Bio Anthro Exam 1

anthropology

seek to understand the diversity of the human experience within the context
of biological and behavioral continuity with other species

Subfields of Anthro:

Cultural: study of human societies

Linguistic: language, its origins, and use

Archaeology: study of material culture and past ppl

Biological: study of human biology w/in an evolutionary framework

paleoanthropology

study of human origins and evolution, focusing on fossil evidence and archaeological remains of early human ancestors

science

seeks natural causal explanations for observable phenomenon

• searches for observable regularity

• relies on empirical observation by indep. observers

• requires that proposed explanations be falsifiable

• claims are always provisional (open to rejection)

hypothesis

statement that suggests a causal relationship between the events

• Why something happens based on a single or few observations

• When x, then y

• Tested by collecting data

• Rejected when data does not support conclusion

laws

Explain what happens

• An observation of a phenomenon that a scientific theory attempts to explain

theories

Explain why things happen and can be applied to all relevant events based on many observations

• Continue to be tested and may be modified in light of new evidence

scala naturae (a.k.a. great chain of being)

Originated with Aristotle, sorting all beings in a linear hierarchy from the lowest (inorganic matter) to the highest (God), arranged by degree of "perfection" or "value"

teleology

perfect design of organisms, each species with a unique purpose

Essentialism (Plato)

belief that things have a set of unchanging characteristics that make them what they are; variation among things is just unimportant deviation from the “essence”

• No change in species possible b/c then essence would have to change

• Species easy to tell apart

Carolus Linnaeus

Taxonomic system:

• Kingdom

• Phylum

• Class

• Order

• Family

• Genus

• Species

+ Focused on gaps in species

fixity of species

“We count as many species as different
forms were created in the beginning” - Linnaeus

Young Earth

4004 BCE, Archbishop Ussher (17th C)

Heliocentrism

Galileo, Copernicus

structure of DNA

double-helix of complementary strands

• discovered by Watson, Crick, and Franklin

• bases: Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thiamine

nucleotides

subunits of DNA

• phosphate, sugar, and base

allele

variation of a gene

locus

fixed position of a gene or gene marker on a chromosome

homozygous

alleles are same

heterozygous

alleles are different

dominant

gene(s) expressed in a heterozygote

recessive

unexpressed genes in a heterozygote

genotype

genetic composition

phenotype

physical expression of genes

gametes

mature haploid sex cells

• join during fertilization

• contain 23 single chromosomes

somatic cells

all cells except gametes

• Diploid

• Contain two sets of chromosomes, 23 total

Law of Segregation

every individual possesses two alleles and only one allele can be passed onto the offspring

Law of Individual Assortment

the allele a gamete receives for one gene does not influence the allele received for another gene

evolution

change in allele frequency over time

mitosis

process of somatic cell division

• produce two identical daughter cells

meiosis

cellular process that produced gametes

• two rounds of cell division produce four unique daughter cells (no pairs)

• anaphase I/telophase I: homologs go into diff cells

• prophase II-anaphase II: chromatids split

• Telophase II: end w/ 4 haploid cells

ribosome

site of protein synthesis

prokaryote

• Primitive

• Characteristic of bacteria

• No nucleus

• DNA exists as single circular loop

interphase

chromosomes are single-stranded

prophase

chromosomes duplicated

metaphase

chromosomes line up along single axis

anaphase

sister chromatids split apart

telophase

splits into two identical daughter cells