ARCL 140: Bones - Origins of Humanity

What was the selective force in nature that Darwin used to develop his theory? (refer to class notes)

Read about Malthesus' theory of resource competition (fertility and starvation), suggested that the constant struggle for survival encourages certain traits.

What was the key Darwin needed to explain how one species evolved from another? (refer to class notes)

Darwin suggested that this struggle was constantly happening in nature and was the reason for selection of certain traits (ie. natural selection). As a breeder would select traits in a litter of pups (ie. artificial selection), nature selects the individual with the greatest fitness.

What important moment occurred after of the debate of the Advancement of Science meeting on June, 1860 between Huxley and Wilberforce?

Huxley defended Darwin's ideas in his absence, make a super british retort that people still remember.

How did German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, react to Darwin's theory?

further pursuit of scientific methods of understanding the world discourage the possibility of there being a god. This in turn alters the fundamental basis of western society, where historically power and morality have been structured around religious institutions.

How was Darwin's theory of natural selection used negatively during the Great War of 1914 by German intellectuals?

to encourage idea that the chaos and violence of war was part of the nature selection process in forging the perfect nation

How did George Price apply Darwin's theory to explain the evolutionary logic of altruism?

Price attempted to use the principle of natural selection to investigate the genetic roots of "good and evil", creating an algorithm to calculate altruism. His findings were that all behavior (altruistic, sadistic, etc.) were the result of genetic patterns that facilitate the spread of the most adaptable genes.

How long do bonobo females nurse their infants? What is the purpose of this long nursing period?

5 years, serves the purpose of providing a crucial time to learn about the world?

When chimpanzees and bonobos encounter neighbouring groups, they react differently. What are these differences?

Chimps = hunt down and kill neighboring groups

Bonobos = socialize with new groups after initial male posturing

What purposes does sexual behaviour serve in bonobo society?

- a way to avoid violence ('intimacy' makes violence difficult)

-male-male, female-female, female-male bonding (completely bisexual)

Why is infanticide uncommon among bonobos?

Since all bonobos have sex, it is difficult for the male to determine which infant is his, therefore an infanticidal male might eliminate his offspring (making infanticide unadvantageous)

What may be the reason why chimpanzees are aggressive and mate only for reproduction, and bonobos are peaceful and mate continuously and for non-reproductive purposes?

Hypersexuality became an advantageous trait for bonobos overtime as they do not eliminate their offspring, while chimpanzees eliminate other offspring as this is advantageous on the opposite side of the spectrum

What piece of DNA do humans share with bonobos but not chimpanzees?

Bonobos and humans share a affiliation/bonding genetic trait that is not present in chimpanzees.

What is the complimentary DNA code sequence?

A -> T

C -> G

T -> A

G -> C

How do you determine gender from a human karyotype?

Male = last chromosomes are X and Y

Female = last chromosomes are X and X

What abnormality would you notice in the karyotype of someone w Edward's Syndrome?

A third copy of chromosome 18

How would you determine an mRNA code?

original dna converted to:

T -> A

A -> U

G -> C

C -> G

How would you determine a tRNA code?

Take mRNA code and convert it:

A -> U

U -> A

G -> C

C -> G

What is the unit for complimentary dna and normal dna?

triplet codon

What are the dominance for the blood types

A = dominant

B = dominant

AB = co-dominant a/b

O = recessive

What is the Great Chain of Being?

Organization of all things in hierarchical links, from most basic and foundational elements up to the very highest perfection (God).

What is the fixity of species?

idea that species is fixed since the beginning of time

Who came up with the scalae naturae?

Aristotle, Plato, etc.

What is the scalae naturae?

concept from which the 'Great Chain of Being' is derived from.

Who is Archbishop James Ussher?

Archbishop who created a chronology of the earth based on his interpretation of the old Testament.

What date did Archbishop James Ussher decide the earth was created?

October 23rd, 4004 BC.

Who was Nicolaus Copernicus

-created heliocentric model of universe

Who was Galileo Galilei

-central figure in the transition from natural philosophy to modern science and in the transformation of the scientific Renaissance into a scientific revolution.

-championed heliocentric system

Who was Galen of Pergamon

-Greek physician and philosopher

-Galenic anatomy: anatomical observations based on dissection of animals.

Who was Andreas Vesalius

-founder of modern human anatomy

- wrote 'On the fabric [structure]of the human body' (1543)

-discarded Galenicanatomy.

Who were the naturalists?

-John Ray

-Carolus Linnaeus

-Georges-Louis Leclerc

-Erasmus Darwin

-Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet (LAMARK)

-Baron Georges Cuvier

-James Hutton

Who was John Ray and why was he influential?

- responsible for the concept of species, that is to say he differentiated by their ability to produce fertile offspring (genus and species)

Who was Carolus Linnaeus and why was he influential?

-responsible for Binomial nomenclature (class and order)

-so at this point, classification includes: class - > order -> genus -> species

Who was Georges-Louis Leclerc and why was he influential?

-in some ways considered father of evolution, went against the grain in a number of ways

Who was Erasmus Darwin and why was he influential?

-Darwin, duh

Who was Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet and why was he influential?

-Lamark

-responsible for 'inheritance of acquired characteristics (Lamarckian evolution/Lamarckism)'

- Lamarckism = bodies change when characteristic is desired (ie long neck for giraffe)

Who was Baron Georges Cuvier and why was he influential?

-responsible for catastrophism, and making extinction an accepted scientific phenomenon

-studied fossils

What is catastrophism

the theory that the Earth had largely been shaped by sudden, short-lived, violent events, possibly worldwide in scope. This was in contrast to uniformitarianism

Who was James Hutton and why was he influential?

-responsible for uniformitarianism and geologic time

-uniformitarianism =

-geological time =

What were the four finches Darwin observed?

-woodpecker finch

-warbler finch

-tree finch

-ground finch

What are Malthus' principles of population?

1) each generation more offspring born than survive to adulthood

2) competition for resources

3) biological diversity (variation) among individuals

What are the two driving forces in Malthus' theory?

1) fertility

2) starvation

Who was Alfred Russel Wallace and why was he influential?

-known to have independently conceived the theory of evolution, eventually working together w Darwin

What are the differences between Darwin and Wallace's ideas?

Darwin - competition between individuals of same species to survive & reproduce

Wallace - environmental pressures on species forcing them to become adapted to local environment.

Define natural selection:

process where individuals with favorable variations survive & reproduce at higher rate than those with unfavorable variations

What are the eight key elements of natural selection?

1. all species can produce offspring at faster rate than food supplies can increase.

2. biological variation within all species.

3. in each generation, more individuals are produced than can survive = competition.

4. individuals possessing favorable traits or variations more likely to survive and produce offspring.

5. environmental context determines if trait beneficial.

6. traits are inherited and passed on to next generation.

7. variations accumulate over long periods of time, so later generations may be distinct from ancestral ones.

8. as populations respond to pressures over time, or if populations are isolated, they may become distinct species

Who coined the word gene?

Wilhelm Johannsen

What are the two types of cells?

prokaryotic + eukaryotic

What are the two types of eukaryotic cells?

somatic cells and gametes

What does DNA stand for?

Deoxyribonucleic acid

Who discovered DNA?

James Watson + Francis Crick.

What do T and C represent?

pyrimidines

What do A and G represent?

purines

What is RNA?

ribonucleic acid