anthro 2b egan midterm

Anthropology

the study of man

culture

learned meanings, symbols and knowledge

Sociocultural Anthropology

studies variation in cultural behaviors among human population

Linguistic Anthropology

studies language and how it relates to culture, and the languages of non-literate people

Archaeology

focuses on cultural variations in prehistoric and historic populations by analyzing their remains

Biological Anthropology

aka physical anthropology

focuses on biological evolution of humans and human ancestors

analyzes the relationship between humans and other organisms

studies patterns of biological variation within and among human populations

Paleoanthropology

focuses of the scientific study of extinct members of homo sapien by observing fossils

primatology

focuses on the study of our primate ancestors

epistemology

a way of knowing and building knowledge

science

asks how, NOT why

the most useful scientific models make the least assumptions.

based on certain assumptions and also FAITH

oxymoron of creation science

it's an epistemology, but not a scientific one

never-ending circular argument

scientific paradigms

The practices that define a scientific discipline at a certain point in time

Discrete and culturally based

Theories

Observations that are backed up by falsifiable proof, backed up by hypotheses that haven't been rejected

Plato & the Eidos

Here, in our world, everything is a distortion of the true things (Eidos)

Eidos: the true form of something, the perfect form that exists in another world (PLATO'S CAVE)

Aristotle

Disagreed with Plato

The truth is all around us in this world, we just have to investigate it

Hypothesis

An explanation of observed facts

The Great Chain of Being

With all living things in this world, a hierarchy of perfection can be created with the most perfect at the top

Fixity of Species

Immutability of species, static view of nature

"all things created @ the beginning of creation are the same, they are all are still here and nothing has changed"

Archbishop James Usher: 4004 BC

Went through the Bible and counted the generations in it, cross referenced it with other historical events

The date that the world was created

Descartes

"I think, therefore I am"

God implanted knowledge of God into mankind, therefore we use our minds to rigorously investigate nature to "give glory to God"

Linneaus

Father of taxonomy, binomial nomenclature

- classified all things into a classification (Homo Sapien)

Didn't believe in evolution

binomial nomenclature

2-name naming system (genus + species) italicized

Homo sapiens

Species of hominid who have larger brains and to which humans belong, dependent of language and usage of tools

Lamarck

Made a model of evolution based on the Great Chain of Being; everyone progresses through the chain from the bottom up (slime mold—>worms—>grasshoppers—>etc. until humans)

Top of chain = perfection

No extinctions, just growing up and going to a different stage

Inheritance of acquired characteristics: you have to use your form/body in order to develop the characteristics, if not you are degenerating your form

Cuvier

Studied anatomy of different life forms

Catastrophism

Catastrophism

Natural disasters would wipe out all life in an area and then others would then occupy that area

Problems: why do some animals go extinct in an area but others don't? Why do some extinct forms look like living ones

Hutton

Uniformitarianism, geological processes that we can see (rain, earthquakes, etc.) occurred in he past the same way they happened today

Uniformitarianism

Assumption that geological processes that we can see (earthquakes, rain, etc.) occurred in the past the same way they happened today

Lyell and Principles of Geology

He's the father of geology, wrote "Principles of Geology"

Applies uniformitarianism to the study of geology, makes the assumption that the Earth is VERY old

Charles Darwin

Studied natural sciences, ditched minister school at Cambridge to become a Naturalist on the HMS Beagle all around the world

Wrote the "Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection" and studied finches with different beaks.

Galapagos Islands

Chain of islands near South America where Darwin developed his theory of natural selection by studying the unique life there (finches)

Thomas Malthus

"An essay on the principle of population"

Humans are stripping the world of its food supply

Because of industrial revolution, food supply was increasing arithmetically, but population was increasingly geometric

Alfred Russell Wallace

English naturalist who proposed, independently of Charles Darwin, the concept of natural selection as a mechanism for evolution and as a way to explain the great variety of living things

Evo by Natural Selection

1. Super-fecundity of species

2. Resources are limited

3. Population sizes are stable over time

4. Individuals vary

5. Variation is inherited

differential reproduction

Certain individuals with favorable trails live longer and pass it on to their kids

vestigial structures

Structure in organisms now that have no function, but their ancestors needed it

Vestigial structure that many organisms have in common suggest a common ancestor

Huntington's Chorea

Genetic disorder, inherited from parents

Late-onset neurodegenerative disease

This disease has no effect on natural selection b/c it did not affect the reproductive output

Darwin's Theoretical Problems

1. Absence of transitional forms in fossil record.

2. No answer for the source of variation.

3. How is variation inherited?

Gregor Mendel

Benedictine monk that did experiments on plants (short lifespan, large sample size, discrete traits)

Genes

DNA segments that serve as the key functional units in hereditary transmission.

Alleles

Different versions of a gene

Genotype

Any unique combination of alleles that an individual can possess that codes for a trait

Phenotype

Description of an observable trait

Homozygous (homozygote)

Any genotype where the alleles are the same. Recessive or dominant.

