Biological Anthropology Exam 1 Review

Primate

Member of the mammalian order Primates, including prosmians, monkeys, apes, and humans, defined by a suite of anatomical and behavioral traits

Evolution

A change in the frequency of a gene or a trait in a population over multiple generations

Biological anthropology

The study of humans as biological organisms, considered in an evolutionary framework; sometimes called physical anthropology (origin of modern species/biological variation)

Hominin

A member of the primate family Hominidae, distinguished by bipedal posture and, in more recently evolved species, a large brain

Adaptation

A trait that increases the reproductive success of an organism, produced by natural selection in the context of a particular environment

Anthropology

The study of humankind in a cross-cultural context...includes cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, archaeology, and biological anthropology (in all times and places)

Culture

The sum total of learned traditions, values and beliefs that groups of people (and a few species of highly-intelligent animals) possess

Biocultural anthropology

The study of the interaction between biology and culture, which plays a role in most human traits

Cultural anthropology

The study of human societies in a cross-cultural context; the subdivision that includes ethnology, archaeology, and linguistics (all aspects of human behavior)

Ethnology

The study of human societies, their traditions, rituals, beliefs, and the differences between societies in these traits

Ethnography

The practice of cultural anthropology; Studying the minute to minute workings of human societies; especially non-Western

Linguistic anthropology

The comparative study of language, its origins, and use in culture; also called anthropological linguistics; acquisition in infancy and childhood

Archaeology

The study of the material culture of past peoples

Artifacts

The objects, from tools to art, left by earlier generations of people

Material culture

The objects or artifacts of past human societies

Paleoanthropology

The study of the fossil record of ancestral humans and their primate kin

Osteology

The study of the skeleton

Paleopathology

The study of diseases in ancestral human populations

Bioarchaeology

The study of human remains in an archaeological context

Forensic anthropology

The study of human remains applied to legal context

Primatology

The study of the nonhuman primates and their anatomy, genetics, behavior, and ecology

Human biology

Human growth and development, adaptation to environment extremes and human genetics

Physical anthropology

The study of humans as biological organisms, considered in an evolutionary framework

Observation

Gathering of scientific information by watching a phenomenon

Deduction

A conclusion that follows logically from a set of observations

Hypothesis

A preliminary explanation of a phenomenon; Formation is the first step of the scientific method

Experimentation

Testing a hypothesis

Data

Scientific evidence produced by an experiment or by observation, from which scientific conclusions are made

Scientific method

Standard scientific research procedure in which a hypothesis is stated, data are collected to test it, and the hypothesis is either supported or refuted

Falsifiable

Able to be shown to be false

Paradigm

A conceptual framework useful for understanding a body of evidence

Immutability

Stasis; lack of change

Polygenism

Ancient belief that all people are derived from multiple creations

Monogenism

Ancient belief that people are derived from single creation

Taxonomy

The science of biological classification

Binomial nomenclature

Linnaean naming system for all organisms, consisting of a genus and species label (ex. Homo sapien)

Taxon

A group of organisms assigned to a particular category

Catastrophism

Theory that there have been multiple creations interspersed by great natural disasters such as Noah's Ark

Theory of inheritance by acquired characteristics

Discredited theory of evolutionary change proposed that changes that occur during the lifetime of an individual, through use or disuse, can be passed on to the next generation

Carolus Linnaeus

Swedish botanist; author of Sytema Naturae; father of taxonomy

Comte de Buffon

Accepted that animals who migrate to different climates adapted, but had no mechanism to explain this; said animals in New World were weaker and smaller but was proved wrong

Georges Cuvier

Opponent of evolutionary change despite fossil discoveries; advocated catastrophism

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

Created Theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics (Lamarckianism); breakthrough= seeing relationship between organisms and environments; error = thinking evolution could take place in a lifetime

Lysenkoism

Soviet-era research program that tried to apply Lamarckian thinking to agricultural production

Uniformitarianism

Theory that the same geological process we observe today was operating in the past; requires great time and depth of age to Earth

James Hutton

Studied layering of rock formations (stratigraphy); advocated uniformitarianism

Charles Lyell

Argued that slow gradual change was the way of the physical world and one would find more primitive life in older rocks; published Principles of Geology which Darwin read many times on his voyage

Charles Darwin

Ardent naturalist from an early age; spent 5 years of his life traveling around the world studying nature; discovered theory of evolution and natural selection especially from Galapagos Islands and studying finches

Biogeography

The distribution of animals and plants on the earth

Adaptive radiation

Diversification of one founding species into multiple species and niches

Natural selection

Differential reproductive success over multiple generations

Vestigial organs

Body parts that seem to serve no purpose and have atrophied

Homology

Shared ancestry of a body part

Analogy

Shared function of a body part

Embryology

Idea that embryos in the womb tend to look like more primitive forms

Selective breeding

Breeders chose traits in animals that they want to pass on to next generation; domestication of plants and animals

