evo. lecture 1

Question 1

Anthropology

Answer 1

the global and holistic study of human culture and biology.

Question 2

Evolutionary Anthropology

Answer 2

the application of modern evolutionary theory to studies of morphology, ecology, and the behaviour of human and non-human primates.

Question 3

Primatology

Answer 3

• the scientific study of non-human primates.
• involves the study of primate anatomy, field studies of wild animals, primate psychology, etc.
• primatologists seek to conserve primates in vanishing tropical ecosystems.

Question 4

Paleoanthropology

Answer 4

• the multidisciplinary study of the biological evolution of primates through the analysis of fossils.
• studies the changes in human cultural activities, tool use, subsistence patterns (the method by which a society acquires food resources), disease.
• investigates the evolutionary history of the behaviour in primates, essentially studying the formation and development of specific characteristics of humans in order to understand and establish the evolutionary relationships between Hominin species.

Question 5

Human Variation

Answer 5

• the study of spatial (geographic) and temporal (location in time) variations in human features (e.g. size, shape, skeleton, etc.).
• these features are, in turn, affected by climatic variations.

Question 6

Medical Anthropology

Answer 6

• the study of spatial (geographic) and temporal (location in time) variation in human survival, disease, health disparity.
• influence of social, environmental, and biological factors on the health of individuals at different scales.
• what does it mean to be sick or healthy in (modern) human cultures?

Question 7

Forensic Anthropology

Answer 7

the study of the skeletal remains of humans to determine age, sex, stature, ancestry, trauma, disease.

Question 8

Major Questions About Humans and Our Biology

Answer 8

• how does evolution work and how does it apply to us?
• what are biological characteristics of our species?
• what is the physical record of our evolution?

Question 9

The Scientific Method (How Do Evolutionary Anthropologists Conduct Their Research?)

Answer 9

1. state the problem.
2. gather information.
3. form a hypothesis.
4. test the hypothesis.
5. record and analyze data.
6. state the conclusion.
7. repeat the work.

Question 10

The Creationist Method

Answer 10

• up until now, religion has been a large part of science, yet does not belong here.
• they are compatible, but shouldn’t veer into each other’s realms.

Question 11

Four Problems Limited Development of Theory of Evolution

Answer 11

1. lack of knowledge on the age of the earth.
2. religious concept of fixity of species.
3. lack of scientific method.
4. religious notion of separate creation for humans and animals.

Question 12

Carolus Linneaus (Karl von Linne, 1707-1778)

Answer 12

• first comprehensive classification system for living things; Binomial Nomenclature.
• rach living thing named separate species on basis of physical resemblances; species grouped into broader categories called genera (singular, genus).
• first letter of genus is capitalized (e.g. Homo).
• species designations are always lower case (e.g. sapiens).
• he wasn’t an evolutionist; he thought he was merely naming God’s creations (Scala Naturae, or Nature’s Ladder).

Question 13

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788)

Answer 13

• claimed that Earth’s history should be greater than 6000 years, specifically about 75,000 years
  
  • major issue with contemporary religious authorities.
• founded biogeography: despite similar environments, different regions have distinct plants and animals.
  
  • “species change and evolve when they relocate.”

Question 14

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829)

Answer 14

• inheritance of acquired characteristics; he called them “vital forces” within creatures that help them adapt to the environment.
  
  • “individuals lose characteristics they do not use, and [consciously] develop useful ones to pass on to their offspring.”
• acquired traits: developed through use or disuse, passed on to future generations.
• among first to formulate method for origination of new species through use or disuse of certain characteristics of an organism.
• his theories were disproved, but integral to the development of evolutionary concepts.

Question 15

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

Answer 15

• naturalist of H.M.S. Beagle, scientific expedition to Pacific coast of South America.
• observed incredible variety of living and especially fossilized creatures.
• conclusion: no fixity of species and notion of short, catastrophic geological history for earth must be incorrect.

Question 16

Variation is Important in Evolution | Darwin

Answer 16

• physical variety in any population of organism.
• if variety provides advantage to certain individuals, then they may produce more offspring.
• these offspring inherit beneficial variation, so they produce more offspring; variation norm on population.
• population may change, perhaps completely new and different species.
• note: what Darwin was saying was very important. he was going against all his conservative, Christian values and the society he was in at the time.

