Physical Anthropology Intro

Question 1

Describe the 5 fields of anthropology

Answer 1

1. Cultural: study of human behavior Ideas, values, and attitudes.
2. Physical: study of human biology
3. Archaeology: study of material remains, buildings, tools
4. Linguistics: study of speech and language: transmission of culture
5. Anthropological genetics

Question 2

Define Biological Anthropology

Answer 2

• Natural history of human beings
• the biological perspective of the principles behind evolutionary processes
• Evidence-based study of human biology, with emphasis on interaction between biology, environment, and culture.

Question 3

What are the 4 disciplines of physical anthropology?

Answer 3

1. Primate biology (non-humans)
2. Skeletal Biology
3. Biology of living populations
4. Paleoanthropology/ human evolution

Question 4

Define genetics/epigenetics and modern dna studies?

Answer 4

look at genetic mechanisms and their variation underlying adaptation, evolution, and migration patterns

Question 5

What data can be used to study Genetics?

Answer 5

-Genetics
DNA, mtDNA, and their polymorphisms
Populations vs individual
-Non-human primates
comparative DNA and gene expression
Social behavior
Physical variation
locomotion, nutrition, morphology,
communication and reproductive strategies
-Fossil Record
bones and teeth
muscle insertion sites
dating of specimens

Question 6

What kind of analyses can be carried out?

Answer 6

-Categorize and Rank
Species, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Age
- Document Human Variation
Variation in gene frequencies between populations
Relationship between genotype and phenotype
-Compare and contrast
Structure and function
Adaptation to different climates
Variation in prevalence and response to disease

Question 7

What is anthropological genetics?

Answer 7

–a synthetic discipline that applies the methods & theories of genetics to evolutionary questions posed by anthropologists

1) processes of human evolution
2) tracing the human *diaspora (out-of-Africa)
3) causes & patterns of human variation
pressures of natural selection
4) bio-cultural interaction in complex diseases
gene by environmental interaction

Question 8

Define Diaspora:

Answer 8

*Diaspora: A dispersion of a people from their original homeland or the community formed by such people.

Question 9

What are the processes of evolution?

Answer 9

-Mutation, Genetic Drift, Gene Flow, and Natural Selection

Question 10

What is the scientific method?

Answer 10

• Science: Empirical approach

- Process of explaining and understanding phenomena through observation and experimentation

Question 11

What are the steps of the scientific method?

Answer 11

1) Develop a hypothesis
a suggested explanation of an observation search for
patterns
set up a research design
2) Collect data
gather information
quantitative (measurable)
3) Analyze and statistically test the hypothesis with data for meaning and significance
4) Duplicate the study in different data sets (replication)
5) If hypothesis cannot be falsified, it
becomes a theory

Question 12

Describe the theory of evolution

Answer 12

Darwinian Fundamentals

    1) Organisms vary
    2) some of that variation is inherited from parents
    3) there are population and environmental  pressures on resources which affect survival and reproduction

Descent with modification

Question 13

Theory vs hypothesis

Answer 13

A hypothesis is either a suggested explanation for an observable phenomenon, or a reasoned prediction of a possible causal correlation among multiple phenomena. In science, a theory is a tested, well-substantiated, unifying explanation for a set of verified, proven factors.

Question 14

What changes in the zeitgeist of the times supported Darwin and Wallace hypotheses? How did the work of Malthus influence their thought?

Answer 14

• Malthus wrote “Essay on the Principle of Population” (1798), which Darwin read and was inspired by. The central theme of Malthus’ work was that population growth would always overpower food supply growth, creating perpetual states of hunger, disease, and struggle. The natural, ever-present struggle for survival caught the attention of Darwin, and he extended Malthus’ principle to the evolutionary scheme.
• Darwin considered that some of the competitors in Malthus’ perpetual struggle would be better equipped to survive. Those that were less able would die out, leaving only those with the more desirable traits. Through his research, Darwin concluded that this ongoing struggle between those more and less fit to survive would produce a never-ending progression of changes in the organism. In its simplest form, this is evolution through natural selection.

Question 15

Define evolution: (what are two types of evolution?)

Answer 15

• Change in genetic makeup of populations from one generation to another
• Microevolution: Genetic alterations in populations, Changes in gene frequencies from generation to generation

-Macroevolution: Accumulation of Changes that appear only after many generations, as in speciation.
-The appearance of a new species
from a prior species (which cannot reproduce with the prior species)