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32 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Primatology
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The study of nonhuman primates (fossil and living apes, monkeys, and prosimians) including their behavior and social life
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Primatology
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helps anthropologists make inferences about the early social organization of hominids
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Hominids
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members of the family that includes fossil and living humans
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Homologies
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similarities that organisms share because of common ancestry
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Analogies
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similar traits that arise if species experience similar selective forces and adapt to them in similar ways
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Great Apes
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orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees
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Human - Primate Differences
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Amount of information stored in human brain far greater than that in any other primate society
Sharing, cooperation, and language are intrinsic to information storage |
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Human - Primate Similarities
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Learning:
Tools Predation and Hunting |
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Skeletal Characteristics of Bipedalism
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-Foramen magnum under skull
-Foot structure – arch forms and toe adducts -Pelvic structure – reorients muscles, creates lumbar curve -Leg structure – decreased mobility in hip, knee, and ankle joints |
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Paleontology
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The study of ancient life through the fossil record
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Paleontology
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-Includes study of fossils, organisms outside of human skeletons
-Different from archaeology: study of past human societies |
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Piltdown Man
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-1908
-One of the most famous frauds in history of science Claimed to be discovered in Sussex, England by Dr. Charles Dawson, eager to prove England = root of humanity -Exposed as a forgery in 1953 -consisting of the lower jawbone of an orangutan that had been deliberately combined with the skull of a fully developed modern human. |
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Phylogenetic Tree
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-a hypothesis of evolutionary history of a group of organisms
-Can be based on changes of morphology, or genetic data |
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Australopithecus Afarensis
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3.85 – 2.95 mya – long existing hominins
-“famous” fossils, including “Lucy” and the Laetoli footprints |
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Australopithecus Afarensis
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-Ape-like: face had flat nose, strongly projecting lower jaw, small apey brain, long arms, long curved fingers
-Human-like: small canines, stood upright and regularly walked bipedally |
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Australopithecus africanus
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-Most of the face, mandible with teeth, cranium
-Endocast of brain case 2.5 million years old -Foramen magnum: positioned above spine, upright posture -Similar to humans, but no other primates -Approx 3-4 years old 3’6” tall |
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Australopithecus garhi
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1999-excavators found remains of new species of hominid in Ethiopia
-Also evidence of butchered bones 2.5 mya -May be remains of evolutionary link between Australopithecus and Homo |
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Homo Habilis
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-Slightly larger brain and smaller face and teeth than Au.
-Still had relatively long arms and moderately prognathic face -Name means “Handy Man” |
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Homo Erectus
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1.8 mya – 70 kya makes it an extremely long-existing species
-Brain size increase: 800-1250 cc (at low end of modern H. sapiens range) -New tool technology |
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Homo Erectus
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extinct species of hominid that originated in Africa—and spread as far as China and Java—from the end of the Pliocene epoch to the later Pleistocene, about 1.8 to 1.3 million years ago.
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Homo Erectus
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_______ groups remaining in Africa called H. ergaster
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Louis and Mary Leakey
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-Olduvai Gorge: earliest evidence of Hominid evolution
-Found evidence of Homo erectus fossils |
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Acheulean tool tradition (Lower Paleolithic)
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-Hand-axe is most recognizable form
-Form of tools not dictated by shape/form of original raw materials |
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Mousterian tool tradition (Middle Paleolithic)
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-Acheulean hand-axes still in use
-Levalloisian blades still in use -Refinement of tools made from flakes are hallmark |
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Oldowan Tools (Lower Paleolithic)
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Hammer stone, Core Stone, Flakes
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Anatomically Modern Humans
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-evolved from archaic H. sapiens 200,000 years ago in Africa
-Traits: Relying on symbolic thought Elaborating on cultural creativity |
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Behavioral modernity came later than…
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Anatomically Modern Humans
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Bering Land Bridge
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-Pleistocene era: 1.8mya to 12,000 bp
-Glacial era—much of the earth’s water captured in glaciers -worldwide sea levels lower |
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Clovis - First Technology
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-first Americans crossed Bering Straight sometime before 13,500 bp
-large game hunters, probably followed herds during period of lower sea levels across land bridge |
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Behavioral Modernity
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Fully human behavior based on symbolic thought and cultural creativity
-Blombo's Cave |
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Behavioral Modernity
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Body ornamentation is a sign of _______
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Sexual Dimorphism
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Marked differences in male and female anatomy and temperament
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