Register New Player - Log In
Welcome to our world of fun trivia quizzes and quiz games:     New Player quiz register Play Now! trivia game

Fossil Finds near Lake Turkana

Created by alliefarrell

Fun Trivia : Quizzes : Paleontology
Fossil Finds near Lake Turkana game quiz
"In the past thirty years, some of the world's most fascinating evolutionary finds have been excavated near Lake Turkana in northern Kenya. Here is a quiz to help keep you up to date with recent discoveries!"

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  



1. In the species name Kenyanthropus platyops, what does 'platyops' mean?
    small-eared
    flat-faced
    large-jawed
    small-toothed


2. The team that excavated and studied Kenyanthropus platyops believe that it lived at the same time as which species of early man?
    Homo erectus
    Australopithecus anamensis
    Australopithecus afarensis
    Homo habilis


3. Australopithecus anamensis fosslils were excavated at Kanapoi and at Allia Bay, just west of Lake Turkana. What is the major difference between Australopithecus anamensis and Australopithecus afarensis?
    average body weight
    average height
    average skull size
    average brain capacity


4. Sexual dimorphism is the difference in form between the male and female of the same species. For instance, human males are generally larger than women, and female whales are generally larger than male whales. What was the first fossil found of A. anamensis that supported the idea that it was sexually dimorphic?
    The male teeth
    The male tibia is larger than the female tibia [lower inner leg bone]
    The male humerus
    The male mandible


5. Once upon a time in 1959, Mary Leakey found a robust australopithecine in Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. It was nicknamed "Zinj", and became world-famous. The skull which Louis Leakey called Zinjanthropus boisei is now designated as Paranthropus boisei. It is noted for its degree of megadontia. What is megadontia?
    Huge skull
    Huge sagittal crest
    Huge teeth
    Huge cheekbones


6. In 1985, Alan Walker and Richard Leakey found a fossil at Koobi Fora, on the western shore of Lake Turkana in Kenya. This fossil became very famous, and confirmed the validity of a new species, called Australopithecus aethiopicus. What is the fossil called?
    Turkana Boy
    The Acheulean Skull
    Tautavel Man
    The Black Skull


7. Homo habilis, meaning 'handy man', is so called because of the tools found buried with its fossils. Homo habilis had a larger brain capacity than australopithecines, and a more humanlike brain. By the time Homo habilis came along, our ancestors were nearly five feet tall, although females may have been smaller. Of what did Homo habilis make its tools?
    animal bones
    pointed stones
    wood
    volcanic rock


8. Since Bernard Ngeneo, a member of Richard Leakey's team, found a specimen tentatively named Homo rudolfensis near Lake Turkana in 1972, there has been much scientific debate about it. Some scientists believe that Homo rudolfenis is an australopithecine, others believe that it is a smaller Homo habilis. A more recent discovery of another Homo rudolfensis mandible [jaw] in 1993 opened the debate again. Where was this mandible found?
    Ethiopia
    Lake Chad
    Lake Malawi
    South Africa


9. Kamoya Kimeu, a member of Richard Leakey's team made a remarkable discovery at Lake Turkana in 1984. He uncovered an almost-complete adolescent skeleton, only 300 yards from Leakey's breakfast table. Although there is not scientific proof, but only a theory to go on, how does the scientific community think that this adolescent boy died?
    of septicemia from a tooth infection
    by drowning when the lake bed was higher
    from an attack by carnivorous animals
    of starvation


10. What was so unexpected about the skeleton of Turkana Boy?
    the number of unbroken bones
    his weight
    his height
    the number of broken bones


Copyright, FunTrivia.com. All Rights Reserved.
Legal / Conditions of Use
Compiled May 19 13