Anthropology Exam #1

Primatology

Studies all members of the family primates (humans, monkeys, apes, etc)

2 Subfields of Biological Anthropology

Paleoanthropology and Bioarchaeology

Paleoanthropology

Study fossil records of human ancestors (really old)

Bioarcheology

Examines remains of homosapiens in historical and prehistorical periods (oldish)

Molecular Anthropology

Studies DNA and other protein based molecules to compare how closely related we are

Forensic Anthropology

Studies trauma as it impacts remains, estimates: sex, age at death, height, etc

Human Biology

Deals with human bodies and impacts on/from its external environment (ecological or socioeconomic)

The Scientific Method

Observation, hypothesis, prediction, test, conclusion

Theory

An explanation of phenomena based on evidence from experience, a theory must be falsifiable

Law

A stable predictor of what will happen given a set of circumstances

The Linnaean Classification System

A means of putting all species of life into classifications (Earliest iteration had 4 levels: class,order,genus, and species | it introduced the binomial system of classification)

Family Hominidae (Hominids)

All human species belong

Hominins

Subject of hominids that include our closest human ancestors (all hominins are hominids. but not all hominids are hominin)

John Baptiste

Considered the first evolutionist

Aristotle

Studied history of animals, observations regarding patterns and relational hierarchies between plants and animals (now know as The History of Animals)

Al-Jahiz

Wrote the text, kitab al-hayawan, shows how animal changes came from their environment

Al-Haytham

Identified structure of human eye and was among the first to establish experiments as a method to verify theory (camera obscura)

Camera Obscura

Light bounces through a tiny hole to reflect in a dark room, made revelations about eyes and light and started the scientific method

Scholasticicism

Period of intellectual focus of out medieval Europe, aimed to combine classic philosophy with christian doctrines

Scala Naturae

The Great Chain of Being, hierarchy of all life with deity representations, humans, animals, plants, hell

Franic Bacon

Scientific Method Founder, key proponent of Empiricism

Empiricism

All knowledge derived from sense-experience

Bacons Empiricism

Ran counter to the idea that knowledge came from tradition or authority

Linnaeus Ray

Biological Classification, created a biological definition of species, began binomial nomenclature

Lapland

A region Linnaeus studied to discover 100 new species of plants

Genus

A type of species

Species

A specific type in the species

Catastrophism

Held that change was the result of big disasters

Uniformitarianism

Changes happen over time, Hutton assumed earth was a lot older so earth had lots of time to change

Thomas Malthus, Carrying Capacity

Measure of how many individuals in a given population can be sustained

Lamarckian Evolution

Recognized environmental pressures as motivators for change (fox pelt in snow)

On the Orgin of Species

Book Darwin wrote that introduce the idea of natural selection

Alfred Wallace

Published essays on species, worked alongside Darwin compeitively

Presentation to Linnaean Society

Darwin + Wallace presented but it flopped and no one cared abt Darwinism

Difference between Lamarck and Darwin

Lamarck focused on change over lifetime individually whereas Darwin focused on social pressures that impacted reproduction

Darwinism Fitness Definition

One’s ability to successfully reproduce

John Edmonstone

Former slave, taxidermist, his work served as inspiration for Darwin

Gaps and Missteps in Early Theories

August Weissman’s rat tail study + Catastrophism earth is too old for it

The Missing Gene

Darwinism did not account for genes, germ plasm was made up of reproductive cells that gave rise to life

Gregor Mendel

Worked with heredity, credited as the father of modern genetics

Mandeilian Inheritiance

Breeding pea plants, discovered Dominant and Recessive genes

1 - The Law of Dominance and Uniformity

Dominant trait prevails, excludes later discovery of incomplete dominance

2 - Law of Segregation of Genes

2 (1 recessive, 1 dom) produce 1 recessive, three dom offspring

3 - Law of Independent Assortment

Genes are distributed during reproduction independently of another

First Image of DNA

Used a process called X-Ray Crystallography

Double Helix Discovery

1962, demonstrated nucleotides (the four components that make up DNA base pairs)

Rosalin Franklin

Woman who helped with DNA

DNA Nucleotides (4)

Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine

Process of DNA Curling

DNA Double Helix → Nucleosomes → Solenoid → Condensed Chromatin → Chromosome

Histones

8 Histone proteins make up 1 nucleosomes

Human Genome Project

12 year project to map out 3.1 billion pairs, found 99% of DNA is shared among everyone

Mapping the Gene

Process called electrophoresis that applies electricity to individual nucleotides

DNA Replication Stages

Initiation, Elongation, Termination