Chapter 1 Intro into Anthropology Basic Definitionso Hominins- members of the same evolutionary lineage as humans o Bipedally- animals that walk on two feet o Anthropology- field of inquiry that studies human culture and evolutionary aspects of human biology; include: cultural anthro, archaeology, linguistics, and physical anthropology. o Primates- are our nonhuman closest relatives. Includes apes, monkeys, lemurs, etc. o Evolution a change in the genetic structure of a population o Adaptation an anatomical, physiological, or behavioral response of organisms or populations to the environment. o Genetic having to do with the study of gene structure and action and the patterns of inheritance of traits from parent to offspring. o Behavior- anything organisms do that involves action in response to internal or external stimuli; the response of an individual, group, or species to its environment. Some responses are not deliberate, but natural. o Macroevolution appearance in new species. Occur when populations are isolated from one another. o Microevolution- genetic alterations within a population o Culture behavioral aspects of human adaptation, including technology, traditions, language, religion, marriage patterns, and social roles. Is a set of learned behaviors transmitted from one generation to the next o Biocultural evolution- the mutual interactive evolution of human biology and culture, the concept that biology makes culture possible and that developing culture further influences the direction of biological evolution The Human Connection o How did humans survive, adapt, and evolve over time to become what we are today? This question is what physical anthropologists try to answer.
o Humans are a product of the same evolutionary forces that produced all living things o Humans are one contemporary component of a vast biological continuum a particular point in time. o Humans are special because we have intellect, something that no other animal has. Biocultural Evolution o Culture plays a major role in the development of evolution o Culture is not genetically passed down, rather learned, but culture influences our biological makeup and visa versa o Easier access to travel has greatly changed the patterns of infectious diseases and other health related things. What is Anthropology? o Anthropology is divided into four main subfields: cultural, archaeology, linguistic, physical o Cultural Anthropology The study of patterns of belief and behavior found in modern and historical cultures Ethnographies- detailed descriptive studies of human societies. Traditionally study of non-western society. Ethnographic accounts formed the basis for comparative studies of numerous cultures o Archaeology The study of earlier cultures by anthropologists who specialize in the scientific recovery, analysis, and interpretation of the material remains of past societies Archaeologists obtain their info from artifacts and structures left behind by earlier societies The remains archaeologists find help determine the social structure and other beliefs of past societies; they gain information on human behavior o Linguistic Anthropology The study of human speech and language. Including the origins of language The spontaneous acquisition of language is a uniquely human characteristic
o Physical Anthropology The study of human biology within the framework of evolution with an emphasis between biology and culture Origins of biological anthro can be traced into 2 interests: The ancestry of modern species Human variation These scholars interests began to doubt the literal interpretation of the biblical creation story Charles Darwin: Origin of Species 1859 Paleoanthropology- study of anatomical and behavioral human evolution as revealed in fossil record Ultimate goal of paleoanthropological research is to identify early human and humanlike species and to establish a chronological sequence of events and relationships between them Primate paleontology is a subfield of paleoanthropology and studies primate fossil record, extending back 65 million years ago Anthropologists today are concerned with human variation because of its possible adaptive significance and because they want to identify the factors that have produced physical and genetic variation Modern population studies examine other important aspects of human variation, including how different groups respond differently to environmentally induced stresses Nutritional anthropologists study the relationships between various dietary components, cultural practices, physiology, and certain aspects of health and disease Molecular anthropologists investigate evolutionary relationships between human populations as well as human and nonhuman primates; examine similarities and differences in DNA between individuals and species Osteology- study of the skeleton
Bioarchaeology study of skeletal remains from archaeological sites Paleopathology study of disease and trauma in ancient skeletal populations Forensic anthropology- directly related to osteology and paleopathology; help identify skeletal remains in mass disasters or other situations in which a human body is found Primatology- study of the living nonhuman primates Applied Anthropology o Applied anthropology the practical use of anthropological theories and methods outside a classroom Physical Anthropology and the Scientific Method o Science method of explaining natural phenomena; involves observation, developing a hypothesis, and to form an experiment Known as scientific method o If a hypothesis stands up to repeated testing, it becomes a theory a broad statement of scientific relationships or underlying principles that has been substantially verified The Anthropological Perspective o Physical anthropologists maintain a perspective that is broad in space and time to grasp the diversity of the human experience o A relativistic view on cultures allows us to understand other people s concerns and to view our culture from a broader perspective
Chapter 2 The Development of Evolutionary Theory Notes from Class o Evolution is a demonstrable fact Because all evolution means is change in gene frequency in a population over time Evolution by means of Natural Selection is a theory o An aside on science seeks an empirical understanding of the material world Science is a body of knowledge and a methodology Know scientific method Is hierarchical Is progressive/incremental o Lamarck Inheritance of acquired characteristics Problems? Chapter 2: The Development of Evolutionary Theory Evolution is a theory that is supported by genetic evidence and explains how biological change occurs in a species over time A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought o Charles Darwin was the first person to explain the basic mechanics of the evolutionary process o Theory of natural selection- refers to genetic changes in the frequencies of certain traits in populations due to differential reproductive success in individuals o The most important influence was the powerful religious system in the Middle Ages that taught God was the source of all creation in the exact way it existed in the present o Fixity of species- the notion that species, once created, can never change The Scientific Revolution o The development of evolutionary theory came about as a result of a series of discoveries that led to major paradigm shifts - a transition from one conceptual framework or prevailing and widely accepted viewpoint to another
