part of the world

answer

In Africa only

question

Sahelantrhoupus tchadensis was founded in ______ Africa

answer

Central Africa (Also the earliest/oldest that was found)

question

The oldest known possibly bipedal hominid genus is

answer

Sahelanthropus

question

Ardipithecus kaddaba and ramidus were found at _____

answer

Aramis and Ethiopia (East Africa)

question

The Australopithecines were represented by hundreds of fossils and included at least nine ____

answer

Species

question

Area where radiometric dating of volcanic rock would work best

answer

East African Great Rift Valley

question

Australopithecus anamnesis is considered

answer

One of the earlier Australopists (C.)

question

The Laetoli site, in Tanzania, is most famous for

answer

Preserving fossil hominid footprints

question

The fossil nicknamed "Lucy" is a member of which species?

answer

Australopithecus afarenis

question

Known for possibly the first maker of stone tools

answer

Garhi

question

The oldest recognizable artifacts are simply stone tools dating to about 2.6 mya and are referred to as the _____.

answer

Oldowan complex

question

Sagittal crest results from

answer

Chewing

question

Some australopithecines are referred to as "robust" because

answer

They had bigger teeth and jaws (molar teeth and chewing muscles)

question

In South Africa, who of the following is described the first specimen of Australopithecus ever discovered

answer

Raymond Dart

question

Australopithecus sediba has some features suggestive of ancestry of the genus Homo

answer

True

question

The evolution of the earliest hominids shows more change in ____

answer

Facial Structure

question

Radiopotassium dating:

answer

Absolute method measures the potassium radioisotope in volcanic rock associated with fossils

question

Potassium

answer

Has a long half-life and is used to date fossils older than 200,000 years

question

Radiocarbon dating

answer

Measures the half-life of carbon isotopes in once living organisms that took on C-14

question

Radiocarbon dating dates

answer

organic material, not rocks

question

What dating method has to do with trees?

answer

Dendrochronology

question

Paleocene era included

answer

Proprimates. 1st primates?

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