Final Exam Flashcards

1
Q

James Hutton’s research into the age of the Earth demonstrated that the Earth was ___________.

A

Millions of years old

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2
Q

______________ is most powerful as a cause of evolutionary change when operating on small populations.

A

Genetic drift

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3
Q

What is the only source of new genetic material (i.e. genes)?

A

Mutation

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4
Q

There must be ____________ within a population in order for natural selection to act upon it.

A

Variation

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5
Q

Erasmus Darwin, who also recognized that species change over time, was Charles Darwin’s _________.

A

Grandfather

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6
Q

Why is the work of Alfred Russell Wallace considered when discussing the Theory of Evolution?

A

He was a scientist and contemporary of Darwin who independently arrived at many of the same conclusions concerning natural selection

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7
Q

George Cuvier’s work on fossil elephants of France supported the then-controversial notion of ____________.

A

Extinction

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8
Q

Different versions of the same gene are called ___________.

A

Alleles

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9
Q

Mendel’s experiments on pea plants demonstrated that _________.

A

Traits inherited from each parent remained distinct (i.e. did NOT blend) in the offspring.

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10
Q

Darwin collected some data that he ultimately used to construct his theory while on a five-year voyage aboard the ____________, a British naval vessel that circumnavigated the globe on a mapping mission.

A

HMS Beagle

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11
Q

The complete set of genes in an individual cell is called ____.

A

the genome

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12
Q

In order for traits to respond to natural selection…

A

they must be heritable

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13
Q

Prokaryotes first appeared ___________.

A

3.7 billion years ago

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14
Q

Meiosis results in the production of _____.

A

gametes

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15
Q

The expression of polygenic traits …

A

is determined by multiple genes in conjunction with environmental factors

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16
Q

___________ is the only source of new alleles.

A

mutation

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17
Q

_____________ is the force of evolution that is most powerful when acting upon a very small population

A

genetic drift

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18
Q

Together, all of the alleles contained within a group of interbreeding individuals is known as __________.

A

the gene pool

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19
Q

Changes in the percentage of individuals with specific pigmentations among the ____________ of Great Britain clearly demonstrates how natural selection operates.

A

peppered moths

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20
Q

The absence of A and B alleles for blood type among Native American populations is a result of __________.

A

founder effect

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21
Q

Race is NOT a viable biological concept because ____________.

A
  1. ) races account for only a small amount of human biological variation
  2. ) the distribution of biological traits follow a cline
  3. ) traits do not agree with their frequency and distribution
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22
Q

A cline…

A

is continuous variation that follows a continuum

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23
Q

Human brain growth is completed by age ________.

A

6

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24
Q

Puberty is marked by _________.

A

menarche (menstruation) in girls

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25
Q

Dark skin is likely an adaptation to exposure to high levels of UV radiation from sunlight, because UV rays can cause ________.

A

skin cancer

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26
Q

The strength and mass of bone _________.

A

vary from person to person depending on their level of physical activity

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27
Q

Unlike other animals, humans acquire resources such as food and reproductive partners…

A

entirely within the context of culture and society

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28
Q

Exercise improves physical fitness by contributing to all of the following EXCEPT…

A

higher cholesterol

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29
Q

Low birth rate can result from the mother’s…

A
  1. ) malnutrition
  2. ) smoking like a chimney
  3. ) boozing it up
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30
Q

According to the text, females are less able to tolerate heat than males because…

A

on average, females have a higher body fat content

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31
Q

Suspensory locomotion is characteristic of which primate?

A

gibbons

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32
Q

Sagittal crests are pronounced in those primates with massive…

A

chewing muscles

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33
Q

Because they rely heavily on their sense of touch and manipulate items with their hands, most primates have…

A

nails on all of their fingers and toes

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34
Q

Unlike monkeys, apes…

A
  1. ) Don’t have tails

2. ) Are found only in the Old World

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35
Q

Modern lemurs are found only in…

A

Madagascar

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36
Q

Anthropoids include…

A

monkeys, apes, and humans

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37
Q

Which of the following primates have a fully prehensile tail?

A

spider monkeys and howler monkeys

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38
Q

What is the dental formula for lorises and lemurs?

A

2/1/3/3

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39
Q

Which of the following primates has retained a rhinarium?

A

Lemurs and Lorises

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40
Q

The typical dental formula for apes and humans is….

A

2/1/2/3

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41
Q

The Earth is about ______ years old.

A

4.6 billion

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42
Q

In terms of geologic time, when did humans appear on Earth?

A

very recently

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43
Q

In what kind of rock are fossils usually found?

