exam 1 Flashcards
Anthropology
: the study of the evolution and culture of humans and other primates; subfields are biological,
sociocultural (human societies), linguistics (language in culture), and archaeology (material culture of the past).
Hominin
us and fossils like us; after the split with great apes
Hominid
Humans and great apes
Hominoid
All apes
Primate
social mammals with grasping hands, bony and enclosed eye sockets, and relatively large brains.
Branches of bioanthropology
Bioarchaeology, genetics, forensics, human biology, paleoanthropology, primatology
Scientific method
empirical procedure to test hypotheses; failure to falsify can lead to scientific paradigms
Phylogeny
A hypothesis of evolutionary relationships
Taxonomy
The classification of phylogenetic trees
Scala naturae
great chain of being - hierarchy of humans at the top due to their complexity and intelligence; more primitive organisms toward the bottom
Systema naturae
Linnaeus - three kingdoms: minerals, plants, animals ; god’s creation
Binomial nomencature
two part name which emphasizes its genus and species
Homology vs Convergence
A trait shared from common descent; traits present in two or more organisms which share their structure from a common ancestor
VS independent evolution AKA analogy; traits that look the same but evolved independently
Catastrophism vs uniformitarianism
One or more disasters created features at the same time
VS. geological processes acting today were acting in the past; the earth is ancient)
Typology and fixity of species vs. evolutionary change
Typology - Ancient Greeks each species was fixed in its physical form and does not change.
Evolutionary change - (Darwin) descent with modification; species change over time, give rise to a new species, and share a common ancestor- variation
Ontogeny
development or course of development especially of an individual organism.
development (ontogeny) does not reflect (recapitulate) shared evolutionary history (phylogeny
Inheritance of acquired characteristics vs. evolution of natural selection
Lamarck - If an organism changes during life in order to adapt to its environment, those changes are passed on to its offspring.
Darwin- Organisms that are more adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and pass on the genes that aided their success.
Adaptive radiation and island biogeography
diversification of a single lineage into many species that inhabit a variety of environments; examines the factors that affect the species richness and diversification of isolated natural communities.
Artificial selection
special type of natural selection in which humans select which plants or animals
reproduce (e.g., selection for different plant parts, for wool, meat, tameness in animals).
