ANT 131 - Final Exam

Multiregional Continuity Model

A hypothesis predicting that homo sapiens evolved from multiple regions across Asia, Africa, and Europe from local homo erectus populations

Out-of-Africa Model

A theory that suggests Homo sapiens evolved from just Africa 100,000-300,000 years ago before migrating globally

Assimilation Model

A compromise between the out of africa model and the multi regional model which proposes that anatomically modern humans evolved in africa and later migrated and bred, to a small extent, with archaic populations in across Eurasia

Early modern Homo sapiens

Oldest fossil found in Morocco, essentially evolved in africa then migrated across Eurasia

Additionally they have large brains, no brow ridge, etc

Omo & Herto

Herto: Human remains discovered in 1997 in Ethiopia dated roughly 150,000-160,000 years old

Omo: Human remains discovered around 1967-1974 in Ethiopia.

Importance was that they were both anatomically modern humans

Klasies River Mouth Cave

Caves in South Africa where many Homo sapiens fossils and artifacts from the middle stone ages. Dates back 70k-120k years old. Upper paleolithic culture

Pinnacle Point

Another example of fossils from the middle stone ages being found. Also dating back upwards of 120k years. Upper paleolithic culture

Blombos Cave

Another example of fossils from the middle stone ages being found. Also dating back upwards of 120k years. Upper paleolithic culture

Katanda

Caves that demonstrate advanced artistic work like hieroglyphics. Upper Paleolithic culture

Skhul

Caves that demonstrate advanced artistic work like hieroglyphics. Upper Paleolithic culture

Upper Paleolithic Culture

A time where tools were becoming more advanced and written communication methods were documented via things like hieroglyphics

Denisovans

An extinct subspecies of archaic human that ranged across Asia during the Middle to Late Pleistocene, approximately 200,000–32,000 years ago

Homo floresiensis

Aka “the hobbit” an extinct species of small archaic humans that inhabited the island of Flores, Indonesia, until the arrival of modern humans about 50,000 years ago.

Homo longi

AKA “dragon man” is an archaic human species discovered from a preserved cranium in China that is about 146K years old

mtDNA

Mitochondrial DNA Circular genetic material found inside mitochondria and is responsible for creating ATP (adenosine triphosphate)

Neandertal genome

A project that sampled Neanderthal DNA and proved that anatomically modern humans inherited somewhere around 1-4% of their DNA from Neanderthals

Source was a 50,000 year old Altai female from a cave in Croatia

Australian & Pacific migrations

A series of 2 major waves of migrations from Asia to Australia or New Guinea

1. 50k-70k years ago - hunter gatherers from continental Asia

2. 6k years ago - farmers and navigators from Taiwan

Second to last migration of AMH(anatomically modern humans)

First Americans

North east asians who were isolated in Beringia and eventually migrated south around 15k years ago

it was made possible because of pathway that opened between large sheets of ice next to Alaska and Northeast Asia

Anatomical structure of skin

Adaptive, protection, sensation, mobility, endocrine activity

composed of two main layers

1. epidermis - waterproof barrier & skin tone

2. dermis - connective tissue, hair follicles, sweat glands

3. (also subcutaneous tissue) - fat & connective tissue

Why is endocrine activity important

it is the biochemical process involved in vitamin D production

*essential for calcium absorption and bone metabolism.

Melanin

Pigmentation developed to adapt better in ares with either high or low levels of UV radiation

• there are 3 major types of melanin

  • eumelanin, pheomelanin, neuromelanin

Eumelanin

A specific type of melanin that produces a brown or black pigment and UV protection

shows up in eyes, skin, and hair

Pheomelanin

A type of pigment containing sulfur and shows up reddish. for example people with red hair and fair skin

Melanocyte

Cells that make melanin, the pigment that gives skin it’s color

Highly differentiated cells that produce melanin pigment inside melanosomes

Melanosome

pigment that provides tissue with color and photoprotection, cellular site of synthesis, & sores and transports melanin

Keratinocyte

A type of cell found in the epidermis

They make up about 90% of epidermal skin cells

Albinism

Partial or complete abscence of melanin — lack of pigmentation

*genetic inheritance & hypopigmentation

UVR

Ultraviolet radiation is a low-energy electromagnetic radiation produced by the sun or artificial sources

Vital for Vitamin D production but can pose significant health risks depending on the individual or exposure length

Non-ionizing Electromagnetic Radiation

low-energy electromagnetic radiation

Melanoma

A kind of skin cancer that starts in the melanocytes and causes melanocytes to form due to DNA damage.

