Anthro Test 1

Anthropology

Study of the human species and its immediate ancestors across time and space

Adaptation

A trait or change that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment (anthropology studies adaptation, variation and change)

Physical, archaeology, linguistic, cultural

The four subfields of anthropology

Physical (biological) anthropology

Subfield studying human biological variation in time and space: evolution, genetics, growth, plasticity, primatology

Primatology

Study of the biology, evolution, behavior and social life of monkeys, apes and prosimians

Paleoanthropology

Study of hominid and human life through the fossil record

Archaeology

Subfield studying human behavior and cultural patterns through a culture's material remains

Linguistic anthropology

Subfield studying primate communication, the origin of language and how languages are related and change

Cultural anthropology

Subfield studying human society and culture, describing and explaining social and cultural differences and similarities

Ethnography

Detailed account of a particular community, society or culture, based on fieldwork

Ethnology

Comparison and analysis of the results of ethnography across cultures

Paleontology

Study of ancient life (before the Holocene, 12,000 years ago) through the fossil record

Taphonomy

Study of the processes that affect remains after death: fossilization, burial conditions, scavenging, butchering

Archaeological site

Basic unit of analysis in archaeology: any location that yields evidence of past human activity

Feature

Non-portable evidence of human activity, such as a hearth, storage pit, house floor or refuse pit

Ecofact

Natural remains found at a site, such as plant and animal remains

Survey

Archaeological step of locating and mapping sites, aided by GPS, GIS and remote sensing

Excavation

Archaeological step of digging systematically while recording where finds lie (context)

Principle of Superposition

In undisturbed layers, the oldest layer is on the bottom and the youngest is on top

Stratigraphy

Study of rock/soil layers; basis of relative dating

Relative dating

Dating that says only whether something is older or younger than a reference point (stratigraphy, artifact and fossil types)

Biostratigraphy

Dating by fossils: strata containing similar fossils are of similar age (index fossils are short-lived, fast-evolving and widespread)

Absolute dating

Dating that gives a specific calendar interval (radiocarbon, potassium-argon, dendrochronology)

Radiocarbon dating

Absolute method measuring decay of C-14 into N-14 in organic material; half-life 5,730 years

Half-life

Time required for half of a radioactive isotope to decay

Potassium-argon dating

Absolute method using decay of K-40 to Ar-40 (half-life 1.25 billion years); only for sites under volcanic ash, e.g., East African sites

Dendrochronology

Absolute dating by tree-ring patterns, since trees record annual environmental variation

Catastrophism

Idea that Earth's features were shaped by sudden, catastrophic events (Cuvier)

Creationism

Belief that species were created in their present form and do not change

Uniformitarianism

'Present is key to the past': natural processes observable today operated the same way in the past (Hutton, popularized by Lyell)

Evolution

Change in the genetic makeup of a population over generations

Natural selection

Differential survival and reproduction of individuals whose traits fit their environment better

Genotype

An organism's genetic makeup

Phenotype

An organism's observable traits, produced by genotype plus environment

Gene pool

All the genes (alleles) present in a population

Mutation

Change in DNA; the ultimate and most important source of new genetic variation

Sexual reproduction

Source of variation that shuffles existing genes into new combinations

Gene flow

Movement of genes between populations through migration and interbreeding

Genetic drift

Random change in gene frequencies, strongest in small populations

Microevolution

Small changes within a population over time; descent with modification

Macroevolution

Large-scale evolutionary change, including the origin of new species

Speciation

Formation of a new species

Reproductive isolation

Populations can no longer interbreed; key to speciation

Punctuated equilibrium

Species stay stable for long periods, then change rapidly in short bursts, often with speciation

Primate

Mammal with grasping hands and feet, sight over smell, primitive body plan and dental formula 2.1.2.3 or 2.1.3.3

K-selected

Primate reproductive strategy: few offspring, heavy parental investment, long life

Hominoid

Member of the superfamily that includes apes and humans

Hominid

Humans and African apes and their immediate ancestors (as defined in your slides)

Hominin

Member of the human lineage after the split from chimps; all human species, living and extinct, excluding chimps and gorillas

Ape

Primate with no tail, larger body and brain, upright posture, short muzzle, long life and dependent young

Brachiation

Arm-over-arm swinging through the trees (Dryopithecus, 'king of swing')

Adaptive radiation

Rapid increase in the number of related species after an environmental change

Arboreal theory

Primate traits (better vision, dexterous hands) evolved for life in expanding forests eating fruit, nuts and insects

Visual predation theory

Primate traits evolved for hunting insects by sight, favoring visual acuity and grasping

Gigantopithecus

Largest primate ever: 10 ft, 1,200 lb, China and Vietnam, ground-dwelling tough-plant eater (5 mya-250,000 years ago)

