ANTHRCUL 101 - Test #2

Diurnal

Active during the day

Basic Primate Tendencies

• Grasping Hands/Feet **

• Shift from smell > sight-based information

• Shift from nose > hand-based information

• Increased Brain Complexity / Brain-Body Ratio **

• High Parental Investment in Offspring **

• Social Complexity

Arboreal

Live in trees

Terrestrial

Live on ground

Sexual Dimorphism

Sexes of species look distinct (outside of sex organs)

Homologies

Traits inherited from a common ancestor

Analogy

Similarities arising as a result of a similar selective forces, NOT inherited from common ancestor

Anthropoid

Resembling a human being in form

Strepsirrhini Characteristics

• Small body size **

• Long snouts

• Large Ears

• Arboreal

• Nocturnal **

• Solitary

Haplorrine Characteristics

• Increased brain size **

• Diurnal **

• Larger body sizes **

New World Monkey Characteristics

• Arboreal

• Prehensile Tails **

• Flat Noses **

Old World Monkey Characteristics

• Sharp Nosed **

• Skin on butts **

Which primates have no tail

Apes

Brachiation

Arboreal locomotion (swinging in trees)

What non-human primate do we share most recent common ancestor

Chimpanzees or Bonobos

Absolute Dating

Dating method that determines an age of fossil, rock, etc. on specified time scale

Relative Dating

Dating method that provides rough estimate of age relative to other fossils, rocks, etc.

Homonin

Members of human lineage after split from ancestral chimp

When did Homonin first appear

6-7 mya

First appearance of Ardipithecus

6-7 mya

First appearance of genus Homo

2-3 mya

Features of mosaic evolution

• Bipedalism

• Brain size

• Tool use

• Teeth patterns

Skeletal features as a result of bipedalism

• Relocation of foramen magnum (centered)

• Spine curvature

Brain size, pelvic shape, & bipedalism relation to childbirth

Made birthing difficult, required strong pelvic support

Which homonins lived only in Africa

Homo Hablis

First homonin to migrate out of Africa? Where?

Homo erectus. Asia, India, Indonesia, Europe

What homonin first used fire? Why relavent?

Homo erectus. Showed complex thought.

What are the debates surrounding Neanderthals

Out of Africa v.s. Multi-Reigonal Hypothesis

Neanderthal debate’s link to social context

Racial classifications

Svante Paablo’s work

• Race / ethnicity is not biological

• We interbred with Neanderthals

Video’s argument for how race is a product of culture and not biology

There are no genetic markers found in and shared by one particular race and not found in other races

Role biological sciences had in supporting racist policies and practices in late 19th and 20th centuries

If races biologically different, it is justified when certain races are at the bottom of the social hierarchy. (Black mortality rates > than whites (due to poverty), so there was “no point” in improving conditions for Black Americans.

Genetic variation compared to other animals

Humans one of the most genetically similar species

How biologists have changed views on race in the past 100 years

Shifted from justifying unjust racist policies to understanding race is cultural concept with no connection to biology.

What happens when students compare DNA in video

Not necessarily most similar to those of the same race.

Mutation as process of evolution

Variation arises with change at DNA level

Natural Selection

Over time, more successful genetic variants will become more common in the population

Gene Flow

Movement of DNA through migration and mate selection

Genetic Drift

Change in genetic variation across generations due to random factors

Why is phenotype (in contrast to genotype) crucial for natural selection to operate

Interacts directly with environment (observable traits)

Basic understanding of Human Leukocyte Antigen System (HLA)

Allows body’s cells to identify own against disease cells. Human immune system can adopt flexibly to disease environments and help human bodies resist disease

Sickle Cell Trait

Inherited trait causing sickle-shaped red blood cells

Balanced Polymorphism

Long-term maintenance of two or more different genetic variants in a population (sickle-cell carrying vs not)

How have processes through which light reflects off skin evolved across the globe over time.

Different UV levels in different populations locations (melanin) (natural selection) → gene flow and cultural patterns / ancestry

“Sick role” definition

Culturally defined agreement between patients and family members to acknowledge that the patient is legitimately sick

Explanatory modes of illness

Explanations of what is happening to a patient’s body by the patient, family, health care practitioners, all of which may be different

What groups of humans referred to as “original affluent society”

Hunter-gatherers

What cultural features were common to foragers

• Egalitarianism (all people equal)

• Low population density

• Lack of territorality

• Minimum of food storage

• Flux in band composition

Neolithic

Cultural period in a region in which first signs of food production are present

Broad Spectrum Revolution

• Wider range of plant / animal life hunted, gathered, collected, caught, etc.

• Focused on animals with quick, prolific reproduction

• Formed groundwork for emergence of food production / domestication

Basic story of emergence of food production in Middle East

• First food producers

• Natuficians = foragers → reduced foraging range and created communities where buried dead and stored food

Pressures leading to plant and animal domestication in middle east

• Increased population

• Climate change → optimal foraging zone shrinks, better conditions for wheat/crops

Where was maize originally cultivated

Tropical lowlands of southwestern Mexico

Transhumanance

• Transformation of nomadic lifestyle of hunter-gatherers

• Moving one territory to another to hunt game → family moves itself and livestock to one set of pastures to another to take advantage of seasonal changes

Pastoralism

Practice of animal husbandry

Consequences of food production and sendentism

• Food surpluses

• Rise of cities and introduction of social heirarchies