Life History Trade-Offs in Anthropology

These flashcards cover key vocabulary related to life history trade-offs, natural selection, and comparative anthropology from the lecture notes.

Life History Trade-Offs

Concept in evolutionary biology explaining the trade-offs between survival and reproduction.

Natural selection

Process by which certain traits increase in frequency within a population due to better reproductive success.

Reproductive age

The stage in life when individuals are capable of producing offspring.

Clutch size

The number of eggs or offspring produced at one time by an organism.

Multi-brooded

Refers to species that can produce multiple broods or litters in a breeding season.

Hominidae

The biological family that includes humans and great apes, such as orangutans, gorillas, and chimpanzees.

Genus

A category in biological classification that ranks above species and below family.

Species

The basic unit of classification in biology, referring to a group of organisms that can reproduce and are similar.

Intrinsic mortality

The death rate from natural causes within a population.

Extrinsic mortality

The death rate from external factors, such as predation or environmental hazards.

Phenotypic traits

Observable characteristics or traits influenced by an organism's genotype and environment.

Empirical evidence

Information acquired by observation or experimentation.

Biological aging

The process of physiological changes in an organism that occur over time.

Eclosion

The process of an insect emerging from its pupal stage.