WorksheetsFirst Peoples
Total questions: 47
Worksheet time: 24mins
First to use fire?
a. Homo heidelbergensis
a. Australopithecus afarensis
a. Homo habilis
a. Homo erectus
a. Australopithecus africanus
First to live outside of Africa?
a. Homo heidelbergensis
a. Homo georgicus
a. Homo habilis
a. Homo erectus
First to add to its diet meat obtained by scavenging?
Homo heidelbergensis
Australopithecus afarensis
Homo habilis
Australopithecus africanus
Homo erectus
Appears earliest in the evolutionary record?
Homo erectus
Australopithecus africanus
Homo habilis
Australopithecus afarensis
Homo heidelbergensis
Which species was the first to make stone tools?
Homo erectus
Australopithecus africanus
Homo habilis
Homo neanderthalensis
Homo heidelbergensis
Which species was the first to occupy the country of Georgia?
Homo erectus
Australopithecus africanus
Homo habilis
Homo sapiens
Homo heidelbergensis
Which species listed below was the first to occupy Australia and the Americas?
Homo erectus
Australopithecus africanus
Homo sapiens
Homo neanderthalensis
Homo heidelbergensis
Which species listed below was the first to bury their dead?
Homo erectus
Australopithecus africanus
Homo sapiens
Homo neanderthalensis
Homo heidelbergensis
Which species listed below was the first to paint on the walls of caves and carve figurines?
Homo heidelbergensis
Homo neanderthalensis
Homo sapiens
Australopithecus africanus
Homo erectus
Which of the following hominid species coexisted with H. sapiens?
Homo habilis
Australopithecus ramidus
Homo neanderthalensis
Australopithecus africanus
Homo heidelbergensis
Which one of the species listed below made stone tools, but in a rather haphazard (non-standardize) fashion?
Homo habilis
Australopithecus africanus
Homo sapiens
Homo neanderthalensis
Homo heidelbergensis
Which of the following indicates that Neanderthals & early anatomically modern Homo sapiens may have interbred with each other?
Some modern humans have mostly Neanderthal genes
The presence of hybrid populations in the fossil record
About 4% of modern humans have alleles for certain traits that were present in Neanderthals but not in anatomically modern H. sapiens prior to their dispersal out of Africa
The existence of modern people who have Neandertal traits such as large noses, barrel chests, compact limbs
All of the above
While excavating an 8 million year old site in Africa you unearth a primate fossil unlike any seen before. After detailed examination, you feel it represents a new species of hominid and announce to the world that you've found the oldest known hominid. Your arch rival, Dr. Carlos de los Huesos, disagrees and demands evidence in support of your claim for hominid status. Which of the following pieces of evidence would be most likely to persuade Dr. de los Huesos that your claim is valid?
a foramen magnum centered directly underneath the braincase
the presence of a small sagittal crest
cranial capacity in excess of that know for modern apes
the presence of stone tools
all of the above
In the following list of paired traits, which appear first in the history of the hominids?
crudely made brush shelters / bipedalism
bipedalism / the manufacture of stone tools
language / cranial capacities larger than modern apes
bipedalism / hunting large animals
hunting / the manufacture of stone tools
Many anthropologists believe that "language" (which is the label we give to our ability to manipulate symbols) is, like obligate bipedalism, a distinguishing feature of humans. When did humans begin to acquire "language" capabilities? In other words, which species below may have had the beginnings of language centers in their brain?
Homo habilis
Australopithecus africanus
Homo heidelbergensis
Homo erectus
Ardipithecus ramidus
Which of the following food getting patterns was most likely used by Homo habilis?
hunting medium-size game animals
trapping and fishing
foraging and scavenging
scavenging and trapping
all of the above
Which species probably had a diet consisting mainly of hard to chew items, such as seeds, nuts and roots?
