ANTHRO 105 Exam 1 — September 21 & 23

31 September 21 cards preserved; 25 September 23 cards added. Real vocabulary, named concepts, and people only. Definitions are prompts; type the term. Checked against Exam 1 Review 2026 and all 50 pages of the September 23 deck (Lecture 7 PDF). Application and figure questions with slide references are in Sept_23_Review_Questions.md; card sources are in Sept_23_Card_Sources.md. No September 30 material.

Gregor Mendel

Researcher whose pea-plant crosses established predictable patterns of inheritance across generations.

Mendelian genetics

Study of how versions of a gene separate during reproduction and combine in offspring in predictable ways.

Mendelian trait

A phenotype whose inheritance follows a predictable pattern for a gene's alleles; ABO blood type is a human example.

Gene

A DNA sequence that contributes to a biological product or trait; different versions can occur at the same location.

Allele

One version of a gene at a particular location, inherited from a parent.

Genotype

The allele combination an individual has at a gene, such as AO for the ABO blood-group gene.

Phenotype

An observable or measurable characteristic, such as type A blood.

Dominant allele

An allele whose effect on a trait appears when just one copy is present in a simple inheritance model.

Recessive allele

An allele whose characteristic effect usually appears only when two copies are present in a simple inheritance model.

Homozygous

Having two identical alleles at a gene, such as AA or OO.

Heterozygous

Having two different alleles at a gene, such as AO.

Continuous trait

A characteristic that varies across a range rather than in separate categories, such as height; the course says no such trait is Mendelian.

Discrete trait

A characteristic recorded in distinct categories; only some such traits are Mendelian.

Codominance

Relationship in which two different alleles both contribute to the phenotype, as A and B do in AB blood.

ABO blood group

Inherited red-cell classification produced by A, B, and O alleles, yielding the A, B, AB, and O phenotypes.

Punnett square

Grid that combines possible alleles from each parent to show possible offspring genotypes and their probabilities.

Antigen

Molecule on a red blood cell's surface that can be recognized by the immune system; A, B, and Rh are blood-group examples.

Antibody

Immune protein that recognizes a specific foreign antigen; anti-A and anti-B matter for blood compatibility.

Rh factor

Inherited red-cell marker recorded as positive when present and negative when absent, separately from ABO type.

Cline

Gradual change in the frequency of a biological trait or allele across geography.

Autosome

Chromosome other than X or Y; in the usual human pattern, chromosomes 1 through 22 are autosomes.

Sex-linked trait

Characteristic influenced by a gene on an X or Y chromosome, which can change its inheritance pattern.

Autosomal recessive

Inheritance pattern in which the relevant gene is on an autosome and two disease-associated alleles are generally needed for the full condition.

Sickle-cell trait

Having one sickle hemoglobin allele; carriers usually avoid full sickle-cell disease and have protection against severe malaria.

Sickle-cell disease

Condition associated with two sickle hemoglobin alleles in the lecture's simplified model, causing red cells to sickle and health problems.

Hemoglobin

Oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells whose altered form is involved in sickle-cell disease.

Amino acid

Building block of a protein; sickle hemoglobin differs because one of these is substituted.

Mutation

Change in a DNA sequence that may alter a biological product or trait.

Point mutation

Change in one DNA base; the sickle-cell allele is the lecture's example.

Insertion mutation

Mutation in which extra DNA is added to a sequence.

Repeat expansion mutation

Mutation in which a short DNA sequence is copied too many times.

Huntington's disease

Inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by expansion of CAG repeats in HTT on chromosome 4; it is autosomal dominant and commonly begins in adulthood.

Autosomal dominant

Inheritance pattern in which a gene is on a non-sex chromosome and one disease-associated allele is sufficient for the condition; Huntington's disease is the lecture example.

Adult onset

First appearance of a condition's symptoms in adulthood, even though an inherited disease-associated allele has been present since conception.

Pedigree

Family diagram that records biological relationships and the occurrence of a trait across generations to investigate its inheritance.

Nancy Wexler

Researcher pictured with the multigeneration family diagram in the lecture's investigation of Huntington's disease inheritance.

HTT

Gene on chromosome 4 that encodes huntingtin; expansion of its CAG repeat sequence causes Huntington's disease.

Phylogeny

Tree of evolutionary relationships among organisms or DNA sequences, representing their history of common ancestry.

Clade

Branch of an evolutionary tree consisting of a common ancestor and all of its descendants.

Primitive trait

Ancestral feature shared by the group being studied and more distantly related groups; functional GULO and vitamin C synthesis are the lecture example.

Derived trait

Newly evolved feature of a particular lineage or clade relative to its ancestors; nonfunctional GULO in monkeys and apes, including humans, is the lecture example.

Pseudogene

Nonfunctional version of a gene, such as the GULO sequence associated with loss of vitamin C synthesis in monkeys and apes, including humans.

Parallel evolution

Independent evolution of the same solution in two lineages through alterations to the same inherited structures; separate losses of GULO function in guinea pigs and some primates are the lecture example.

Convergent evolution

Independent evolution of similar solutions through alterations to different structures, as illustrated in lecture by insect and vertebrate eyes.

Carl Linnaeus

Naturalist who developed taxonomy using two-part scientific names but also divided humans into four categories shaped by personal biases and racist views.

Taxonomy

System for classifying and naming organisms; Linnaeus developed the system discussed in lecture.

Binomial nomenclature

System of naming a species with two words: its genus and specific epithet, as in Homo sapiens.

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach

Naturalist who divided humans into five purported races and incorrectly treated the Caucasian cranial form as original, while also recognizing gradations in human variation.

Biological determinism

False idea, criticized in this lecture, that people's physical characteristics determine their behavior, intelligence, abilities, values, or morals.

Scientific racism

Ideology that misuses scientific methods and authority to claim white European superiority and the inferiority of marginalized non-white people.

Eugenics

Scientifically inaccurate theory that human populations can be improved through selective breeding; its advocates promoted discriminatory immigration and sterilization policies.

Charles Darwin

Naturalist associated with the HMS Beagle voyage who explained evolutionary change through natural selection, based on struggle for existence, relevant variation, and inheritance.

Natural selection

Process in which individuals with heritable traits that favor survival and reproduction leave more descendants, changing the population over generations.

Modern synthesis

Integration of the theory of genetic inheritance with evolution by natural selection.

Evolution

Change in the frequencies of alleles in a population over generations, rather than an individual changing because it needs to adapt.

Peter and Rosemary Grant

Biologists who studied finches on Daphne Major in the Galapagos and documented how drought, differences in beak depth, and inheritance demonstrated natural selection.