Molecular clock

Uses constant accumulation of random mutations to estimate the chimp-human split at about 5-8 mya

Bipedalism

Habitual walking upright on two legs; the key early hominin trait (by about 7-6 mya)

Freeing hands for tools

Bipedalism theory weakened because bipedalism (7 mya) came long before stone tools (2.5 mya) and chimps use tools without being bipedal

East Side Story

Bipedalism theory of adapting to tall grassland; weakened because earliest bipeds lived in woods and chimp fossils appear in the same Rift Valley

Carrying food

Bipedalism theory that walking upright let hominins carry and share food; but other primates rarely share

Thermoregulation

Bipedalism theory that upright posture kept hominins cool in hot, open environments; possibly very important

Feeding posture

Bipedalism theory: stand to reach low branches, then walk upright between trees to save energy

Sexual dimorphism

Body-size difference between males and females (A. afarensis males about twice the size of females)

Gracile

Lightly built hominin form (Australopithecus): smaller molars and jaws, lighter skull

Robust

Heavily built hominin form (Paranthropus): huge molars, flat face, sagittal crest, strong chewing

Sagittal crest

Bony ridge on top of the skull anchoring chewing muscles in Paranthropus

Laetoli footprints

3.6 mya trail in Tanzania attributed to A. afarensis; clear evidence of bipedalism

Oldowan tools

Earliest stone tools (2.6-2.5 mya): simple flakes and cores made by direct percussion; sharp flakes defleshed meat

Sahelanthropus tchadensis

7-6 mya, Chad: earliest possible hominin; foramen magnum under the skull suggests upright posture

Orrorin tugenensis

About 6 mya, Tugen Hills, Kenya ('original man'): large femur head suggests bipedalism, thick enamel, but ape-like canine and climbing arm bones

Ardipithecus

5.8-4.4 mya, Ethiopia ('root ape'): small flat-wearing canines, thin enamel, climbing arm bones; toe bone hints at bipedalism, later ramidus has ape/human foot mix

Australopithecus anamensis

4.2-3.9 mya, Kenya: ape-like jaw but well-developed bipedalism; possibly ancestral to afarensis

Australopithecus afarensis

3.8-3.0 mya, Hadar (Lucy, 40% complete) and Laetoli: about 3 ft, 450 cc, fully bipedal, ape-like upper body; ancestor of later australopithecines

Australopithecus africanus

3.0-2.0 mya, South Africa (Taung Child, found 1925 by Dart): gracile, 4 ft, 450 cc, bipedal but still used trees

Australopithecus garhi

2.5 mya, Ethiopia ('surprise'): cut-marked bones suggest butchering with stone tools; long femur

Australopithecus sediba

2.0 mya, South Africa (found 2010): mix of Australopithecus and Homo traits, precision grip, 420 cc

Paranthropus aethiopicus

2.5 mya, East Africa: the 'Black Skull', earliest robust form

Paranthropus boisei

2.3-1.2 mya, East Africa: 'hyper-robust', enormous cheekbones and molars, tiny incisors and canines

Paranthropus robustus

South African robust form: flat face, thick mandible, extinct by 1.2 mya

Australopithecus

4.2-2.0 mya, small gracile bipeds: thick enamel, long arms, curved finger and toe bones (still climbing)

Paranthropus

2.6-1.2 mya 'chewing machines' with robust skulls, brains of about 525 cc; went extinct without descendants

Homo habilis

About 2.3-1.4 mya: 600-700 cc, small body and long arms; placed in Homo because of tool making, not anatomy

Homo rudolfensis

About 1.9 mya: large brain (775 cc) but large back teeth; Homo or odd australopithecine?

Genus Homo criteria

Brain over 750 cc, human-like teeth, human-like body proportions, large body, human-like life history

Homo erectus

From 1.9 mya: about 1,000 cc, long legs and short arms, fully ground-dwelling, Acheulian handaxes, fire; first hominin out of Africa

Turkana Boy

Homo erectus skeleton, 1.6 mya, age 9-11; would have been about 6 ft 2 in as an adult

Acheulian handaxe

First formal tool: symmetrical teardrop shape used for butchering, digging and stripping bark

Dmanisi

Republic of Georgia site, 1.8 mya: H. erectus with flakes and cores but no handaxes; high variation; toothless old individual

Participant observation

Ethnographer takes part in the community's life, and in doing so slightly changes what is being studied

Culture shock

Feelings of alienation from being in an alien setting and lacking the ordinary cues of one's own culture

Holistic ethnography

Intensive study of all aspects of local life through long-term residence and participant observation (Malinowskian approach)

Interview schedule

Ethnographer asks questions face to face and writes the answers; open-ended, unlike a questionnaire filled out by the respondent