Exam #1 Human Origins and Prehistory

anthropology

the study of all aspects of the human experience

goal of anthropology

documenting cultural and biological diversity

anthropological tradition

study of preindustrial, non-western societies

culture

patterns of behavior human societies exhibit

enlightenment roots

emphasis on rationalism and a need to understand

colonialist roots in anthropology

this is how anthropology started, by white men going to new places and documenting the people there and the things they saw

holistic perspective

enables understanding of humans, their condition, and the surrounding environment

integrative approach

 practice of drawing on all subdisciplines of anthropology

four major sub-disciplines

archaeology, biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, and linguistic anthropology

adaptation

change in response to environmental challenges

biocultural evolution

recognizes the contributions of both our history and current state(s)

ethnography

the focused study of a culture or aspects of a culture

cultural relativism

values muse be understood in their own cultural context not within another’s

linguistic anthropology

 the study of language use, meaning, patterns, structure, and evolution

artifacts

objects made, altered, or used by humans

material culture

aspect of culture manifested by the physical objects and architecture of society 

stratigraphic context

study of the sequential layering of deposits, using this approach to date bones

prehistory archaeologist

the human past, specifically, the time before the appearance of written record

history archaeologist

study past societies for which a contemporary written record also exists

What types of “applied research” do anthropologists engage in?

work to solve real world problems by using anthropological methods and ideas

Cultural resource management (CRM)

protects the natural and cultural resources

Fact

a verifiable, observable truth

empirical data

derived from observation, experience, or experimentation

uniformitarianism

 doctrine that geographical processes operating in the present have also operated in the same way in the past and will do so in the future

natural selection

process by which the better fit variants in a population become over-represented over time

biological species

a living species that can interbreed

taxonomy

naming and classification of organisms based on morphological similarities and differences

binomial nomanclature

 two names for a single species, the genus and then the species, ex/ homo sapiens 

linnaean taxonomic system

 based on shared and derived physical traits based on Ray’s labels of genus and species

What’s wrong with Lamarck’s concept of inheritance?

contradicts the principles of genetic inheritance

Impact of competition on finite resources

competition decides who does and doesn’t get to use resources so those with better fitness and adaptation will inevitably win

Darwin’s experience on the HMS Beagle, observations and conclusions?

first ethnography, two separate populations of finches that had different physical traits for their environment

natural selection

 process by which the better fit variants become over-represented

reproductive success

favorable traits are passed on by those surviving to reproduce

selective pressures

affect survival and therefore reproductive

fitness

quantitative representation of individual reproductive success

heritable traits

capable of being passed to offspring biologically via reproduction

How did everyone react to Darwin’s concept of evolution?

 they didn’t like it because it went against the words of the bible

morphology

internal and external form and structure of an organism

physiology

how the human body works, cell function all the way to organ systems

phylogeny

examine ancestral, derived, and shared derived traits

ancestral traits

characteristics found in an ancestor and all of its descendants

derived traits

characteristics found only in one descendant branch and not in ancestral form 

shard derived traits

 characteristic found in more than one, but not all, descendant forms and not in one common ancestor

animalia

all animals

What features are shared by Mammalia?

body hair, mammary glands, long gestation, larger brains, endothermic, heterodonty, and increased social behavior

Name and identify parts of the cranium

set of bones encircling the brain and making up the skull, not the jaw

Notable features of dentition

2-1-2-3, four types of teeth incisors, canine, premolars, and molars

vertebral column

bony protection for the spinal cord consisting of vertebra

pelvic girdle consists of…

two sets of three bones each that are fused to the sacrum

What systems make up the human physiology?

circulatory/respiratory, nervous, endocrine, digestive, and reproductive systems

genetics

study of gene structure and action patterns of inheritance

genomics

study of DNA including all associated molecules, chemicals, and evolution patterns

epigenetics

study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression

epigenetic system

factors in the body that work in combination with the genes and proteins to affect phenotypes

human genome

all the DNA in the human species

biological heredity

 passing of biological information from gen. to gen.

basic structure of eukaryotic cells

nucleus, ribosomes, mitochondria, golgi, and cytoplasm

components of DNA

 nucleotides A-T and G-C supported by phosphate-deoxyribose

how many chromosomes does the typical human have, how many pairs?

46, 23

three main functions of DNA

replication, protein synthesis, and regulation

difference between mitosis and meiosis

meiosis for gamete cells and separate twice, mitosis for somatic cells and creates two daughter cells

difference between recombination and crossing over

recombination shuffling of maternal and paternal chromosomes, crossing over happens in homologous chromosomes, they exchange segments

protein synthesis

initiating the creation of protein

transcription

process of synthesizing a strand of RNA from DNA via an enzyme

translation

occurs when mRNA is decoded for the amino acid products by ribosomes

folding

influenced by amino acid sequence

regulation

 regulating itself (DNA) in the first two functions

alleles

alternative forms of the same gene

genotypes

the genetic code for an individual trait

phenotypes

observable, measurable characteristics of an organism

how do gene pools relate to populations?

the given genes in a population stay within the population and ebb and flow with mating and reproduction

mutation

a change in DNA, sudden

gene flow

exchange of genes between populations

genetic drift

when traits are not selected for or against, they just fluctuate

founder effect

type of genetic drift, allele frequencies are altered in small populations

bottleneck

dramatic reduction in the size of a population such that the genetic diversity in the population is substantially curtailed

nonrandom mating

 individuals selected for mating are chosen based on a desirable trait

assortative mating

 individuals with similar phenotypes or genotypes mate with one another

speciation

process by which new species arise

difference between biological species and paleospecies

biological species are living species that can interbreed, paleospecies are extinct species that can only be identified by fossils

phyletic gradualism vs. punctuated equilibrium

phyletic gradualism theorizes that most speciation is slow, uniform, and gradual, punctuated equilibrium is a theory that says once a species appears in fossil record the population will become stable

parallel evolution

species come to share phenotypic characteristics due to recent common ancestry

convergent evolution

process in which organisms that are not closely related independently evolve similar features

comparative primatology

reconstructing the evolutionary origins of human behavior

behavioral ecology

study of behavior from ecological and evolutionary perspectives

dependency periods

the time in which an infant is solely dependent on its mother or parents

strepsirrhines

suborder that includes Lemurs, Lorises, and Galagos

haplorrhines

suborder that includes Tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans

anthropoid

all monkeys, apes, and humans

hominoid

member of hominoidea

hominin

includes humans and our recent ancestors

ceboidea

 primate superfamily that includes all monkeys in the Americas

What sense is emphasized in all primates besides lorises and tarsiers

sight, lorises and tarsiers have emphasis on smell

characteristics of hominoidea

erect posture, flexible limbs, prehensible hands & feet, five digits, opposable thumbs, nails, tactile pads enhancing touching senses

stratagies

set of behavior patterns that has become prominent in a population 

kin selection

behavioral favoring of one’s close genetics relatives

alturism

acting in a way that has a net loss of energy to the actor and a net benefit in energy to the receiver

infanticide

intentional killings of offspring by an adult animal of the same species, can be the establishing of a new dominant male or for other reasons