Foundations in Biological Anthropology

Flashcards covering key terms and definitions from the 'Foundations in Biological Anthropology' lecture, including subfields of anthropology, core concepts like evolution, and teleological thinking.

Biological Anthropology

A field that applies human osteological knowledge to medicolegal cases and studies past populations, human ancestors, human genetics, nonhuman primates, and the human body.

Molecular Anthropology

The study of human genetics, investigating population relationships, genetic variation, and interbreeding events.

Primatology

The study of the anatomy and behavior of nonhuman primates, examining shared traits, social organization, and insights into human evolution.

Forensic Anthropology

The application of human osteological knowledge to medicolegal cases, including skeletal feature variation, trauma effects, and demographic estimations.

Paleoanthropology

The study of human ancestors and evolutionary origins, exploring bipedalism, brain development, and the emergence of human traits.

Bioarchaeology

The understanding of past populations and cultures through archaeological human remains, analyzing disease impact, population relationships, and past diets.

Human Biology

The study of the human body and what affects it, typically in living individuals, including disease impact, environmental adaptation, nutritional stress, and biological variation.

Biocultural Approach

An approach in bioanthropology that examines how people interpret biological variation and how sociocultural factors can impact biology.

Evolution

Change in frequencies of inherited traits through time, occurring at different scales from within species to new species.

Mutation

A force of evolution that generates new variations, as seen in examples like the peppered moth where it generates new color varieties.

Natural Selection

A force of evolution where certain traits are favored, leading to differential survival and reproduction, though it reduces variation rather than generating new ones.

Gene Flow

A force of evolution involving the movement of genes between populations.

Genetic Drift

A force of evolution that describes random changes in allele frequencies in a population.

Teleology

Thinking that involves progressing with a purpose or predetermined outcome or goal.