The most common cause of melanoma is constant prolonged exposure to UVR

Reflectometry

**A devise used to gauge human skin color by measuring the skin’s reflectance. — device is pointed at upper arm or forehead and the waves emitted, are interpreted

Using the reflection of waves or pulses at surfaces and inter surfaces to detect or characterize objects. — measuring the light that’s reflected

MC1R

G protein-coupled receptor located on chromosome 16

*Determines hair and skin color by regulating melanin production

Eccrine glands

primary sweat glands located all over the body

responsible for thermoregulation and crucial for maintaing homeostasis

Evaporative cooling

The process the body goes through to cool itself

Eccrine sweat gland release water on the skin, which then, absorbs body heat and evaporates

Bergmann’s & Allen’s rules

Both offer a theory to explain how endothermic animals adapt body size to the climate for thermoregulation

Bergmann’s rule

Suggests that colder climates favor larger body mass to increase the ratio of volume-to-surface area and enhance heat retention

Allen’s rule

Suggests that colder climates favor shorter limbs and appendages to increase the ratio of volume-to-surface area and enhance heat retention

Folate & neural tube defects(NDT)

Folate is vitamin B9, which helps the body make red blood cells and is needed for healthy cell growth and function

It is used as a preventive measure to reduce the risk of NDT

An example of NDT are spina bifida

Selection for loss of body hair

an adaptation that developed as a means to thermoregulate, however other theories like bipedalism was driven by a mutation of hairlessness because Hominins were no longer able to carry a baby with no hands

Selection for darker pigmentation

Early Homo sapiens developed darker skin due to skin conditions and NDT’s that occur during reproduction due to inadequate folate levels.

Homo sapiens living close to the equator rely on their skin having a dark pigment because they are exposed to high levels of UVR

Selection for lighter pigmentation

migration to northern regions led to the evolution of depigmented skin due to the lower levels of UVR

Neanderthal pigmentation

had a diverse range of pigmentation which is demonstrated by a mutation in the NC1R gene found in fossils.

the mutation facilitated vitamin D synthesis in environments with low UVR

SLC24A5

First gene mutation that was adaptable to a lighter skin tone — European white gene

a gene that encodes a protein, often called NCKX5, that plays a key role in human pigmentation by influencing melanin production in skin, hair, and eyes

Polygenic trait

characteristics influenced by 2+ genes which results in continuous phenotypic variation

*traits that are shaped by both genes and environment

Clinal approach

viewing human variation as continuous and gradual across geographic space

*focuses on individual traits and how they shift across environments due to selection and gene flow

Sexual disparity in pigmentation

also known as sexual dimorphism; physical, behavioral, or physiological differences between males and females of the species

**it is caused by competition between males for access to females

ex. size

Functional adaptation

non-permanent changes during a persons lifetime that enhances survival in response to environmental stressors

ex. increased lung capacity in high alltitudes

Vitamin D hypothesis

a hypothesis proposing that skin pigmentation evolved as a balancing mechanism to maintain levels of vitamin D and folate (Vitamin B9)

Over time this hypothesis has developed as new information is discovered. for example, there is evidence that people in Europe still had darker pigmentation and maintained adequate levels of folate

Rickets

softening and weakening of the bones; it is a key skeletal marker of a vitamin D deficiency in children. often providing insight into stressors in populations

Osteomalacia

the softening or weakening of bones in adults due to a vitamin D deficiency — demonstrating nutritional or environmental stressors like limited sun exposure

UV and diet

linked to the vitamin D hypothesis

getting vitamin D through sunlight becomes less necessary when diets were rich in vitamin D.

for example Inuit people needed and advantageous adaption to protect against UV rays reflecting off the snow, however because the weather limited their skins exposure to the sun, their vitamin D rich diet of proteins like trout and salmon maintained sufficient vitamin D and B9 levels

Foraging lifeways

Robert Kelly’s The Foraging Spectrum: Diversity in Hunter-Gatherer Lifeways

demonstrates that early societies were not just primitive but nomadic hunter-gatherers with specialized knowledge of the land

Neolithic transition

shift from foraging to agriculture — caused reduced physical activity, reliance on crops, rise in infectious disease, and decreased dental health — overall shift to sedentary life

**12,000 years ago

Demographic transition

major drop in birth and mortality rates due to modernization

essentially; demographic transitions generate changes in selection that contribute to the evolution of demographic structure

Agriculture and human biology

the shift from foraging to agriculture had major impacts on human’s demography and biology

mortality risk, population growth, body size, and physical markers of health

*essentially energy is allocated to functions of maintenance, growth, reproduction, and defense which can shift upon major transitions

