Biological Anthropology Overview

These flashcards highlight key terms and concepts from the lecture on Biological Anthropology.

Biological Anthropology

The subfield of anthropology that studies humans as a biological species.

Theory of Evolution

The framework that allows us to understand how humans have come to be as they are, defined as change through time.

Microevolution

Small genetic changes that occur within a species.

Macroevolution

Large-scale evolutionary changes that occur over long periods of time, including the emergence of new species.

Stasis

The idea that species are fixed and unchanging, primarily held in pre-Darwinian thought.

Binomial nomenclature

A two-term naming system for species, such as Homo sapiens.

Carolus Linnaeus

The father of taxonomy who developed a classification system for living organisms.

Erasmus Darwin

Charles Darwin's grandfather who proposed that species may have evolved from a common ancestor.

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

An early advocate of evolution who proposed the inheritance of acquired characteristics.

Thomas Malthus

A political economist whose ideas on population growth influenced Darwin's theories.

Uniformitarianism

The principle that the same geological processes that operate today also operated in the past.

Spontaneous Generation

The theory that life can arise from inanimate matter, popular until the 17th century.