Descent with modification

Darwin proposed that all life forms descended from common ancestors

Thomas Malthus

Said society needed checks because we would basically overpopulate the world and starve to death

Alfred Russel Wallace

Formulated his own theory of evolution at same time as Darwin; went to him for help which pushed Darwin to go public with his ideas

Fitness

Reproductive success

Differential reproduction

If the traits that give individuals a reproductive advantage are also heritable, then there will be a slightly higher proportion of fast rabbits or efficient algae in the next generation

Population

An interbreeding group of organisms

Mutation

An alteration in the DNA, which may or may not alter the function of a cell if it occurs in a gamete, it may be passed from generation to generation

Creation science

A creationist attempt to refute evolution

Intelligent design

Creationist school of thought that proposes that natural selection cannot account for the diversity and complexity or form and function seen in nature

Cellular and molecular genetics

Study at basic level of building blocks of bodies (cells) at the DNA level

Classical or Mendelian genetics

Looking at pedigree and tracking how various traits are passed from one generation to the next

Population genetics

Examining genetic variation with and between populations to gain insight into the evolutionary history of the populations and species as a whole

Phylogenetics

Determining evolutionary relationships between species

Pedigree

A diagram used in genetics that shows the transmission of a genetic trait over generations of a family

Prokaryotes

Single-celled organisms, such as bacteria, in which the genetic material is not separated by a nucleus from the rest of the cell

Eukaryotes

Cell that possesses a well-organized nucleus

Nucleus

In eukaryotic cells, the part of the cell in which the genetic material is separated from the rest of the cell (cytoplasm) by a plasma membrane

Cytoplasm

In eukaryotic cells, the region within a cell membrane that surrounds the nucleus; it contains organelles, which carry out the essential functions of the cell, such as energy production, metabolism, and protein synthesis

Somatic cells

Not sex cells

Gametes

Sex cells: sperm or eggs (ova)

Stem cells

Undifferential cells found in the developing embryo that can be induced to differentiate into a wide variety of cell types or tissues; also found in adults, although not as totipotent

Mitochondria

Organelles in the cytoplasm where energy production takes place; contains its own DNA

Ribosome

Structures composed primarily of RNA which are found primarily on the endoplasmic reticulum (site of protein synthesis)

Endoplasmic reticulum

Organelle in cytoplasm consisting of a folded membrane; increased space for metabolic reactions; some have knobs called rough ER

DNA

A double-stranded molecule that is the carrier of genetic information; each strand is composed of a linear sequence of nucleotides; the two strands are held together by hydrogen bonds that form between complementary bases

Proteins

Complex molecules formed from chains of amino acids (polypeptides) or from a complex of polypeptides; function as structural molecules, transport molecules, antibodies, enzymes, and hormones

Protein synthesis

The assembly of proteins from amino acids, which occurs at ribosomes in the cytoplasm and is based on info carried by mRNA

RNA

Single-stranded nucleic acid that performs critical functions during protein synthesis and comes in three forms: messenger, transfer, and ribosomal

Messenger RNA

Strand of RNA synthesized in the nucleus as a compliment to a specific gene (transcription); it carries the info for the sequence of amino acids to make a specific protein into the cytoplasm, where it is read at a ribosome and a protein molecule is synthesized (translation)

Transfer RNA

RNA molecules that bind to specific amino acids and transport them to ribosomes to be used during protein synthesis

Nucleotide

Molecular building blocks of nucleic acids DNA and RNA; consists of a phosphate, sugar, and base

Base

Variable component of the nucleotides that form DNA and RNA; in DNA, they are adenine, guanine, thymine, and cytosine; in RNA, uracil replaces thymine

Adenine

Purine base that bonds with thymine or uracil

Guanine

Purine base that bonds with cytosine

Cytosine

Pyrimidine base that bonds with guanine

Thymine

Pyrimidine base that bonds with adenine

Uracil

Replaces thymine in RNA and bonds with adenine

Enzyme

A complex protein that is a catalyst for chemical processes in the body

Hemoglobin

Protein found in red blood cells that transports oxygen

Hormone

A natural substance (often a protein) produced by specialized cells in one location of the body that influences the activity or physiology of cells in a different location

Amino acids

Molecules that form the basic building blocks of protein; there are 20; 9 are essential (cannot be synthesized by the body)

Polypeptide

A molecule made up of a chain of amino acids

Genetic code

System whereby the nucleotide triplets in DNA and RNA contain the information for synthesizing proteins from the 20 amino acids (Francis Crick, 1961)

Codon

A triplet of nucleotide bases in mRNA that specifies an amino acid or the initiation or termination of a polypeptide sequence