Sickle cell & agriculture

sickle cell trait is a biological adaptation. one copy of the hemoglobin S gene (shape of red blood cell) that helps prevent malaria; two copies causes sickle cell disease

the transition to agriculture created an influx of gene flow and selection

agriculture provided habitats for mosquitos carrying malaria and additionally created mass migration either willing or forced via the transatlantic slave trade

Lactase & domestication

**a primary example of humans transitioning from being influenced by natural environment to agents of environmental change

lactase is an enzyme that is produced to allows the body to digest lactose

the domestication of plants and animals led to nonhuman milk sources being domesticated for consumption

Infectious disease

the transition to sedentism led to denser population concentration which led to an increase in infectious diseases due to the close contact with livestock and other humans and reliance on single crops like carbohydrates

Workload & Wolff’s Law

disputed theory that suggested that bones grow and remodel to adapt to their mechanical environments - bones get denser under stress and thinner without

Sedentism and inequality

long term community oriented settlements created social classes oriented around the accumulation of goods and property which overtime evolved into private ownership and overall creates inequalities

Kant & Herder

***Herder, Kant’s former student and rival, reimagined Kant’s philosophies which resulted in the birth of anthropology

Herder was Kant’s former student and to some extent rival

an example of how two differences can emerge despite identical beginings

Blumenbach

had a theory that there were only 5 races on earth and drew and contributed no more than an irrelevant map

Inappropriate solar conditions

Jablonski —

1. darker skinned people in environments with low levels of UVR risk low levels of vitamin D

2. lighter skinned people moving to areas with high levels of UVR risk folate deficiency

Folate deficiency

no folate means your cells can’t reproduce; if your cells can’t reproduce, you can’t reproduce

combated with food or vitamins

Samuel G. Morton

measured heads length x width and claimed that peoples brains were that big — someone went as far as writing a book disproving the math he used

Fredrick Douglas

*was crucial in establishing that variation in skin color was not equate to inherent inferiority but was the result of environmental factors like nutrition and climate

early abolitionist that was self emancipated in 1838 at 20 years old

Antenor Firmin

Haitian anthropologist, journalist, and politician who wrote “On the Equality of Human Races”

advocated that all humans belonged to the same species and made room for the concept of race being socially constructed

Biological determinism

discredited belief that inequalities are determined by genetics and biology rather than culture and environment — historically used to justify racism and eugenics

Eugenics

the inaccurate theory that humans can be improved via selective breeding of populations

this is a practice that promotes inhumane practices such as forced sterilization

Alfred F. Hess

conducted studies that proved citrus fruits and tomatoes prevented scurvy - basically nutrition had impacts on susceptibility to rickets or scurvy

he also demonstrated that rickets could be prevented with cod liver oil or exposure to UV light

Race & racialization

race is not an accurate representation of human biological variation - it is socially, culturally, and politically constructed

*race is western concept rooted in settler-colonialism, oppression, discrimination, and white supremacy

Categorical thinking

pathologizing difference — essentially dividing biological variation into labeled groups to simplify complex data which fuels stereotyping

Slavery & skin color

slavery, specifically chattel slavery, created and took advantage of racial hierarchies to justify it’s exploitations

Climatic theory

physical variation and evolution in humans can be explained by the need to adapt to environmental stressors like temperature or UVR

Monogenesis & Polygenesis

Monogenesis: theory that suggests humans share a single common ancestor - “Out of Africa” theory or Adam and Eve

Polygenesis: theory that suggests that human races or populations evolved independently from multiple different ancestors - used to justify racism and slavery by suggesting different races were different species

Degeneration

the racist theory that suggested specific races or populations were in a state of irreversible decline — viewed differences as regression following evolution and used to justify eugenics

Franz Boas immigrant study

did a study on immigrants an demonstrated that there is no definitive line between race and social ability or cognition

** measured the heads of immigrants coming to the US and found that their heads were smaller than the average American — this was not because of racial differences but because they were typically immigrating out of war torn countries and were malnourished

W. E. B. DuBois

played an integral role in disputing scientific racism and used science to prove race is a social construct, not a determinant of inferiority

**19th century

Dehumanization

the act of treating individuals or groups of people as non-human - often resorting to reducing their existence as animalistic in nature or less evolved

*used to justify race based violence

Miscegenation

people of varying races and ethnicities reproducing

Scientific racism

the historical act of misusing and misrepresenting scientific data to justify racism, colonialism, and slavery

Colorism

discrimination that favors lighter skin tones over darker skin tones — historically the basis of white supremacy and the justification of colonialism and white supremacy

*functions socially not biologically - constructed to align value based on proximity to whiteness

Racial-genetic models

a racist model that is used to