o 1514, Copernicus challenged Aristotle s notion that the earth was the center of the solar system when in reality it was the Sun; this was reproved by Galileo Galilei using math and logistics o The 17 th century saw the discovery of principles such as physics and the invention of scientific tools (e.g. microscope) Precursors of the Theory of Evolution o John Ray recognized that groups of plants and animals could be differentiated from other groups by their ability to mate with one another o Ray placed such groups of reproductively isolated organisms into categories, which he called species o Ray also recognized that these species shared similarities with other species and grouped them together using a classification called genus; was first to use the labels genus and species o Carolus Linnaeus, a Swedish naturalist, developed a method of classifying plants and animals o Linnaeus Systema Naturae, published in 1735, standardized Ray s use of genus and species and established the system of binomial nomenclature; he added two more categories (class, order) and he developed the basic basis for taxonomy system of classification o Linnaeus included humans in his classification of animals and put them in as Homo sapiens; was controversial because it defied previous teachings o George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon was a French naturalist who recognized the dynamic relationship between the external environment and living forms o De Buffon realized that different plants and animals are located in different regions o Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, a French naturalist, suggested a dynamic relationship between species and the environment such that if the external environment changed, an animal s activity patterns would also change to accommodate the new circumstances
o This would result in an increase or decrease of certain body parts, and they would eventually be modified over time o Lamarck s theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics states that a trait acquired by an animal during its lifetime can be passed on to its offspring; this is wrong only genetic info in sex cells can be inherited o Georges Cuvier, Lamarck s opponent, believed in the fixity of species and proposed catastrophism the belief that earth s geological features are the results of sudden, worldwide cataclysmic events o English economist Thomas Malthus pointed out that in nature, there is a tendency for animal populations to increase while food and resources remain the same; he influenced Darwin o Charles Lyell is considered to be the modern founder of geology and argued that geological processes are the same as those that existed in the past uniformitarianism The Discovery of Natural Selection o Charles Darwin set sail aboard the HMS Beagle in 1831 and the voyage took 5 years. The Beagle s stop at the Galapagos Islands was where Darwin noticed that the vegetation and animals shared many similarities with those on the South American mainland o Darwin collected 13 varieties of finches from different islands in the Galapagos and noticed that they were closely related, but some of their physical traits were different o In England, Darwin observed the finches and realized they all descended from a common mainland ancestor that had ben modified over time in response to different island habitats o Darwin s theory of evolution by means of natural selection stated that animals with undesirable traits are selected against and those with desirable traits are selected In Darwin s Shadow o Alfred Russell Wallace published an article in 1855 that suggested that current species were descended from other species and that the appearance of new ones was influenced by environmental factors
o Wallace sent drafts of essays similar to those Darwin developed to Darwin and Darwin realized that he needed to publish his findings before Wallace would get credit for them Natural Selection o In the struggle for existence, those individuals with favorable variations would survive and reproduce, but those with unfavorable variations would not o Process of natural selection: All species are capable of reproducing offspring faster than food supplies increase There is biological variation in all species In each generation, more offspring are produced than survive, and because of limited resources, there is competition among individuals Individuals who possess favorable traits have an advantage to those who don t; they have greater fitness a measure of the relative reproductive success of individuals The environmental context determines whether or not a trait is beneficial Traits are inherited and passed on to the next generation and over time more favorable traits become more common in a population Over long periods od time, successful variations accumulate in a population so that later generations may be distinct from ancestral ones Geological isolation also contributes to the formation of a new species o Natural selection acts on individuals, either favorably or unfavorably, but it s the population that evolves Natural Selection in Action o Examples of natural selection are peppered moth in England during Industrial Revolution and finches in drought and wet seasons in the Galapagos Constraints on Nineteenth-Century Evolutionary Theory
o There was no way of determining how one inherited their traits; most thought it was a blending process between parents o Gregor Mendel discovered a way of determining genetics o The discovery of DNA in 1953 also helped geneticists o Genome entire genetic makeup of an individual or species Opposition to Evolution Today o Polls show that half of Americans don t believe evolution occurs o Christian fundamentalists renewed their campaign to remove evolutionary teachings from public school
Chapter 3 1/17/2014 1:18:00 AM The Biological Basis of Life Cells o Cells are the fundamental units of life in all organisms o The eukaryotic cell is a three-dimensional structure composed of carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins o Nucleus organelle structure found in cell that contains DNA o Molecules structures made up of two or more atoms that can bind to other atoms to make more complex structures o DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) double stranded molecule that contains the genetic code o RNA (ribonucleic acid) single stranded molecule similar to DNA; contain mrna, trna, and rrna o The nucleus is surrounded by the cytoplasm which is where the organelles perform cell-related functions. This includes breaking down nutrients and converting them to other substances o Protein synthesis the manufacture of proteins in chains of amino acids directed by DNA o Mitochondria produce energy and are enclosed structures consisting of their own DNA called mitochondrial DNA (mtdna) o Ribosomes- structures composed of rrna and protein and manufacture the cell s proteins There are two types of cells in the body: Somatic cells regular cells that make up body tissue (e.g. muscle, brain, bones) Gametes sex cells (e.g. sperm and egg); sole of function of gametes is to join sperm and egg to produce a zygote The Structure of DNA o James Watson, Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin, and Maurice Wilkins all helped develop the discovery of the structure of DNA o DNA is composed of two antiparallel strains of nucleotides composed of a sugar, a nitrogenous base, and a phosphate group