A

sedimentary

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44
Q

which of the following is NOT an absolute dating method?

A

stratigraphy

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45
Q

Which US President reported the discovery of a fossilized ground sloth in Virginia to the American Philosophical Society?

A

Thomas Jefferson

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46
Q

The English surveyor who developed the technique of stratigraphic correlation between regions was

A

William Smith

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47
Q

[T/F] Charles Lyell is considered the father of vertebrate paleontology.

A

False; father of geology

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48
Q

[T/F] Radiocarbon dating relies on an element that has a half-life of 5,730 years. Therefore, it is a useful technique to date materials that are millions of years old.

A

False

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49
Q

Which of the following body parts has the best chance of fossilizing?

A

teeth

50
Q

[T/F] Dendrochronology relies on a record of tree rings.

A

True

51
Q

Using direct radiometric dating of ____ provides very accurate dating for many East African Rift Valley hominid sites.

A

volcanic rocks

52
Q

The first hominids appeared in Africa about _______.

A

7-6 MYA

53
Q

Where have fossil remains of genus Australopithecus been found?

A

Africa only

54
Q

The ________ tradition includes the oldest recognizable cultural artifacts–simple stone tools dating to about 2.6 million years ago.

A

Oldowan

55
Q

In addressing the origin of bipedalism, Charles Darwin focused on the impact of ________.

A

hunting

56
Q

[T/F] Sahelanthropus is the oldest known potential hominid genus.

A

True

57
Q

At which site would you be most likely to recover fossil remains of Australopithecus africanus?

A

Sterkfontein, South Africa

58
Q

About when did the Australopithecine lineage go extinct?

A

1 MYA

59
Q

Among the living apes, which is humanity’s closest relative?

A

chimpanzees

60
Q

Evidence that genus Orrorin was bipedal comes mainly from which part of the skeleton?

A

femur

61
Q

The Zhoukoudian fossils belong to which species?

A

H. erectus

62
Q

There is a well documented fossil record of H. erectus occupation in Europe beginning around _________ MYA.

A

1.2

63
Q

Australopithecus _____________ has been proposed as the likely direct ancestor of of H. habilis.

A

ghari

64
Q

Homo habilis used which type of stone tools?

A

Oldowan

65
Q

H. rudolfensis is most similar in overall morphology to _________.

A

H. habilis

66
Q

Relative to the australopiths, H. habilis is characterized by ________.

A
  1. ) A smaller face

2. ) a bigger brain

67
Q

Who discovered Homo erectus?

A

Eugene Dubois

68
Q

The Nariokotome skeleton from Lake Turkana is characterized by _______.

A

shorter arms and longer legs than those of earlier hominids

69
Q

Homo erectus fossils from around the world fall into what date range?

A

1.8 - 0.3 mya

70
Q

Where is the Dmanisi site located?

A

Georgia

71
Q

The geographic range of Archaic Homo sapiens included ______.

A

Africa and Asia and Europe

72
Q

The neanderthal record begins in eastern Europe–at the Krapina site in Croatia–at about what time?

A

130,000 years ago

73
Q

The first non-modern human fossil to be discovered and recognized as such was the ______.

A

Neanderthal from Germany

74
Q

Some neanderthal skulls have cranial capacities that are ______ than those of the average modern human.

A

much larger

75
Q

Analysis of modern human genetic variation suggests that modern humans evolved approximately ______ years ago.

A

200,000

76
Q

[T/F] The Neanderthal range included almost all of Africa.

A

False

77
Q

According to the Out of Africa model, the transition from archaic to modern Homo sapiens _______.

A

Occurred only once, in Africa

78
Q

The Cro-Magnon site is associated with which human cultural period?

A

The European Upper Paleolithic

79
Q

[T/F] Only Homo sapiens and Neanderthals are known to have deliberately buried their dead.

A

True

80
Q

All of the following traits suggest a cold adaptation for neanderthals EXCEPT…

A

a narrow nasal aperture

81
Q

Until about __________ years ago, humans acquired virtually all of their food through foraging.

A

10,000

82
Q

Which animal was the first to be domesticated by humans?

A

dog

83
Q

Evidence from China indicates that people were fermenting grapes and rice for wine as early as _________ years ago.

A

8,000

84
Q

In the late 1960’s, who proposed that South African forager societies actually enjoyed more leisure time than their farmer counterparts?

A

Lee and Devore

85
Q

___________ is the wild ancestor of modern domesticated maize.

A

teocinte

86
Q

[T/F] Domestication is defined simply as the point where people starting growing plants on purpose.