Homo habilis
Ardipithecus ramidus
robust australopithecines (like A. robustus and A. boisei)
Homo neanderthalensis
gracile australopithecines (like A. afarensis and A. africanus)
The first stone tools
usually occur in association with hunting activities
consist of flakes & the cores remaining from making the flakes
date to no more than 1.5 million years ago
were nearly always made to a standardized pattern
were probably the invention of either Au. afarensis
Why does the fossil hominid known as "Lucy" get mentioned so often in textbooks and lectures on hominid evolution?
Because her species gave rise to all later hominid species
At the time she was found, anthropologists thought humans had evolved only about 1.75 million years ago. But Lucy was at least twice that age and she was definitely a hominid.
most complete pre-modern hominid skeleton ever found
She lived millions of years before modern hominids and yet looked very much like moderns in terms of her skull size and shape
She's the oldest known hominid ever found
In what ways are H. erectus & H. sapiens most similar?
brain size and cultural achievements
their post-cranial skeleton
controlled use of fire and the hunting of large game animals
language capabilities
all of the above
Which hominid species is often said to be the first to believe in a soul and an afterlife?
Homo neanderthalensis
Homo antecessor
Homo habilis
Homo sapiens
Homo erectus
Which trait can be attributed to the Neanderthals?
a wandering way of life
a brain larger than modern Homo sapiens
cave people
a hunting lifestyle
all of the above
The 1st to make stone tools to a standardized pattern?
Homo erectus
Homo habilis
Homo sapiens
Homo neanderthalensis
Homo heidelbergensis
_______ probably were the very first hominids to hunt game animals larger than rabbits and small deer.
Homo neanderthalensis
Homo habilis
Homo heidelbergensis
Homo erectus
Homo sapiens
Neanderthal skeletons are quite different from yours and mine. What reason is given to explain this difference?
a diet high in meat and low in vegetables
abnormalities due to inbreeding
a diet high in vegetables and low in meat protein
a response to their environment
all of the above
Neanderthals had a broad nasal opening and large sinus cavities for the purpose of
taking in more oxygen to run faster and farther
providing increased surface area to warm and moisten air
distinguishing themselves from Homo heidelbergensis
smelling danger
finding each other in the dark
The earliest fossils with anatomically modern human (Homo sapiens) traits are found in
Asia
North America
Australia
Europe
Africa
The various australopithecines species are considered hominids because
they made tools, controlled fire, and may have had spoken language
they had cranial capacities within the modern range of variation
they were habitual upright bipeds
they made stone tools on a regular basis
of their language skills
When did H. sapiens (people having skeletons like ours) first evolve (that is, how long ago did modern humans first appear)?
50,000 - 60,000 years ago
90,000 - 100,00 years ago
150,000 200,000 years ago
250,000 300,000 years ago
more than 500,000 years ago
It is well known that anatomically modern humans
evolved simultaneously in a number of world areas out of
pre-existing Homo erectus populations
evolved only once, in Africa, and then spread into the rest of the world and replaced other hominid populations
are the result of hybridization between moderns and
Neanderthals
replaced older, pre-modern populations through warfare
are no longer evolving biologically
The endocasts of Homo habilis suggest they
were a dead end in human evolution
may have been capable of rudimentary human speech
suffered from a variety of internal parasitic infections
had extremely poor dental hygiene
could make wooden and bone tools
Recent discoveries in 2000 of a relatively late 1.44 million-year-old Homo habilis (KNM-ER 42703) and a relatively early 1.55 million-year-old H. erectus (KNM-ER 42700) from the same area of northern Kenya (Ileret, Lake Turkana) show that
Homo habilis was the ancestor of Homo erectus
Homo erectus evolved after Homo habilis
they co-existed in Eastern Africa for almost half a million years.
Homo erectus was the ancestor of Homo habilis
With reference to habitat and behavior, what do the physical characteristics of the Neanderthals suggest?
biologically adapted to extremely cold climates
essential unchanged from Homo erectus
foragers, gatherers and may have hunted large animals
Descendants of the robust australopithecines
Both A and C
Early forms of the genus Homo (such as H. habilis) used the long bones from various animal species as
waterproofing hides of animals
ornaments and weapons
food - they cracked them open and ate the marrow
supports for crude houses
all of the above
Which small-brained species ate fruits, new leaves, flowers and scavenged for meat?