Heterozygous (heterozygote)

Alleles are different (Dd)

Dominant and recessive

Dominant alleles show up in phenotype when in a heterozygous genotype

Recessive alleles don't show up in heterozygous

multi-allelic

a single gene has more than 3+ alleles in a population (ABO blood type)

Codominance

A condition in which neither of two alleles of a gene is dominant or recessive.

ABO Blood groups

based on having an A, B, both or no antigens on red blood cells

The Cell

Nucleus: part of the cell containing DNA and RNA and responsible for growth and reproduction

Ribosomes: site of protein synthesis

Mitochondria: powerhouse of the cell, organelle that is the site of ATP production

Chromosomes

threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes

Made of chromatin: very coiled up, usually before replication

Gene locus

The specific location of a gene or DNA sequence on a chromosome

homologous chromosomes

Chromosomes of the same pair at the same gene loci

Human chromosome #

46

Principle of segregation

Alleles of the same gene segregate into separate gametes

Principle of Independent Assortment

Alleles of different genes sort independently into gametes

Mitosis

Simple cell division, asexual reproduction of somatic cells

Meiosis

Sexual reproduction, done to gametes (germ cells)

Zygote

fertilized egg

cross over

Process in which homologous chromosomes exchange portions of their chromatids during meiosis.

Recombination

Segregation and independent assortment of chromosomes into gametes, which creates new combinations of DNA

Autosomes

Any chromosome that is not a sex chromosome, first 22 sets

sex chromosomes

Chromosomes that determine the sex of an individual, 23rd pair

DNA structure and functions

Double helix, double stranded, base pairing (A-T, C-G), is very stable

RNA structure and functions

Single strand, used for coding in protein synthesis

Nuclei acids

Ribose sugar, nitrogen base, and phosphate group

Polymer

DNA replacation

When DNA makes a copy of itself

Precedes mitosis + meiosis

Enzymes that help: helicase, DNA polymerase

protein synthesis

Sequence of nucleotides in DNA determines the sequence of amino acids making a polypeptide

Transcription

Making an RNA copy of DNA using messenger RNA (mRNA)

Occurs in the nucleus

DNA nucleotide "language" —> RNA nucleotide "language"

Translation

Stringing together amino acids to make polypeptide

Occurs in the cytoplasm @ ribosome

RNA nucleotide "language" —> amino acid "language"

mRNA

Transports the genetic instructions from the DNA molecule to the site of protein synthesis

tRNA

Brings amino acids to the ribosomes during protein synthesis

Ribosomes

site of protein synthesis

amino acids

The individual building blocks of proteins

20 different kinds

Codon + tRNA Anticodon

A set of 3 nucleotides that code for a specific amino acid

Mirror image of a codon

redundancy of the genetic code

More than 1 codon can code for the same amino acid

Polypeptide + Protein

Amino acids linked by peptide bonds

Gene

Sequence of nucleotides in DNA that codes for production of a unique polypeptide or RNA molecule

Coded for by more than 1 gene locus

Polygenic

describes a characteristic that is influenced by many genes and environment

Monogenic

determined by a single gene

point mutation

Affects 1 nucleotide pair in DNA

Nucleotide substitution

base-pair substitution

Exchanges one base for another, like switching an A to a G

frameshift mutation

Adding or deleting nucleotides, very big consequences since it changes reading frame

neutral mutation

a mutation that has no effect on survival or reproduction

deleterious mutation

Junk gene, a mutation has wiped out the function

Deleterious recessives: Tay Sach's disease, type O blood

Mutation in somatic cells v. Gametes

Mutation in somatic cells do not get passed onto offspring, but mutations in the gametes do

chromosomal mutation

Affects the content or the # of chromosomes

Ex: trisomy 21 - Down's syndrome

Genome

the complete instructions for making an organism, consisting of all the genetic material in that organism's chromosomes

breeding population

A group of regularly interbreeding organisms

gene pool

Aggregate representation of all the genetic material in a breeding population

gene (allele) frequency

How common a particular allele is in a population

Reported as a proportion of lol alleles @ that gene locus in population

P+Q=1

Hardy Weinberg assumptions

1. Population is very large

2. Equal # of males + females

3. All individuals mate

4. All matings are random

5. All matings produce the same # of offspring

6. All matings occur within the population

7. No forces of evolution at work

natural selection

Any factor that promotes reproductive success of an individual

Trait is good for the environment and helps the individual reproduce

sexual selection

Trait that an individual has that increases their chances of mating + passing on genes

gene drift

Random loss of alleles in a population/gene pool

Sampling error, chance event

Has the largest toll on SMALL populations

Intergenerational drift

Loss of alleles through chance events in recombination

Does not involve natural selection

Founders Effect

Loss of genetic variation that occurs as a new population is founded by a small, non-random sample of a parent population

Ex: no type B blood in Native Americans because the people that migrated to America from Asia back then were small family groups (non-random sample). By chance, none of them had the B allele

gene flow

Migration of alleles between populations

Interbreeding between populations introduces new alleles that weren't there before

Mutation

Accidents in genetic processes altering the content of genetic material, are random