Exam # 3: Historical Geology

1. Exam # 3: Historical Geology Use Answer Sheet provided for submitting answers. Remember: No talking during exam. Be sure to write neatly in pencil and follow all directions. Slides will be shown a total of two times for this exam.

2. Question # 1 • What name has been given to this stout, rugged Ice Age hominid? • a. Homo habilis • b. Homo Neanderthalensis • c. Homo erectus • d. Homo floresiensis

3. Question # 2 • Which of the following hominids was the first believed to start and maintain campfires? A C B

4. Question # 3 • Living approximately 3.2 million years ago in Africa near the Great African Rift Valley was a bipedal hominid named what? a. Homo erectus b. Australopithecus c. Ardipithecus d. EbuGogo

5. Question # 4 • What can you tell about these Murex pecten shells, also known as Venus Comb shells? • a. The snails living in these shells filter-fed in shallow waters. • b. Oxygen levels were overall high in the region where the snails lived. • c. The snails living in these shells filter-fed in deep waters.

6. Question # 5 • Originating in South America, this creature was a giant relative of the armadillo that migrated to southern North America. What scientific name has been given to this creature? a. Glyptodon b. Castoroides c. Megatherium d. Megaloceros

7. Question # 5 • Successive groups of warm- and cold-loving beetles in a peat core can be used to tell what? a. depositional environments b. relative temperatures through time c. abundance of organisms at any one given time d. underground migrations of sensitive warm climate beetles

8. Question # 6 • This giant ice-age beaver had teeth about 6 inches long and weighed as much as 220 pounds. a. Megaloceros b. Castoroides c. Dinohippus d. Megatherium

9. Question # 7 • What scientific name has been given to this massive creature that lived across the northern continents and Africa throughout the entire Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs? a. Elephasmaximus b. Mastodon c. Mammutamericanum d. Mammuthus

10. Question # 8 • The direction in which a shell or foram coils indicates whether past or more modern climates were warm or cold. Did this gastropod shell come from a warm or cold climate? • warm climate • cold climate • alternating cold and warm climates • cannot be determined

11. Question # 9 • What Period of time is part of a continuing ice age, during which intense periods of glaciations lasting nearly 100,000 years have been alternating 20,000 to 30,000 years long? a. Cretaceous b. Permian c. Quaternary d. Tertiary

12. Question # 10 • This Ice Age deer that was built very much like a modern day moose had horns weighing approximately 90 lbs. What name has been assigned to this creature? a. Megaloceros b. Arctodus c. Megatherium d. Procoptodon

13. Question # 11 • This 11-foot long cave bear lived during the Pleistocene epoch of the Quaternary Period. What name has been assigned to this creature? a. Megatherium b. Glyptodon c. Castoroides d. Arctodus

14. Question # 12 • This Ice Age creature which inhabited both North and South America was up to 20 ft tall and weighed 2,200 pounds. It had long claws which were probably used for defense and for pulling down tree branches. What name has been designated for this creature? a. Diprotodon b. Megatherium c. Dinotherium d. Procoptodon

15. Question # 13 • What informal name was given to this giant flightless bird that had a skull with a very robust, pick-ax-like beak? And, where (what continent) did they first appear?

16. Question # 14 • What nickname was given to this hominid named Australopithecus robustus who had strong jaws and teeth?

17. Question # 15 • What interesting discovery did paleontologists find while studying these set of trackways? Be specific in your answer.

18. Question # 16 • Another name for the ‘Old World Monkeys’ is what? a. Apidium b. Bipidium c. Tripidium d. Opidium ? ?

19. Question # 17 • Currently, the oldest-known fossil hominid (transitional primate) to walk upright is ______, which lived in Africa around 5.8 million years ago. a. Australopithecus b. Homo sapiens neaderthalensis c. Ardipithecus d. Homo florensiensis

20. Question # 18 • Dating back to at least 2 million years in modern-day Africa, this hominid is undisputedly human and is the first known group to use tools. a. Homo erectus b. The “hobbit” c. Homo floren d. Homo habilis

21. Question # 19 • The structural changes of the brain now in its optimum place has changed from _______ within a short amount of geological time. a. 100 cc to 3000 cc b. 400 cc to 800 cc c. 200 cc to 450 cc d. 400 cc to 1500 cc

22. Question # 20 • Based on what you have learned about coiling forams and their cold versus warm climates, what type of past climate did this ammonite live in? a. cold b. warm c. seasonal d. unable to determine

23. Question # 21 • These long-necked plesiosaurs had very sharp teeth. They gave live birth to their young in the water, swallowed pebbles to help break up the plant and coral material that they fed on, and had about 75 vertebrae. What name is assigned to these sea monsters? a. Tanystropheus b. Elasmosaurus c. Liopleurodon d. Mosasaurus

24. Question # 22 • This semi-aquatic creature was one of the most bizarre Triassic reptiles of all time. It is instantly recognizable by its outsized, noodle-like neck that was longer than its body and tail combined. a. Dakosaurus b. Diatryma c. Tanystropheus d. Dunkleosteus

25. Question # 23 • What name has been assigned to this small, pot-bellied close relative of the Homo sapiens? a. Homo floresiensis b. Homo neanderthalensis c. Homo habilis d. Cro-Magnon

26. Question # 24 • Why did Neanderthals have wide noses and broad nasal cavities? And, did they have vocal chords for speech? Be specific in your answer.

