Question 1

What is a difference between Miocene apes and modern apes?

Accepted Answer

A) tail length 
B) ribcage breadth 
C) hand size 
D) foot morphology

Question 2

What is Chororapithecus considered?

Accepted Answer

A) the oldest primate fossil in Africa 
B) the direct ancestor to Gigantopithecus 
C) related to a common ancestor of African apes and hominins 
D) the ancestor to Aegyptopithecus

Question 3

What is the space between the canine and the first premolar in the lower jaw of some primates called?

Accepted Answer

A) a retrocanine space 
B) an alveolus 
C) a mandibular gap 
D) a diastema

Question 4

What is the most likely contender for the common ancestor of all later catarrhines?

Accepted Answer

A) Oligopithecus 
B) Aegyptopithecus 
C) Parapithecus 
D) Apidium

Question 5

Old World anthropoid primates and New World primates have different dental formulae.What are they?

Accepted Answer

A) Most New World Monkeys: 2-1-2-3;Old World Monkeys and Apes: 2-1-3-3 
B) Most New World Monkeys: 2-1-2-2;Old World Monkeys and Apes: 2-1-2-3 
C) Most New World Monkeys: 2-1-3-3;Old World Monkeys and Apes: 2-1-2-3 
D) Most New World Monkeys: 2-1-2-3;Old World Monkeys and Apes: 2-1-3-3.0

Question 6

The similarity between the foot bones of ________ and the living anthropoids makes it likely the first true anthropoid.

Accepted Answer

A) Proconsul 
B) Micropithecus 
C) Dryopithecus 
D) Eosimias

Question 7

What is the most distinctive feature of ape dentition,which clearly distinguishes apes from Old World monkeys?

Accepted Answer

A) a 2-1-2-3 dental formula 
B) a long canine tooth in males 
C) a Y-5 molar pattern 
D) bilophodont molars

Question 8

The evolution of apes began in Africa.Where did it continue?

Accepted Answer

A) Europe and Asia 
B) Asia and South America 
C) Europe and South America 
D) Greece and South America

Question 9

Discuss the evolution of primates beginning with the Paleocene proprimates.In your answer,consider the effect of climate change on the environment and primates' environmental adaptations.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Discuss the evolution of primates beginning with...

Question 10

What do comparisons of tooth wear in living apes and extinct Miocene apes suggest that some extinct species of apes ate?

Accepted Answer

A) insects,fruit,and leaves 
B) leaves,grass,and bark 
C) leaves,nuts,and fruits 
D) nuts,fruits,and small animals

Question 11

According to Canadian primate paleontologist David Begun,what did climate changes in Europe prompt late Miocene apes to do?

Accepted Answer

A) migrate to Asia from Europe following food sources 
B) take advantage of lower sea levels to migrate from Europe to South America 
C) spread to Europe from Africa following the expansion of tropical forests 
D) move from Europe back to Africa following food sources

Question 12

What does the visual predation hypothesis propose?

Accepted Answer

A) Better vision allowed for better access to fruits and small insects. 
B) Primate traits arose as adaptations to preying on insects and small animals. 
C) Primates could see predators from further away,thereby securing time to flee. 
D) Predators had the ability to see primates better.

Question 13

The North American fossil primates are not likely direct ancestors of South American fossil primates known from about 36 mya. What aspects of Eocene and later geography support this idea?

Accepted Answer

A) North and South America were separated by large,virtually impassable mountains. 
B) North America,South America,and Africa were all separated by the sea,but Antarctica could have provided a route from Africa to South America. 
C) At the time,North America was connected to Africa,not South America. 
D) North America and South America were connected,but the land between them was too dry for primates to live in or migrate across.

Question 14

Which of the following is the main reason Cartmill's visual predation hypothesis may be better than the arboreal hypothesis of primate origins?

Accepted Answer

A) Cartmill claims that other species,such as squirrels,are very arboreal and have many primate features. 
B) Cartmill's visual predation hypothesis does a better job at explaining how primates acquire and consume fruit,a mainstay in many primate diets. 
C) Cartmill's visual predation hypothesis explains a larger number of key primate features than the arboreal hypothesis did. 
D) Cartmill's hypothesis best explains the shift from ground dwelling to tree dwelling in early primates.

Question 15

Which fossil group is characterized by an eye orbit fully enclosed by bone?

Accepted Answer

A) adapids 
B) plesiadapiforms 
C) anthropoids 
D) omomyids

Question 16

The arboreal hypothesis proposes that defining primate characteristics were adaptations to life in the trees.Which characteristics did these include?

Accepted Answer

A) grasping hands and feet,developed vision,and greater intelligence 
B) grasping hands,tails,and intelligence 
C) developed vision,greater sense of smell,and tails 
D) developed vision,greater sense of smell,and grasping hands and feet

Question 17

What are plesiadapiforms also called?

Accepted Answer

A) proprimates 
B) dryopithecids 
C) proconsulids 
D) adapids

Question 18

What might be the cause of the shift from the Miocene,which had greater diversity of ape species and fewer monkey species,to a living assemblage with greater diversity of monkey species and fewer ape species?

Accepted Answer

A) global climate changes that resulted in cooler,wetter environments less optimal for ape species 
B) differences in ability to exploit the habitats that resulted after a change in global climate 
C) cooler climates,where it is more difficult to preserve larger ape fossils 
D) declines in ape diversity,caused by competition from hominin species

Question 19

About when do apes first appear in Europe and Asia?

Accepted Answer

A) 17 mya 
B) 6 mya 
C) 10 mya 
D) 12 mya

Question 20

The calcaneus (heel bone)of Eosimias suggests that it may be a very primitive:

Accepted Answer

A) primate. 
B) anthropoid. 
C) New World monkey. 
D) ape.

Exam 9: Primate Origins and Evolution: The First 50 Million Years