BIOLOGICALANTHROPOLOGY Flashcards
biological anthropology
study of how humans evolved; explores human differences and similarities by investigating biological and cultural complexities
oldest north american skeleton
eve of naranon in the carribbean coast of mexico (13,600+ years ago)
5 disciplines of anthropology
cultural, linguistic, archaeology, biological, applied
scope of biological anthropology
primatology, paleoanthropology, molecular anthro, bioarchaeology, forensic anthro, human bio
carolus liinnaeus
early naturalist who created a classification system for living things based on appearance (species/genus)
binomial nomenclature (by linnaeus)
first letter of genus is capitalized, species designations are lower case
georges-louis leclerc
early naturalist who founded biogeography; regions with similar environments still have different species
jean-baptiste lemarck
early naturalist who discovered the inheritance of acquired characteristics/rare traits which help creatures adapt
charles darwin
early naturalist who collected specimens and observed living and fossilized creatures + darwinism
alfred wallace
early naturalist who described theory of natural selection + collaborated with darwin to write about this theory
gregor mendel
early naturalist who experimented with pea plants to crossbreed and test inheritance of physical traits (discovered genetics)
3 postulates of darwinian evolution - struggle for existence
ability to expand population is infinite
3 postulates of darwinian evolution - variation in fitness
ability to reproduce among organisms is varied
3 postulates of darwinian evolution - inheritance of variation
beneficial traits are inherited by offspring
evolution is not an increase in fitness
environments are changing; “red queen hypothesis”
darwinian evolution and inheritance
no explanation on how characteristics inherited
variation in evolution
physical variety which are passed through offspring
adaptive change
many more organisms are born than can survive; lack of resources to sustain life (natural selection)
somatic cells
most cells in the body
gametes
sex cells
cytoplasm
mix of membranes, molecules, and organelles
nucleus
contains hereditary materials (chromosomes)
chromosomes
paired structures in nucleus containing genes (DNA double helix)
DNA
stores genetic information that codes for proteins
4 bases for DNA
adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine (G&C/T&A)
RNA
dictates synthesis of proteins, regulates other genes, works with structures in ribosomes, manufactures proteins, transport amino acids to ribosomes
messenger RNA (mRNA)
RNA that is read by ribosomes to build protein
protein
linear sequence of amino acids
transcription
synthesis of RNA at unwound section of DNA
codon
genetic information encoded in sequence in 3 nucleotide codes (adenine, guanine, cytosine, urasil)
translation RNA (tRNA)
information adapter molecule; direct interface between amino acid sequence of protein information in mRNA
gene
chemical unit of heredity
phenotype
physical appearance of organism; may or may not represent genotype or genetic constitution
genotype
total complement of inherited traits/genes of an organism
alleles
one member of a pair of genes (variation in genetic structure)
homozygous
having 2 identical genes/alleles in a pair of chromosomes (YY/yy)
heterozygous
having different genes or alleles in a pair of chromosomes (Yy)
dominant alleles
alleles of gene pair that is always phenotypically expressed in heterozygous form (capital letter is dominant)
recessive alleles
alleles of gene pair that is always phenotypically expressed in homozygous form
mutation
error or change in genetic code (randomly occurring; can be neutral, harmful, beneficial)
population genetics
random changes in gene pool overtime (reduces within population genetic variation, likely to affect small populations, increases between population genetic variation