Question 17

How Does Adaptive Change Occur? | Darwin

Answer 17

• key was in Essay on the Principle of Populations (1799) by economist Thomas Malthus (1766-1834).
  
  • stated that many more organisms are born than can possibly survive.
• Darwin contributed that individuals in a species adapt to environments, and long-term adaption means evolutionary shift in the entire population in response to environmental change.

Question 18

Darwin’s Theory on Natural Selection

Answer 18

• important: a theory in science isn’t based on conjecture or opinions. it’s based on hard facts and information.
• evolution doesn’t care if you believe in it or not; it’s going to happen anyways.
• all extant and extinct species share a common ancestry.
• species evolve by natural selection.
• natural selection: a process in nature resulting in survival and perpetuation of only those forms of life having certain favourable characteristics that enable them to adapt best to their environment.

Question 19

Alfred Russell Wallace (1823-1913)

Answer 19

• Wallace writes Darwin from Malaysia, describing certain aspects of theory of natural selection that Darwin had been researching for 20 years.
• Wallace’s short sketch is far from the massive body of evidence Darwin had collected, but its core ideas were similar.

Question 20

Three Postulates of Darwinian Evolution

Answer 20

1. struggle for existence: ability of population to expand is infinite, but the environment is finite.
2. variation in fitness: organisms vary, some individuals possess traits enabling them to survive and reproduce more successfully than others in the same environment.
3. inheritance of variation: advantageous traits inherited by offspring become more common in succeeding generations. Traits that offer advantages in survival and reproduction are retained in population, disadvantageous traits disappear.

note: the world “evolution” doesn’t appear in the Origins of Species.

Question 21

Sexual Selection

Answer 21

• certain evolutionary traits can be explained by intraspecific (within species) competition.
• noticed that there were drastic differences between males and females in a species, with females looking drab and males looking like they shouldn’t even exist.
  
  • this is because the females were selected for the males and overriding natural selection.

Question 22

What Didn’t Darwin Say?

Answer 22

• Darwin didn’t coin the term “survival of the fittest”.
• the word “evolution” wasn’t in Darwin’s works.
  
  • avoided implications of general progress or directionality.

Question 23

Why Doesn’t Evolution Result in General Increase of Fitness to External World?

Answer 23

• reason: environments are always changing.
• relative to organisms, environments usually getting worse.
• natural selection concerned with keeping up, but every species eventually becomes extinct.
  
  • we can’t change fast enough and respond through our variation, if we have any, to ever get ahead of evolution.
• design limits in biology.

Question 24

“Survival of the Fittest”

Answer 24

• this was not coined by Charles Darwin, but Herbert Spencer.
  
  • although, at Wallace’s urging, Darwin used it in later editions of his book.
• Spencer proclaimed wrongly that a struggle for existence in human society leads, in effect, to its evolution.
  
  • he argued against policies, such as charity, that might interfere with the process of producing fit individuals and institutions.

Question 25

Creationism and Intelligent Design

Answer 25

• creationism: largely Judeo-Christian belief that God created all life.
• intelligent design: the belief that all livings things are designed by someone external on purpose.

Question 26

Darwinian Evolution and Inheritance

Answer 26

• major weakness: no explanation of how characteristics are inherited.
• Darwin believed that in each individual, inheritance from both parents completely blended.
• Darwin initially favoured Lamarckian view that environment itself somehow caused favourable variants to appear.
• later, he dropped this idea.

Question 27

Gregor Mendel (1822-84)

Answer 27

• Priest, Czech Republic
• experimented with pea plants (Psium sativum).

Question 28

Why Pea Plants? | Mendel

Answer 28

1. inbred: true-breeding lines.
2. hybrids: quantify traits.
3. observable traits: flower color, seed colour etc.
4. small: easy to grow in large numbers; short generation time for several crosses per growing season.
5. self-fertilizing, but can do cross fertilizations.

Question 29

Mendel’s Conclusions

Answer 29

• each individual plant carries 2 copies of “factor” determines trait.
• if plants “breed true” then identical factors; otherwise, one will “mask” the other trait.
• published (1866) findings raised little interest.

Question 30

What Really Happened? | Mendel

Answer 30

• Mendel wasn’t really sure what happened.
• no understanding of genetics at that time.
• his work was forgotten until rediscover in early 1900s.