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26 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is anthropology and how would you define each of its four main subfields?
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• Anthropology is the study of everything human. It looks at what it means to be human at every point in the history of our species. It also looks at how modern humans came to be.
• Physical Anthropology- this is the study of the human body and how it evolved. The study of primates and how humans evolved from primates is also included in this field. Many of the ideas of this field are also found in biology. However, biology does not use any culture to explain the organisms it studies. • Archeological- This field looks at the left overs of ancient people by digging them up in the ground. This field studies how societies developed and how they became our modern civilization. Not paleontology which is the study of dinosaurs. • Linguistics- The study of how language came to be. This field is not part of anthropology in Europe because their language is much older and there is a lot more literature to study. In America, the language of the native people (Native Americans) is not as well developed or recorded, so linguistics in included under anthropology. • Cultural- This field of anthropology is interested in how different populations live their daily lives. They often will move into a culture and study them by completely immersing themselves in the culture for long periods of time. |
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What are some specializations within the field of anthropology?
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• Not sociology, because sociology does not include the study of history or bio. They also only study their own complex societies.
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What are the characteristics of culture?
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• Culture is the ideas of people and everything that they do and believe in. Culture is based on the patterns and behaviors that individuals learn from the older people around them.
• Anthropologists try to be cultural relavists which means that they do not believe that one culture is superior to another culture. They look at cultures and study them objectively. • Ethnocentrism is the belief that your culture is superior to another culture. |
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What is this Franz Boas known for?
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• He is the father of American anthropology. He is the one who was against racisms and believed that we were actually a lot closer than everyone else in his time period thought we were. It turns out that he is right.
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Define evolution. Contrast with Lamarckian evolution.
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• Evolution is the idea that organisms change over time. Charles Darwin developed this idea along with natural selection. The ideas of evolution is that not all organisms are equally fit to survive in the environment. The organisms that survive are better suited for their environment.
• Lamarck believed that as an organism used a trait, it grew or became stronger and was then passed on to its offspring. Examples would be a buff dad would produce a buff baby or a giraffe has a long neck because its parents needed to stretch for leaves and then they passed this “stretched neck” on to their offspring. |
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Know and understand the 4 forces of evolution
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• Mutation- change in the genetic material that codes for a specific trait. Most of these mutations are neutral and do not do anything or harmful to the organism. However a few are advantageous. These can be due to copying errors or environmental factors such as radiation.
• Genetic Drift- The chance fluctuation in a population’s allele frequencies. There can be environmental factors such as a disaster that would cause a bottle neck effect. Also, the founder effect can cause different gene frequencies than are present in the main population. • Gene Flow- The genetic transfer from one population to another. • Natural Selection- The fit offspring survive and reproduce. Thee population adapts over time. An example of this is the sickle cell anemia that is present in Africa. |
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What are Linnaeus, Lamarck, and Darwin known for?
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• Lamarck- Believed that if you used it more, you would pass it on to your children.
• Linnaeus- Was the father of modern Taxonomy. • Darwin- Is known for natural section. Developed the idea that there is variation within species and the organisms that are more fit for the environment based on their traits will survive. |
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Discuss the concept of race and how/why we discuss it in an anthropology class.
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• Race is just skin color. It has not biological evidence besides this.
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Understand why race is not a good way to talk about human biological variation.
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• All races on earth are about 99% genetically identical. So, being racist does not make sense because all humans are ultimately the same regardless of race.
• Race is a social construct, and does not have any place in biology. |
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Discuss physiological adaptations that modern humans exhibit (skin color, body proportions and the Allen and Bergman rules, ABO blood groups, sickle cell trait, lactase persistence, etc.).
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• Skin Color- The darker skin protects the individual from UV radiation at the equator but if moved north, it will shield too much UV radiation from the individual’s skin. This will cause them to not produce as much vitamin D. Red heads and blonds have a higher amount of melanin in their skin.
• Body Proportions- People who live near the equator are taller and skinnier which allows them to give off more heat. People in the artic are shorter and stockier which allows them to conserve heat. • Allen and Bergman Rules- the rules described above regarding body size and shape. • ABO Blood- O blood was the only blood that was present in the Americas because the A and B blood type were mutations that formed after the Native Americans came over to the Americas. The blood types can mix. The blood types can allow for people to be more protected against sickle cell anemia. The individuals who are heterozygous for this trait are more adapted to not get malaria. The ones who are homozygous for it have many health complications and the ones who do not have it at all are at a much higher risk of catching malaria. • Lactase Persistence- Individuals who are from areas where their dependents raised cattle for milk continue to produce lactase throughout their life because their ancestors had an advantage if they were able to continue to produce it. Otherwise, lactase production stops when individuals are young. Pleiotropy→ one gene regulating more than 1 trait Polygeny→ One trait inherited on more than one gene (skin color) Co-dominance→ When both alleles show equal expression |
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Give examples of balanced selections, clinal variation, pleiotropy, polygeny, co-dominance, natural selection, and genetic drift in humans.
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• Balancing selection: sickle cell anemia.
