ANTH 1
Professor Debbie Klein
Fall 2005
FINAL EXAM Study Guide
This final covers: Park Chs. 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, Mysteries of Mankind,
Neanderthals on Trial, Understanding Race, and any lecture material since the last midterm.
Format: 60 multiple choice (1 point each) and 6 short answers (15 points each). The M/W Class Final is on WED Dec. 21, 8-10 am. The
TU/TH Class Final is on TH Dec. 22 10:30 am-12:30 pm. NO MAKE-UP
EXAMS!
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1. Know the Geologic Timescale over the last 65 million years as follows:
Era
Cenozoic 65mya–present
Epoch
Recent life forms, Age of Mammals
Paleocene 55-65 mya
Eocene 35-55 mya
Oligocene 25-35 mya
Miocene 6-25 mya
Pliocene 1.6-6 mya
Holocene Present-10,000 ya
Protoprimates
True primates (protolemurs, prototarsiers, protoanthropoids)
[PROSIMIANS]
Anthropoids (protocatarrhines, protoplatyrrhines, etc.)
[MONKEYS]
Early-Middle Miocene – protohominoids
Late Miocene – true hominoids
[APES]
Hominids (direct and indirect human ancestors)
Pleistocene Ice Age: 10,000-1.6 mya True humans (genus Homo)
Farming
2. Remember key features that distinguish major primate groups from one another (lemurs, tarsiers, anthropoids – platyrrhines, catarrhines, hominoids, hominids)
3. Know the following fossil primates and their significance:
Smilodectes, Necrolemur, Apidium, Aegyptopithecus, Gigantopithecus,
Sivapithecus, Sahelanthropus
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4. Know the 5 major adaptive radiations of Hominid Evolution: major species, their physical and behavioral characteristics, and time period: (see handout!)
1. Late Miocene
6-7 mya Sahelanthropus
Orrorin
Chad
Kenya
2. Pliocene
4-5 mya Ardipithecus ramidus
Australopithecus anamensis
Ethiopia
Kenya
East Africa
South Africa
3. Middle Pliocene A. afarensis (“Lucy”)
3-4 mya A. africanus
4. Late Pliocene
2-3 mya
Paranthropus boisei
P. robustus
Early Homo (i.e. habilis)
5. First Ice Age
2-1.8 mya
Homo erectus
East Africa
South Africa
East Africa
Africa, Asia, Europe
5. Name and describe the 6 species of Genus Homo (not including Homo sapiens).
6. What is robust about the robust early hominids of genus Paranthropus? What does this tell us about their behavior?
7. Know the significance of the following sites:
Fayum
Olduvai Gorge
Lake Turkana
Hadar
Laetoli
Taung
8. What are the defining features that distinguish hominids from other primates?
9. What are the anatomical features relating to bipedalism, what evidence exists for early hominid bipedalism, what are some of the possible reasons why bipedalism evolved?
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10. What features distinguish genus Homo species from the Paranthropus and
Australopithecine species?
11. What features distinguish Neanderthals from modern humans?
Describe the 2 major views scientists have regarding the role Neanderthals may have played in the evolution of modern people.
12. What physical and cultural features distinguish fully modern humans from their predecessors?
13. Explain the differences between the “Out of Africa,” “Multi-regional,” and
“Mostly Out of Africa” (or “Compromise”) theories of modern human origins.
14. What was the significance of the Taung child?
15. What are the following people known for:
Raymond Dart
Louis and Mary Leakey
Richard Leakey
Don Johanson
16. Define:
Prognathism
Sagittal crest
Mitochrondrial DNA
17. When and in which hominid taxon did major increases in brain size occur?
18. Define the race concept. What are some of the dangers of using the “race” concept to define differences among humans?
19. What can a bioanthropological approach tell us about:
SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrone)?
Tay-Sachs disease?
20.
Name 3 things you might do with an undergraduate degree in biological anthropology.
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21.
What does it mean to say that there is no "missing link" in the traditional sense of the phrase?
22.
What may account for the success of early Homo in comparison with the other hominids of the time?
23.
Briefly describe Homo erectus in terms of anatomy, time, geography, and culture.
24.
Why, even though they are now extinct, may we consider Homo erectus an evolutionary success?
25.
What is the evidence for the idea that Homo erectus were scavengers rather than big-game hunters?
26.
Where and when do the first fossils of anatomically modern humans come from? What features distinguish them from archaic Homo?
27.
Does the average difference in IQ scores between American white and black children result from genetic differences between those groups? Explain.
28.
Evidence would suggest that certain racial groups are better at some sports than others. Is this idea supported by an analysis of the evidence? Explain.
29.
In what ways might our ancestors have been healthier than we are? Why?
In what ways do you think we are healthier?
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