ant101 week 1-2,6

Which molecular technique is used to amplify millions of copies of a specific DNA segment?

PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction)

What is 'penetrance' in genetics?

The proportion of individuals with a specific genotype who actually express the phenotype

Which organelle is known as the 'powerhouse' of the cell and contains its own DNA?

Mitochondrion

What is the term for 'cloned' copies of chromosomes produced during DNA replication that are attached at the centromere?

Sister chromatids

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Which Greek philosopher is known as the 'Founder of Biology' for his systematic observations of animals in the 4th century BCE?

Aristotle

In Aristotle's biological classification, natural groups were recognised based on structure, physiology, behavior, and what other factor?

Mode of reproduction

What is the Latin term for the 'ladder of being' used by medieval scholars to rank organisms?

Scala Naturae

In the Great Chain of Being, which entities were positioned directly above humans?

Angels

Which 9th-century Islamic scholar described the struggle for existence and the transformation of species in his 'Book of Animals'?

Al-Jahiz

According to Al-Jahiz, what factor influences organisms to develop new characteristics to ensure survival?

Environmental factors

Who is the 10th-century scholar credited with discovering the laws of reflection and refraction?

Ibn al-Haytham

Ibn al-Haytham is celebrated as the trailblazer and founder of which scientific field?

Modern optics

Which English politician is known as the founder of empiricism for codifying the scientific method?

Francis Bacon

How did John Ray define a biological species in the 17th century?

A group of morphologically similar organisms arising from a common ancestor

Which Swedish scientist established the modern system of taxonomy and binomial nomenclature?

Carl von Linné (Carolus Linnaeus)

What genus and species designation did Linnaeus introduce for humans in 1758?

Homo sapiens

Which French naturalist developed the technique of comparative anatomy still used in evolutionary studies today?

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon

Which paleontologist provided incontrovertible proof of species extinction through the analysis of mammoth fossils?

Georges Cuvier

What is the name of the theory that the Earth's geology was shaped by sudden, violent events like floods?

Catastrophism

According to Georges Cuvier, why did different assemblages of fossils appear in distinct sedimentary layers?

Successive catastrophic deluges exterminated life, followed by repopulation

Which Scottish naturalist is known as the 'Father of Geology' for proposing the Earth is millions of years old?

James Hutton

What term refers to the geological concept that the Earth's features are formed by slow-acting forces over vast periods of time?

Deep time

Which geological theory argues that the same processes operating today, such as erosion and volcanic activity, shaped the Earth in the past?

Uniformitarianism

Who authored the influential three-volume work 'Principles of Geology' published between 1830 and 1833?

Charles Lyell

Which scientist was the first to propose a mechanism explaining how and why species' traits change over time?

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

Lamarck's 'Theory of Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics' suggests that traits developed through use or disuse are passed on to _____.

Offspring

Whose experiments with mice tails disproved the theory that acquired traits could be inherited?

August Weismann

Which economist argued that human population growth would inevitably exceed the rate of food supply increase?

Thomas Malthus

What is the ecological term for the maximum population size an environment can support without degradation?

Carrying capacity

What was the name of the British Royal Navy ship on which Charles Darwin served as a naturalist?

H.M.S. Beagle

Darwin's observations of which animal in Argentina challenged Cuvier's theory of catastrophism?

Armadillos (living and extinct members in the same location)

Which naturalist independently arrived at the theory of natural selection while working in Malaysia?

Alfred Russel Wallace

In what year did Darwin and Wallace present their joint paper to the Linnaean Society?

1858

Darwin defined evolution as 'descent with _____'.

Modification

What term describes the human-driven process of selecting desirable traits in plants or animals, which Darwin used as an analogy for natural selection?

Artificial selection

Natural selection acts upon individuals, but evolution occurs at the level of the _____.

Population

August Weismann's theory of germ-plasm posited that hereditary information is only carried in which type of cells?

Germ cells (gametes or sex cells)

Which Augustinian monk's experiments with pea plants laid the foundation for the science of genetics?

Gregor Mendel

What is the term for the version of a trait that is expressed in the phenotype even if only one copy is present?

Dominant

What is the name of the mid-20th-century movement that merged Mendelian genetics with Darwinian natural selection?

The Modern Synthesis

In the context of the Modern Synthesis, how is evolution specifically defined?

Changes in allele frequencies within populations from one generation to the next

Which 1937 book by Theodosius Dobzhansky became a cornerstone of the Modern Synthesis?

Genetics and the Origin of Species

What process involves populations becoming genetically distinct due to mutations and reproductive isolation?

Speciation

Which evolutionary model describes how genetic incompatibilities arise between isolated populations, preventing them from interbreeding?

The Dobzhansky-Muller model

What city-living adaptation has been observed in Puerto Rican crested anoles to help them scurry across hot streets?

Longer limbs

What is a common misconception about the intentionality of evolution?

It is not intentional or goal-directed; it is a natural process driven by selection.

What does the term 'fitness' mean in evolutionary biology?

The ability of an individual to survive and produce viable offspring.

Why can natural selection not remove deleterious traits like Parkinson's disease from a population?

It usually manifests after reproductive age, so it does not affect reproductive success.