Australopithecus robustus
Homo habilis
Homo erectus
Australopithecus afarensis
Australopithecus africanus
Which of the following anatomical traits of Australopithecus afarensis were more like those of an upright walking human than of a knuckle-walking chimpanzee?
Pelvis
Feet
Hands
Shoulders
All of these
The wrist bones of Ardipithecus show that they
used tools to obtain certain types of food
were incapable of allowing movement in the trees
were nearly identical to those of modern humans
were NOT knuckle walkers like chimps & gorillas
walked on their knuckles like chimps and gorillas
Ardipithecus foot bones reveal that they
walked in a manner very similar to modern humans
could grasp branches while clambering through the trees
walked in a manner very similar to modern chimps
had a divergent big toe
“b” and “d”
The sagittal crest in the early hominids functioned to
Help maintain balance during tree climbing
provide stability to the hips during walking
anchor jaw muscles
signify sexual readiness during ovulation
none of the above
At the start of the 20th century, human evolution was believed to have begun in Asia. Then in 1925 Dr. Raymond Dart announced the find of a fossil hominid that challenged the Asian-origin idea. What name did Dr. Dart give to his find?
Homo habilis
Australopithecus africanus
Australopithecus robustus
Homo ergaster
Australopithecus afarensis
Why is the site of Laetoli important?
Has stone tools more than 3.5 million years ago, thus proving the presence of hominids in Africa at that time.
Contained hominid pelvic bones in a geological context providing their presence more than 3.5 million years ago.
The fossilized human footprints dated to more than 3.5 million years ago
There's evidence of hominid hunting behavior, especially large game animals
All of the above
What factor led to some ape-like creatures becoming habitual upright bipeds
Being bipedal reduced the amount of solar radiation hitting the skin and preventing them from overheating
They stood upright to get a view over tall grasses of the savanna to see predators
To walk about on the savanna to hunt game animals.
We do not know what the initiating factor for habitual bipedalism was
They started standing upright to free the hands for carrying objects and making tools
Which species goes the farthest back in time?
Ardipithecus ramidus
Australopithecus afarensis
Australopithecus robustus
Homo antecessor
Sahelanthropus tchadensis
Early Homo is distinguished from australopithecines largely by
Larger cranial capacity
Shorter stature
Larger noses and large sagittal crests
the faces evolved to be flatter and a higher nasal cavity formed.
A and D
An East African hominid from around 1.6 million years ago has a cranial capacity of 775 ml (using the analogy of the water bottles, about 1 and 1/2 water bottles). Which species does it most likely belong?
Australopithecus africanus
Homo habilis
Homo neanderthalensis
Homo erectus
Australopithecus robustus
The heaving pitting and scratching on Australopithecus robustus teeth indicates they
Used their teeth as tools during production of leather items
Ate fruit and insects
Were a dead end, evolutionarily speaking
Ate seeds, nuts and tough vegetation, perhaps roots and bulbs
had a wide variety of dental problems
Which of the following sequences best reflects the evolutionary record?
Homo sapiens; Homo erectus; Homo heidelbergensis; Australopithecus africanus; Homo habilis; Australopithecus afarensis; Ardipithecus ramidus
Homo sapiens; Homo erectus; Australopithecus africanus; Homo heidelbergensis; Homo habilis; Australopithecus afarensis; Ardipithecus ramidus
Homo sapiens; Homo heidelbergensis; Homo erectus; Homo habilis; Australopithecus africanus; Ardipithecus ramidus; Australopithecus afarensis
Homo sapiens; Homo neanderthalensis; Homo heidelbergensis; Homo erectus; Homo habilis; Australopithecus africanus; Australopithecus afarensis; Sahelanthropus
