Midterm Exam

Question 1

What is anthropology?

Answer 1

the study of humans (what differentiates us from other animals; similarities and differences with out primate relatives)

Question 2

Subfields of anthropology

Answer 2

archaeology, cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and biological anthropology

Question 3

Specialties of biological anthropology

Answer 3

study of unique biology of humans, prehuman ancestors, and nonhuman primates (based on evolutionary theory)

Question 4

Early trends in biological anthropology

Answer 4

tracing the evolution of our lineage through time in the fossil record (focus on human variation)

Question 5

scientific method

Question 6

theories of evolution

Answer 6

darwinism (evolutionary fitness/natural selection), lamarckism (species are descended from previous, different species), mendel (particulate inheritance dominant/recessive)

Question 7

linnean classification

Answer 7

classified animals based on their similarities and differences from other animals

Question 8

forces of evolution

Answer 8

natural selection, genetic drift (founder effect and bottlenecks), gene flow

Question 9

mendelian genetics

Answer 9

particulate inheritance (each person recieves allele from parent, the trait is decided by which one is dominant/recessive)

Question 10

modern synthesis

Answer 10

combines evolutionary theory (darwin) with genetic mechanisms (mendel)

Question 11

biological species concept

Answer 11

a species consists of a group of organisms who are behaviorally and biologically capable to producing fertile offspring

Question 12

hardy-weinberg equilibrium

Answer 12

used to identify allele and genotype frequencies in a population

Question 13

speciation

Answer 13

divergence of one species into two or more

Question 14

primate traits

Question 15

primate evolution theories

Answer 15

angiosperm, visual predation, arboreal

Question 16

plesiadpiformes

Answer 16

archaic primates

Question 17

adapoids

Answer 17

diurnal/herbivores

Question 18

omomyoids

Answer 18

nocturnal/insectivores and frugivores

Question 19

origins of modern primate group

Answer 19

adapoid hypothesis, omomyoid hypothesis, taiser hypothesis

Question 20

climate trends of the miocene

Answer 20

warming and subtropical forests turn to cooling/drying and woodlands/grasslands

Question 21

climate trends of Pleistocene

Answer 21

cycles between interglacial (warm/wet) and glacial (cool/dry)

Question 22

climate trends of piocene

Answer 22

generally cooler and drier (still warmer), weather becoming seasonal

Question 23

hominin traits

Answer 23

encephalization (larger brain), bipedalism, flat faces, small teeth

Question 24

theories of bipedality

Answer 24

savannah hypothesis, forest hypothesis, turnover pulse hypothesis, simple benefits

Question 25

skeletal markers of bipedality

Answer 25

foramen magnum, shorter forelimbs, s-shaped spine, round pelvis, bicondylar angle (45-90), non-oppposable big toe

Question 26

traits of austrolopithecus

Answer 26

less robust mastication system, less reliance on bipedality, smaller brain, extant earlier

Question 27

traits of paranthropus

Answer 27

very robust mastication system, more reliance on bipedality, bigger brain, extant later

Question 28

traits of homo

Answer 28

larger brain size, smaller flatter face, increased use of culture, larger overall body size, longer legs shorter arms, decline in sexual dimorphism

Question 29

how tool use is indentified

Answer 29

hand morphology

Question 30

techno-complexes

Answer 30

lomekwian and oldowan

Question 31

meat eating in hominins

Question 32

archaic hominin admixture

Answer 32

genetics show that AMH and neanderthals interbred occasionally (europeans and asian ancestors usually have between 1-4 percent neanderthal dna)

Question 33

theories of human dispersal

Answer 33

out of africa, multiregional continuity, assimilation

Question 34

rise of agriculture

Answer 34

neolithic transition: instead of foraging we see farming because of population growth and cities

Question 35

benefits of agriculture

Answer 35

population growth, specialization of labor, urbanization, institutions, sedentarism,

Question 36

drawbacks of agriculture

Answer 36

disease