Physical Anthropology Quiz 1 Nancy Garr

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Anthropology

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The study of humankind and the human condition

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Biology

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Those aspects of the human condition influenced by genes and genetic makeup.

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Culture

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Learned, shared knowledge of meanings by which we interpret experience and generate behavior.

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Worldview

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A way of seeing and understanding the world around us, and the place of humans in that world that is shared by members of a society. General cultural orientation or perspective shared by members of a society.

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Biocultural

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The mutual, interactive nature of human biology and human culture our biology makes our culture possible and our culture influences the direction of our biological evolution

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Primates

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Members of the order of mammals Primates (pronounced “pry-may´-tees”), which includes prosimians, monkeys, apes, and humans.

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Holistic approach

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In anthropology, the idea that the human condition is not a single entity, but is a system made up of cultural and biological parts that interact and affect each other. Such a system can only be understood through examination of the parts, their interactions, and the affects they have on each other.

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Cultural anthropology

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The study of human culture and behavior.

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Linguistic Anthropology

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The study of human speech and language.

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Archaeology

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The study of patterns of human behavior and culture through the recovery, analysis, and interpretation of material culture (artifacts, features, etc.) in the archaeological context.

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Physical anthropology

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Study of human biology within an evolutionary framework, including evolutionary change through time, and variation between and within modern populations

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Ethnocentrism

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Viewing another way of life from one's own perspective (worldview). Typically leads to value judgments in which one's own way of life is seen as desirable and proper while the other is seen as inferior or wrong.

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Relativistic approach

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The idea that the beliefs or behaviors of others should not be judged through comparison with one’s own culture, and should not be examined in isolation, but should always be viewed within the cultural context of which they are a part.

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Science

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A process by which we gain understanding about the natural world, and a body of knowledge gained through that process.

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Scientific method

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A research method used in the study of natural phenomena and the natural world. Involves observation of phenomena, development of explanations of observations (hypotheses), and testing of hypotheses (experimentation and data collection).

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Hypothesis

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A provisional or tentative explanation of a natural phenomenon. It must be a statement that is testable and falsifiable.

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Data (Singular datum)

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Scientific facts that can be analyzed and from which conclusions can be drawn.

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Theory

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A theory is a framework - typically made up of a set of interrelated hypotheses - within which observations are explained and predictions are made. A broad statement of scientific relationships or underlying principles that has been at least partially verified through rigorous testing.

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Creation

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The idea that the universe and all living organisms were created by God in an instant as part of God's Grand Design.

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Fixity of species

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The idea that, since God and His Grand Design were perfect, there was no need for change. The universe and everything in it was fixed and unchanging, and species, once created, never change.

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Great Chain of Being

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The idea that all God's creations had a permanent place in the divine order of things, and could be arranged in a hierarchy that progressed from the simplest organisms to the most complex with humans at the top.

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4004 B. C.

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The date, calculated by Ussher, at which it was believed that creation of the universe and everything in it took place. According to this belief, the earth is less than 10,000 years old.

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Linnaeus

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Physician and Naturalist. Developed a four level classification system (Systema Naturae) for living organisms. Standardized the use of two Latinized names (see binomial nomenclature, genus and species) for each living organism. Systema Naturae based on his perception of the Divine Order of Creation in which similar appearing organisms were understood to be close to each other on the Great Chain of Being (see Great Chain of Being).

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Binomial nomenclature

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Naming by two names; the naming of each organism by two names, genus and species.

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Species

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A group of organisms that can interbreed to produce fertile offspring; a group of organisms reproductively isolated from other groups of organisms.

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Genus (pl. genera)

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A group of closely related species.

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Lamarck

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Botanist and Zoologist. Developed an explanation, called Lamarckism or Inheritance of Acquired Traits, of how organisms changed through time. Stressed the importance of interactions between organisms and the environment in the evolutionary process.

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Lamarckism

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First, but incorrect, evolutionary explanation of change in species. Also know as Inheritance of Acquired Traits. Proposed that organisms could acquire new traits in response to environmental change, and that those new traits would be inherited by their offspring

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Cuvier

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Paleontologist and Anatomist. Introduced the concept of extinction to explain the disappearance of animals represented by fossils. A believer in fixity of species, he developed a hypothesis called Catastrophism to explain those extinctions.

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Catastrophism

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Proposed by Cuvier to explain the existence of fossils of extinct organisms. Suggested that the earth had undergone a number of violent cataclysmic events, shaping the geological features of the earth and resulting in large extinctions, followed by restocking of area by new organisms from unaffected regions, as well as by new creation events.

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Lyell

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Geologist. Developed a hypothesis, called Uniformitarianism, to explain how geological forces shaped the face of the earth through time. Emphasized the immense age of the earth.

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Uniformitarianism

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Theory that all the geological forces that shape the face of the earth today have acted in a uniform fashion all through time. Lyell's work demonstrated that the earth could not be six thousand years old, opposed Catastrophism, and provided for immense geological time.

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Malthus

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Clergyman and Economist. Noted that all organisms produce more offspring than can be supported by the environment, and that the tendency to overproduce is kept in check by nature (resource availability).

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Darwin

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Developed ideas on natural selection, an evolutionary explanation of how species can change through time.

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Wallace

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Naturalist. His ideas on causes of change in species were in some ways similar to Darwin's, and papers by both men were presented at the Linnaean Society in 1858. Darwin, concerned that Wallace would be credited with the ideas he had been working on for over 30 years, published On Origin of Species, in December 1858.

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Natural selection

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The process, proposed by Darwin and Wallace, that leads to change in species through time (evolution), due to differential net reproductive success between individuals.

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Selective pressures

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Forces of the environment that influence reproductive success in individuals.

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Reproductive success

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The number of offspring an individual produces and rears to reproductive age; an individual's genetic contribution to the next generation.

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Fitness

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A measure of an individual organism's net reproductive success compared to other individuals of the same species. Measured not just by the number of offspring, but by the number of offspring that have the opportunity to have offspring of their own.

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Evolution

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Preliminary definition Change in species through time.

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Macroevolution

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Changes that occur only after many generations, such as the appearance of a new species (speciation)

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Microevolution

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Changes occurring within species