27. Question # 25 • Neanderthals had what kind of diet? a. plants and meat b. meat only c. nuts, fruits, and berries d. plants only e. mostly meat

28. Question # 26 • Homo erectus had one thing that set it apart from Homo habilis. What was it? a. Homo erectus stood upright. b. Homo erectus was a skilled tool maker and user. c. Homo erectus had a larger brain capacity. d. Homo erectus was able to make and contain fire.

29. Question # 27 • It is a known fact that Neanderthals buried their dead. What special things did they do in their burials that shows compassion for their deceased ones? Be specific in your answer.

30. Question # 28 • What primate do scientists generally agree that Homo sapiens are the most closely related to? a. chimpanzees b. gorillas c. gibbons d. orangutans and Homo sapiens

31. Question # 29 • Name three advantages that Australopithecushad for being able to stand upright? Be specific in your answers.

32. Question # 30 • Which of the following statements are not true about Australopithecus? a. They had keen eyesight and could see in color. b. They had teeth with enamel very similar to Homo sapiens. c. They were hunters and gatherers. d. They had a brain size of about 400 cc.

33. Question # 31 • Scientists have studied the coprolites (fossilized dung) of Australopithecus. From the coprolite research, what did scientists discover may have been the culprit for their demise? a. Heart worms b. Crohn’s Disease c. Vitamin A poisoning d. Iron deficiency

34. Question # 32 • Many have speculated or assumed that Neanderthals were dumb and slow savage-like beings. However, they have found signs of campfires within the caves they lived in. Name two artifacts that shows that they were relatively intelligent beings for their time?

35. Question # 33 • How did the Neanderthals differ in their hunting techniques compared to those of the early Homo sapiens? Be specific in your answer.

36. Question # 34 • Here is a highly ornamented pecten (scallop shell) with very defined growth lines in between the large ribs (depressions). What does the space marked with the pointed arrow represent, a cold, harsh winter or a mild winter?

37. Question # 35 • How did these large Ice Age creatures often manage to survive predatory attacks? Be specific in your answer.

38. Question # 36 • This creature was a large species of woolly rhinos that had adapted to living in the ice-age conditions of Europe and Siberia. What name has been assigned to this territorial creature? a. Ceolodonta b. Phorusrhacos c. Smilodon d. Paraceratherium

39. Question # 37 • This Ice Age bird’s hunting techniques have been compared to the living Secretary Bird. What is its name? a. Andrewsarchus b. Kelenken c. Megatherium d. Phorusrhacos

40. Question # 38 • Andrewsarchus was a primitive: a. fish b. bird c. wolf d. llama B A C D

41. Question # 39 • What is the scientific name for this feline Ice Age mammal? a.Pantheraleo b. Smilodon c. Bengal d. Sabertooth

42. Question # 40 • What is the present tilt of the Earth’s axis since 2011? a. 23.5 degrees b. 23 degrees c. 23.4 degrees d. 24 degrees

43. Question # 41 • What is another name for the wobble effect of the Earth? a. eccentricity b. precession of equinoxes c. Milankovitch Cycles d. axial tilt

44. Question # 42 • Over hundreds of thousands of years, the Earth’s orbit has changed. The eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit is currently about 0.0167; therefore, the Earth’s orbit is what? Nearly circular or nearly elliptical?

45. Question # 43 • Australopithecus had to watch out for predators, such as the sabertooths. Which one of the following statements is true? a. The Ice Age sabertooths had longer sabers. b. The Ice Age sabertooths were considerably smaller. c. The Ice Age sabertooths lived in the trees. d. There were no such prehistoric cats during the Ice Age.

46. Question # 44 • Which of the following hominids resembled that of the EbuGogo race – a race of beings observed to be small with pot-bellies and easily climbing trees? a. Homo erectus b. Homo floresiensis c. Homo habilis d. Denisovahominin

47. Question # 45 • Some scientists believe that the Denisovans were closely related to the early Homo sapiens, while other scientists believe that they were more closely related to another group of hominids. What group of hominids are they? a. Cro-magnons b. Neanderthals c. Homo erectus d. Australopithecus robutus

48. Question # 46 • Which group of hominids have left cave paintings which may be of religious significance? a. Denisovans b. Neanderthals c. Cro-Magnons d. Homo floresiensis

49. Question # 47 • This sea monster was an alien-looking animal with a head that was encased in solid and inflexible armor-plating and a muscular body that was streamlined – much like that of a shark. a. Dunkleosteus b. Plesiosaurus c. Xiphactinus d. Leedsichthys

50. Question # 48 • These sea monsters had teeth made of solid bone. Is this image depicting a younger or older Devonian creature? And, how can one tell? Be specific in your answer.