Anthropology 001 - Introduction to Physical Anthropology » Summer 2021 » Midterm Exam 1

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Question #1
What can be learned from studying a population through time?
A.   We can learn that consuming the wrong foods over time does little to population health.
B.   We can learn that human physiology does not change through time.
C.   We can learn that diets, and therefore human biology, change through time.
D.   We can learn that lifestyles do not change over time.
Question #2
What increased early humans’ chances of hunting success?
A.   Females led hunting, but all adults were involved.
B.   Hunting was conducted with stone tools and cooperative strategies.
C.   Hunting was always well planned, often using a diagram.
D.   Hunting strategies were developed to include other animals as bait.
Question #3
Human production of stone or stone tools is an example of
A.   subsistence strategies.
B.   material culture.
C.   ideology.
D.   linguistic comprehension.
Question #4
Forensic anthropologists
A.   study skeletal remains from past human populations.
B.   focus their skeletal analysis on early hominins.
C.   study the evolution of human skeletal traits.
D.   focus their work on skeletal analysis of individuals.
Question #5
Which of the following key attributes of human uniqueness developed during the past 10,000 to 11,000 years?
A.   complex material culture
B.   dependence on domesticated food
C.   nonhoning chewing
D.   bipedalism
Question #6
What is a hypothesis?
A.   a statement unable to be refuted by future investigations
B.   a statement that concerns scientific facts assumed to be true
C.   a synonym for theory
D.   a testable statement that could potentially explain specific phenomena observed in the natural world
Question #7
Darwin’s theory of evolution proposes that
A.   an individual can change within its own lifetime.
B.   species adapt based on individual goals.
C.   species adapt and change over time based on the environment.
D.   individuals determine their own biological adaptations.
Question #8
The relevance of uniformitarianism is that it
A.   supports the theory of catastrophism.
B.   proves that most changes to Earth were caused by earthquakes and floods.
C.   requires the assumption that any geological process observed today worked the same way in the past.
D.   provides the primary evidence that the earth is 4.4 billion years old.
Question #9
Which scientist is known for developing a system of taxonomy, including a method of giving each organism two names, such as Homo sapiens for humans?
A.   John Ray
B.   Carolus Linnaeus
C.   Georges Cuvier
D.   Robert Hooke
Question #10
The lower frequency of sickle cell anemia among present-day Americans of West African ancestry as compared to people living in West Africa is attributed to
A.   natural selection.
B.   genetic drift.
C.   new mutations.
D.   gene flow.
Question #11
According to Linnaean taxonomy, what is the MOST specific category and level shared by humans, gorillas, and howler monkeys (from the New World)?
A.   parvorder Catarrhini
B.   suborder Haplorhini
C.   infraorder Anthropoidea
D.   superfamily Hominoidea
Question #12
An endemic species, such as the finches of the Galápagos, is
A.   native to a particular region.
B.   a locally extinct species.
C.   subject to increased rates of genetic mutation.
D.   invasive to a particular region or habitat.
Question #13
mtDNA is found ________ and is ________.
A.   in prokaryotic cells; found only in females
B.   in the cell’s “powerhouse”; passed on from the mother to all her offspring
C.   in the nucleus; inherited from mother to daughter only
D.   outside of the cell’s nucleus; passed on from the father to all his offspring
Question #14
The number of different chromosomes in a plant or animal
A.   reduces over the animal’s lifetime, causing aging.
B.   is the same in every cell with a nucleus; it is homoplasmic.
C.   varies between body cells (e.g., liver cells have more than intestinal cells).
D.   determines how evolved the organism is (potatoes have only five, but camels have seventy).
Question #15
Haplotypes are a group of alleles that
A.   is not likely to recombine during crossovers.
B.   comes from one parent only.
C.   is likely to recombine during crossovers.
D.   does not pass on for many generations.
Question #16
How is mitosis different from meiosis?
A.   Mitosis involves one DNA replication followed by two cell divisions.
B.   Mitosis results in identical copies of the parent cell.
C.   Mitosis results in haploid cells.
D.   Mitosis ultimately results in a reduced number of chromosomes.
Question #17
Most cells in the human body contain a nucleus,
A.   but the nuclear DNA itself is inactive in all but the reproductive cells.
B.   but each has a different set of DNA.
C.   each containing a full copy of the organism’s DNA.
D.   containing exactly one half of the organism’s DNA.
Question #18
During which process is the number of chromosomes reduced?
A.   translation
B.   meiosis
C.   mitosis
D.   recombination
Question #19
The decrease in hominin tooth size over time is an example of which pattern of natural selection?
A.   stabilizing
B.   disruptive
C.   balancing
D.   directional
Question #20
What effect does natural selection have on variation within a population?
A.   It both increases and decreases variation.
B.   It does not affect variation.
C.   It increases variation.
D.   It decreases variation.
Question #21
An individual who displays the disease sickle cell anemia must have inherited the deleterious allele from both phenotypically normal parents. This individual is therefore
A.   homozygous with two recessive alleles.
B.   heterozygous, with one dominant and one recessive allele.
C.   homozygous with two dominant alleles.
D.   haplozygous.
Question #22
The physical location of a gene within the genome is called the
A.   nucleus.
B.   address.
C.   chromosome.
D.   locus.
Question #23
In certain species of nonhuman primates there are groups where only one dominant female has access to mates. The other females must wait until the opportunity to mate presents itself. This will have direct impact on “fitness,” influencing which of the following?
A.   age at death
B.   strength
C.   aggressiveness
D.   reproductive success

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