antro 6 – Flashcard
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Direct radiometric dating of volcanic rocks provides very accurate ages for many East African Rift Valley hominid sites.
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ture
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The biological species concept is defined as:
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a group of interbreeding organisms that are reproductively isolated from other groups
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The absolute dating method that involves counting the annual rings visible in the cross-section of a tree, and correlating them with other tree sequences, is called:
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dendrochronology.
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Which dating method would be most appropriate for establishing the age of a volcanic ash layer from an early hominid site in eastern Africa?
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40K/40Ar dating
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Variants of elements that differ based on the number of neutrons in the atom's nucleus are called:
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isotopes
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The model that species persist for long periods of time, then undergo rapid spurts of evolutionary change is called:
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punctuated equilibrium
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The study of what happens to an organism's remains after death is:
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taphonomy.
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The phylogenetic species concept is defined as:
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a group of interbreeding organisms that share morphological characteristics.
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The ratio of C3 to C4 plants in a paleoenvironment can be estimated using the ratio of two stable isotopes of which element derived from fossils or ancient soils?
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carbon
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Phylogeny is important to the study of human evolution because:
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it allows us to study our closest living relative in order to better understand how natural selection acted in previous environments. in order to understand modern human anatomy and behavior we must understand our evolutionary relationships to other extinct and living organisms. in order to account for changes in our species over time, we need to know what processes drove natural selection.
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Humans are the only primates who lack a honing complex on the premolar. This is an example of:
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a derived trait, because it is present in only one or few species of a group.
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Rapid burial after death usually impedes fossilization.
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false.
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A diagram (family tree) that proposes hypothetical ancestor-descendant relationships between species is a:
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phylogeny.
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Based on the molecular clock, it is estimated that the hominid lineage diverged from that of the chimpanzee about:
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6-8 mya
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The time it takes for 50% of an unstable isotope to decay to a stable form is called the
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half-life.
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Which of the following is FALSE regarding absolute dating techniques?
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Each can work with any type of material.
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If fossil species A is consistently recovered from geological deposits beneath layers containing fossil species B, then A is considered older than B. This relative dating technique is based on the principle of:
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superposition
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Biostratigraphic dating relies on
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the first and last appearances of a species in the fossil record.
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For speciation to happen, there must be gene flow between populations.
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false
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The chemical signature of volcanic ash layers can be used to correlate sites across vast regions.
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true
