Midterm

Question 1

Carbon-14 can be used only on ___ materials, and only of an age up to about ____ years old, because of its short half-life

Answer 1

organic; 50,000

Question 2

permafrost (ice) is terrific for preservation, but limited in where it occurs: ____ and ____

Answer 2

Siberia and Alaska

Question 3

existing evidence suggests modern humans (Homo sapiens) originated in Africa about ____ years ago

Answer 3

300,000

Question 4

Some paleontologists do think it is Homo sapiens who, as they migrated out of Africa and around the world, drove many large mammal species extinct, but this was around ___ to ____ years ago

Answer 4

20,000 to 10,000

Question 5

Carbon 14 has a half-life of ____ years

Answer 5

about 5,000

Question 6

How old is Lucy?

Answer 6

3.2 million years old

Question 7

How are the teeth of mammoths different from mastodons?

Answer 7

mastodons had cone-shaped cusps on their molars designed to crush leaves, twigs and branches. Mammoths had ridged molars that allowed them to cut through vegetation and graze like modern-day elephants

Question 8

Reconstructions of behaviors and movements of hominins (and other ancient life) are based on a combination of what 4 things?

Answer 8

1. comparative anatomy of the fossil animals compared to modern animals
2. application of biomechanics to interpret how skeleton moved
3. trace fossils such as footprints as direct evidence of past behaviors
4. application of behavior of related modern organisms

Question 9

Reconstructions of behaviors and movements of hominins (and other ancient life) are based on a combination of what 4 things?

Answer 9

1. comparative anatomy of the fossil animals compared to modern animals
2. application of biomechanics to interpret how skeleton moved
3. trace fossils such as footprints as direct evidence of past behaviors
4. application of behavior of related modern organisms

Question 10

Was Lucy bipedal? What was her skull size?

Answer 10

yes; small

Question 11

What was happening to the climate of east Africa leading up to Lucy’s time (3.2 million years ago?)

Answer 11

east Africa was getting drier, and forest habitat was changing to savannah

Question 12

Where was Lucy found?

Answer 12

in the Afar region of Ethiopia in the northern part of the East African rift valley.

Question 13

Where was Lucy found?

Answer 13

in the Afar region of Ethiopia in the northern part of the East African rift valley.

Question 14

To maintain balance as a biped, humans have the hole for their spinal cord where? compare this to dogs.

Answer 14

directly beneath the skull; vertebrates on 4 legs have the hole at the back of the skull

Question 15

Describe the skull of A. Aforensis

Answer 15

The skull of A. afarensis is like later hominins in having a smaller jaw, with smaller teeth and particularly smaller canines. On the other hand, the skull is in many respects like other apes in having a face that slants back and, compared to Homo sapiens, a small cranium.

Question 16

What is the hole for their spinal cord called?

Answer 16

foramen magnum

Question 17

What is cementation?

Answer 17

sediment is turned into rock through being held together by mineral crystals that precipitated between the grains, gluing them together

Question 18

What is compaction?

Answer 18

the process in which mineral grains become chemically bonded together under great pressure

Question 19

Note that at any given point in time over the past ____ _____ years there have been multiple hominins.

Answer 19

3+ million

Question 20

Determining the numerical (as opposed to relative) dates of rocks generally requires what?

Answer 20

radiometric dating.

Question 21

T/F There was more than one species of Australopithecus

Answer 21

True

Question 22

Paranthropus was specialized for what type of diet?

Answer 22

an herbivorous diet that requires substantial chewing

Question 23

What was Paranthropus boisei?

Answer 23

a side branch of the hominin family tree that lived in Africa at the same time as the first species of the genus Homo a little over 2 million years ago

Question 24

What is the first known species of the genus Homo?

Answer 24

Homo habilis

Question 25

What species first left behind earliest known stone tools?

Answer 25

Homo habilus

Question 26

Compare Homo habilus to Australopithecine species

Answer 26

Homo Habilus had relatively small jaws, larger cranium, and flatter vertical face than the australopithecine species

Question 27

Compare Homo erectus to Homo habilus

Answer 27

It was much larger, with larger cranial capacity, than H. habilis.

Question 28

Compare Homo habilus to modern humans

Answer 28

Homo erectus had a skeleton similar in size and shape to modern humans, though the cranial capacity was still half that of modern humans

Question 29

__ ______ was perhaps the first hominin to have an anatomy and size not unlike that of modern humans, differing primarily in details of the skull and cranial capacity.

Answer 29

Homo ergaster

Question 30

___ ____ was the first hominin known to have left Africa, migrating all the way across Asia.

Answer 30

Homo erectus

Question 31

What is the out-of-Africa hypothesis?

Answer 31

Around 200,000 yr ago, Homo sapiens emerged in Africa. By 40 ka, Homo sapiens had spread throughout Eurasia, and a major competing species, the Neanderthals, became extinct

Question 32

Large mammals such as mammoths and mastodons disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene epoch, especially from about _____ to ______ years ago in North America, but also around the world since about 50,000 years ago.

Answer 32

15,000; 10,000

Question 33

Mammoths were around until ___years ago, which is deep into human history

Answer 33

4,000

Question 34

When was the last glacial maximum?

Answer 34

20,000 years ago

Question 35

When was the hyde park mastodon alive?

Answer 35

15,000 years ago