A

False; process of converting wild animals or wild plants into forms that humans can care for and cultivate.

87
Q

[T/F] There were no significant changes in people’s health as they became more reliant upon agriculture over foraging.

A

False

88
Q

Which of the following was domesticated in the New World?

A

Cotton and maize

89
Q

As seen in the fossil record, which of the following diseases has likely afflicted humanity as far back as the beginning of the Holocene?

A

syphilis

90
Q

What were the 6 big events of human evolution?

A
  1. ) Bipedalism
  2. ) Non-honing Chewing Complex
  3. ) Material Culture and Tools
  4. ) Speech
  5. ) Hunting
  6. ) Domesticated Foods
91
Q

Bipedalism occurred _____ years ago.

A

6 million

92
Q

When did a non-honing chewing complex arise?

A

5.5 mya

93
Q

Describe non-honing chewing.

A

lacks large, projecting canines in the upper jaw and a diastema, or gap, between the lower canine and the third premolar.

94
Q

Speech occurred roughly ________ years ago.

A

2.5 million

95
Q

What made hominins capable of speech?

A

Shape of hyoid bone

96
Q

When did hominins begin to develop tools and material culture?

A

3.3 mya

97
Q

Hominins began hunting animals about _________.

A

1 mya

98
Q

Food domestication took place __________ years ago.

A

11,000

99
Q

Define: Natural Selection

A

The process by which some organisms, with features that enable them to adapt to the environment, preferentially survive and reproduce, thereby increasing the frequency of those features in the population.

100
Q

Define: Adaptive Radiation

A

The diversification of an ancestral group of organisms into new forms that are adapted to specific environmental niches.

101
Q

Darwin drew on information from which five disciplines?

A
  1. ) Paleontology
  2. ) Demography
  3. ) Taxonomy and Systematics
  4. ) Geology
  5. ) Evolutionary Biology
102
Q

Define: Uniformitarianism

A

natural processes operating today are the same as the natural processes that operated in the past; coined by James Hutton after studying erosion and deposit build-up

103
Q

Who rediscovered Hutton’s idea of Uniformitarianism and subsequently became known as “Father of Geology”?

A

Charles Lyell

104
Q

Who concluded that fossilized wood belonged to once-living trees?

A

Robert Hooke

105
Q

__________ pioneered paleontology and comparative anatomy.

A

George Curvier

106
Q

Define: Catastrophism

A

The doctrine asserting that cataclysmic events (such as volcanoes, earthquakes, and floods), rather than evolutionary processes, are responsible for geologic changes throughout Earth’s history; coined by George Curvier

107
Q

______________ presented the binomial nomenclature (genus species) taxonomy of plants and animals.

A

Carolus Linnaeus

108
Q

_____________ founded demography: only some will find enough food to survive (1798); provided the concept of characteristics advantageous for survival

A

Thomas Malthus

109
Q

Darwin borrows from Malthus: OBSERVATION 1

A

For most organisms, every pair of parents produces multiple (sometimes many) offspring.

110
Q

Darwin borrows from Malthus: OBSERVATION 2

A

For most organisms, the population size remains the same. No increase occurs over time.

111
Q

Darwin borrows from Malthus: OBSERVATION 3

A

Population is limited by food supply.

112
Q

Darwin borrows from Malthus: OBSERVATION 4

A

Members of populations compete for access to food.

113
Q

Darwin borrows from Malthus: OBSERVATION 5

A

No two members of a species are alike in their physical attributes— variation exists.

114
Q

Darwin borrows from Malthus: THEORY OF EVO

A

Individuals having variation that is advantageous for survival to reproductive age produce more offspring (and more offspring that survive) than individuals lacking this variation.

115
Q

Define: Lamarckism/Lamarckian inheritance of acquired characteristics

A

theory of evolution through the inheritance of acquired characteristics in which an organism can pass on features acquired during its lifetime, i.e. the organism can “will” itself to change.

116
Q

Define: Gemmules

A

As proposed by Darwin, the units of inheritance, supposedly accumulated in the gametes so they could be passed on to offspring by blending.

117
Q

Define: Blending Inheritance

A

An outdated, dis-reputed theory that the phenotype of an offspring was a uniform blend of the parents’ phenotypes.

118
Q

Define: Mutation

A

A random change in a gene or chromosome, creating a new trait that may be advantageous, deleterious, or neutral in its effects on the organism.

119
Q

Define: Gene Flow

A

Admixture, or the exchange of alleles between two populations.

120
Q

Define: Genetic Drift

A

The random change in allele frequency from one generation to the next, with greater effect in small populations.