• Clinal Variation: the different body shapes and sizes as well as skin color. • Pleiotropy: one gene can lead to many traits that are the outcome. Marfan syndrome (He has this) is an example. • Polygeny: a trait that is effected by more than one gene. Skin color is an example. • Co-dominance: Blood Type • Natural Selection: the general trend of humans being smarter as we evolved is a way of natural selection. Also, people who are darker in the equator are better able to survive and reproduce. • Genetic Drift: The Amish have a high rate of polydactyl. This is when a higher rate of an allele is present in a certain population because they are isolated from the main group. |
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What are the characteristics of primates?
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Grasping hands and feet (except humans) usually with opposable thumbs, nails instead of claws (most digits), tactile sense, forward facing eye (stereoscopic vision), intelligence (brain big relative to body), parental investment in young, social nature
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strepsirrhines vs. haplorrhines
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Strepsirrhines→ Attached Rhinarium, orbital bar open to sides, smaller brains, many have tooth combs, grooming claws, more reliance on smell
Haplorrhines →Upper lip detached, closed orbits, larger brains, no tooth combs or grooming claws, manuel dexterity, more reliance on vision |
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platyrrhines vs. catarrhines
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Platyrrhines→ Flat nosed, New World Monkeys, Some have prehensile tails (fingerprints/ridges), ALL arboreal
Catarrhines→ Nostrils close together and point downward, narrow nosed, Old World Monkeys, ALL Apes, None have prehensile tails, some arboreal and some terrestrial |
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Monkeys vs Apes
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Monkeys→ Most have tails, long narrow torso, arms and legs are similar length, limited shoulder joints, smaller brained
Apes→ No tails, short broad human-like torso, arms longer than legs, suspensory shoulder with complete circumduction, larger brained |
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What interesting behaviors do chimpanzees do as a group?
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• Chimpanzees are able to hunt as a group without talking with a formal language. This hunting can be done in a pack or with spears. This behavior is not something that is natural because not all chimpanzees do it. It is a behavior that is taught to the new, younger chimpanzees by the older, more experienced hunters. They can also build spears and commit acts of war on one another.
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Discuss the ethics of using primates as human analogs for medical studies
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• Many primatologists believe that we should not use primates for studies because they are so closely related to us and because they have such great intelligence and most likely know what is happening to them. Some people even go as far as saying that they should get rights just like human beings do.
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Do primates have language/culture and how is it the same or different from human culture?
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• Chimpanzees do have ways of communicating but they are not able to talk in the same what that we do. Their language and culture is possible to exist because they have a learned set of behaviors that differs in between the different populations of chimpanzees and these behaviors include hunting and tool making.
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What is Jane Goodall known for?
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• She is a very famous primatologist who is famous for working for years studying chimpanzees. She is a very strong advocate for the rights of chimpanzees.
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Know: hominoid vs. hominin
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• Hominoids are human beings as well as all the apes that are alive on the earth.
• The hominins are the immediate and extinct ancestors of man. |
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Discuss the skeletal evidence for early bipedalism and how it was a selective advantage for early hominins.
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• The forum magnum was moved more to the middle of the skill to allow upright walking, the pelvis is a basin shape to hold the organs. The legs are longer and the heal and toe of the foot is different to allow better and faster walking. The spine is also a different shape. These advantages allowed us to move faster in the open planes in order to avoid predators. We would have also had a better vantage point which would allow us to again avoid predators and would also let us find food better.
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What probably produced the adaptive radiation of hominins?
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The fact that there was a variety of different places where humans could evolve in different environments. Could also be due to the Toba Eruption.
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What is “Lucy” known for?
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• Lucy was an Australopithecus afarensis skeleton that was found in the 1970’s. This skeleton was the first of its kind and was very complete.
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Early human tools (Oldowan, Acheulean, Mousterian, Upper Paleolithic)
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• Oldowan tools were very simple. They were made by just hitting two rocks together and breaking one of them. (Homo habilis)
• Acheulean tools were more symmetrical and evolved many hits with a stone and chips in specific places. These were a very large jump in intelligence because the people who made these would have been able to see the tools envisioned in their minds before they were created. Also, it is thought that the people who made these tools could have needed some form of communication. (Homo erectus) • Mousterian tools were made of flint and were found with the homo neanderthalensis. These tools were very sophisticated and are a lot like the tools of humans of this time. • Upper Paleolithic: the tools for this time period are much more elaborate than anything that was seen before this time. These tools had many specific uses and were often very decorative. These decorations suggested that they were special and could have had cultural or religious significance. |
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Difference between Archaeology and paleoanthropology
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• Archaeology is the study and unearthing of the ancient past. They try to piece together the cultures of the people- they are finding. Focused more on the cultural side of the human study.
• Paleoanthropology is the study of fossilized hominins. Focused more on the biological side of the human study. |
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Contrast the two main theories explaining the peopling of the globe by Homo sapiens: Out-of-Africa versus Multiregional
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• Out of Africa: Homo sapiens are able to out compete all other forms of there ancestors and possibly killed some of them. We came out of Africa as well and then spread and replaced others after the Toba eruption.
• Multiregional: We do still come out of Africa, however we interbreed with other hominins as we come out of Africa and spread throughout the world. We were the most favored phenotype and did survive, however we now contain some DNA from different hominins. It has been shown that we interbred with Neanderthals, Bonatvans and a 3rd unknown species. This theory is more likely to have happened. |