What was the primary goal of the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial in Tennessee?

To challenge the law banning the teaching of evolution in schools

Who served as the defence lawyer for John Scopes during the 1925 trial?

Clarence Darrow

What rare recessive allele provides homozygous individuals with immunity to HIV infection?

CCR5-Δ32

According to research, what was the likely original selective pressure for the CCR5-Δ32 allele in Europe?

Smallpox (or bubonic plague)

In industrialized nations, the average human height has increased by approximately 10 centimeters in the last 150 years. What percentage of height variation is attributed to genetics?

80%

Anthropologist Daniel Lieberman argues that smaller human jaws, which lead to wisdom teeth impaction, are partly caused by what modern dietary factor?

Softer diets that provide insufficient strain to stimulate jaw growth

What are the four primary subdisciplines of anthropology in the United States?

Cultural anthropology, Biological anthropology, Archaeology, and Linguistic anthropology

Which anthropological approach involves studying the interactions between various biological, cultural, and environmental factors as a whole?

Holism

What is the primary research method used by cultural anthropologists to learn about living societies?

Participant-observation fieldwork

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, also known as linguistic relativity, proposes that language shapes _____.

Thought

Archaeologists study the past primarily through the analysis of tool, pottery, and other _____.

Material remains

What is the term for the practical application of anthropological methods to solve real-world problems?

Applied anthropology

Biological anthropology was historically known by what name, which reflected its early focus on physical variation and skull measurements?

Physical anthropology

Which subfield of biological anthropology studies the anatomy and behaviour of monkeys and apes?

Primatology

What is the primary focus of paleoanthropologists?

Human ancestors from the distant past and their evolution

Which subfield of biological anthropology uses genetics to estimate population relationships and migration patterns?

Molecular anthropology

How do bioarchaeologists differ from forensic anthropologists in their study of human remains?

Bioarchaeologists study populations within an archaeological context, while forensic anthropologists work on unidentified individual remains for legal cases.

A scientific hypothesis is best defined as a testable explanation of observed _____.

Facts

What is the term for a scientific explanation of observations that addresses a wide range of phenomena and has stood the test of time?

Theory

In science, what is a law?

A prediction about what will happen under certain conditions, often expressed mathematically

How does 'scientific understanding' differ from 'belief'?

Scientific understanding relies on evidence and repeated testing, while belief relies on trust and faith.

What are the three components of a DNA nucleotide?

A phosphate group, a sugar, and a nitrogenous base

In DNA base pairing, which base is the complement to Cytosine?

Guanine

Which nitrogenous bases are classified as purines?

Adenine and Guanine

Which nitrogenous bases are classified as pyrimidines in DNA?

Cytosine and Thymine

What is the name of the uncoiled strands of DNA found in the nucleus?

Chromatin

Which cell structure is responsible for processing genetic information and synthesising proteins?

Ribosomes

What is the name of the process by which sex cells (gametes) replicate and divide into four non-identical daughter cells?

Meiosis

In the process of protein synthesis, what is the name of the stage where DNA is copied into mRNA?

Transcription

What are the three-base sequences on mRNA that are read by ribosomes to add specific amino acids to a protein chain?

Codons

What is the total number of possible codons in the genetic code?

64

Which base replaces Thymine in an RNA strand?

Uracil

Mendel's 'Pure' lines of pea plants allowed him to discover that traits are passed down as discrete units called _____.

Alleles

What is the difference between a genotype and a phenotype?

A genotype is the genetic makeup; a phenotype is the observable trait expression.

What are the three major paradigm shifts that served as precursors for evolutionary theory?

Time, Diversity, and Mutability

James Hutton's concept of uniformitarianism was essential to evolution because it provided the _____ required for species to change.

Time

Which 1st-century BCE philosopher argued against supernatural intervention and suggested organisms diverged over time?

Lucretius

What were the two 'Laws' proposed by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck to explain species change?

The Law of Use and Disuse and the Law of Inheritance of Acquired Characters

Alfred Russel Wallace's interest in natural selection was piqued after he read about whose travels?

Charles Darwin

One of the four elements of natural selection is that competition for resources occurs among individuals within the same _____.

Species

What is the term for the random changes in allele frequencies within a population from one generation to the next?

Gene flow

What is gene flow?

The introduction of genetic material into a population through interbreeding with another population

In the Modern Synthesis, evolution that involves large-scale changes resulting in speciation is called _____.

Macroevolution

Which anthropologist conducted famous cross-cultural studies of gender and adolescence in Samoa?

Margaret Mead

Which British archaeologist discovered that Jericho is the oldest continuously occupied city in the world?

Kathleen Kenyon

What is the name of the oldest known North American skeleton, dated to 13,600 years ago?

Eve of Naharon

What specific adaptation allows male dragonflies with high melanisation to attract more mates?

Black markings on wings (melanisation)

Why is high melanisation currently being selected against in some dragonfly populations?

The black markings absorb heat, causing overheating and death in warming climates.

What process ensures that a scientist's research is checked by other experts before being published in a scholarly journal?

Peer review

The archaeological study of modern landfills, such as the Garbage Project, is used to understand the waste habits of _____ populations.

Contemporary (or modern)

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