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26 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
About how old is the Earth believed to be?
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4.5 billion years
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What are the three eras in which vertebraic life existed?
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Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic
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Describe the Paleozoic Era.
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Adaptive radiation of reptiles
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Describe the Mesozoic Era.
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Three epochs - Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. Mammals arrived at the end of the Mesozoic era.
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What are the two periods of the Cenozoic era?
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Tertiary and Quaternary
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What are the five epochs of the Tertiary period?
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Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, and Pliocene
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During which epoch did the anthropoid suborder develop?
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Eocene
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What are the two epochs of the Quaternary period?
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Pleistocene and Holocene
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When did the earliest primates appear?
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Paleocene epoch of Cenozoic era
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What are the absolute dating methods?
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Potassium Argon, Argon-Argon, Carbon-14, Thermoluminescence, and electron-spin resonance
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In which ways did early anthropoids differ from prosimians?
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Eyes rotated forward, fully enclosed eye socket, dry nose separate from upper lip, molar cusps, shorter snout
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Why are teeth so useful for paleontologists?
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1) Enable phylogenetic reconstruction
2) Reveal life history/development patterns 3) Tell a lot about diet |
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What are the three hypotheses explaining the origin of primates?
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1) Arboreal hypothesis
2) Visual predation hypothesis 3) Mixed diet hypothesis |
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During which epoch did anthropoids become the most prevalent type of primate?
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Oligocene
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What kind of primates were most prevalent during the Eocene?
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Prosimians
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Where do most specimens of early anthropoids come from?
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Fayum, Egypt
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When did the first New World monkeys begin to appear?
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oligocene
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Which epoch was the "age of the apes?"
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Miocene
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How did the climate change during the Miocene?
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Temperatures fell, Africa became drier and more seasonal, tropical forests shrank, woodlands expanded
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To what kind of habitat did the earliest hominins become adapted to?
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Savanna
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What are the derived characteristics of modern humans?
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Habitual bipedalism, dentition, large brains, slow development, elaborate culture
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What is unique about the dentition of modern humans?
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Parabolic tooth arcade, thick enamel, small canines, large molars
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Define hominins.
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Humans and their direct ancestors
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Describe mosaic evolution
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Early hominins still had some ape-like features; not all derived features present
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When did hominins branch off from the apes?
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Late Miocene
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Which three genera of hominis does Wood's taxonomy recognize?
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Australopithecus, Parathropus, and Kenyanthropus
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