Test 2 Short Answer

Question 1

Describe the process of natural selection and provide an example of natural selection operating upon phenotypic change in species according to this process.

Answer 1

The process by which the forms most fit to survive and reproduce in a given environment do so in greater numbers than others in the same population.
Ex: Peppered Moths or Mendel’s tall pea plants

Question 2

What are the 4 major sources of change in evolutionary theory? Briefly define each source of change.

Answer 2

Mutation - chance alteration that produces a new gene
Genetic drift - chance fluctuations in the gene pool
Gene flow - introduction of new alleles from nearby populations
Natural selection - adaptation

Question 3

What is the connection between skin color and latitude?

Answer 3

• Populations closer to the equator have higher melanin pigmentation. They’ve adapted this way because of higher exposure to the sun so the people with darker skin have survived (natural selection) better in these areas.
• Inuits get their source of Vitamin D through all the fish they eat so they do not rely on the sunlight

Question 4

In your own words, discuss the main reasons why anthropologists study primates.

Answer 4

By studying primates, we’re essentially studying ourselves. They have similar adaptive strategies in our evolution and similar cognitive and behavioral patterns.

Question 5

What are the primary differences between Old and New World monkeys?

Answer 5

1. Old world primates (Catarrhines): monkeys, apes, and humans, narrow septum, “sharp” nose, some arboreal, some terrestrial
2. New world primates (Platyrrhines): monkeys, broad septum, flat nose, are all arboreal

Question 6

List and describe three major skeletal indicators of bipedalism.

Answer 6

• Stable arched foot
• No opposable big toe
• Shorter toes

Question 7

What do early stone tools tell use about early culture and cognition?

Answer 7

• Showed evidence of intentionality and forethought.
• They knew what material to select.
• The intended function of the object.
• How to keep making similar products.
• Passes this tool making knowledge on to others

Question 8

List and briefly describe the six evolutionary tendencies of primates.

Answer 8

1. Grasping - opposable thumbs with 5 fingered hands and grasping feets
2. Reliance of sight - stereoscopic vision; see in color
3. Hands as primary tactile organs; an acute sense of touch; ex: able to tell difference between a fork and spoon
4. Parental investment - which causes them to have more maternal attention and learning opportunities; able to observe behavior from parents and others
5. Brain complexity - they have very large brains
6. Social Animals- they use cooperation while working together and there is also a ranking system within their social groups with the alpha male and female on top.

Question 9

Homo erectus has been referred to in class as a “rock star” in the history of human evolution. List three cultural developments associated with Homo erectus that led to this title.

Answer 9

• Used fire
• They hunted and gathered
• First to settle outside Africa

Question 10

What are two cultural behaviors of Neanderthals discovered through paleoarchaeology that indicate that our close evolutionary cousins were more similar to humans than previously thought?

Answer 10

1. They buried their dead (Shanidar cave where they found the fossilized bones of someone who was buried along with animal bones and pollen from flowers that were placed on top of their graves)
2. Care for the injured and for the elderly. Every elderly neanderthal skeleton shows evidence of healed trauma. There was also lack of teeth in some which means that someone had to prepare food for them to eat.

Question 11

What is meant by the term “Mitochondrial Eve” (as used by Spencer Wells) and about how long ago did she exist?

Answer 11

The “Mitochondrial Eve” was located in East Africa in 200,000 BP. She is the mitochondrial sequence “maternal ancestor” of all humanity.

Question 12

Explain the differences between these stone tool types and/or traditions: Oldowan, Acheulian, Levallois, and Mousterian.

Answer 12

Oldowan: stone tools that consist of flakes and cores. The “core” is the piece of rock from which flakes are struck. A “chopper” is a tool made by flaking the edge of such a core on one side and thus forming a cutting edge.
Acheulian: involves chipping the core bilaterally and symmetrically. The core is converted into a relatively flat oval six-inch hand axe. Compared to the Oldowan tools, Acheulean tools had a much more effective cutting edge.
Levallois: invented in southern Africa around 200,000 years ago. uniform flakes were chipped off a specially prepared core of rock. additional work on the flakes produced special purpose tools.
Mousterian: associated with Neanderthals; 14 categories of tools designed for different jobs. Elaborated on the Levallois technique.

Question 13

What is lactose tolerance, and how did this adaption evolve?

Answer 13

People with lactose intolerance cannot metabolize lactose properly and lack lactase (an enzyme required in digestive system to break down lactose). The mutation responsible may be the persistence of the lactase mutation in Northern Europe?

Question 14

By exploring altitude as a feature of the environment, what can we learn about human biological adaptation?

Answer 14

…

Question 15

What are the two suborders of primates? List two species within each suborder?

Answer 15

Prosimians: tarsiers, lemurs, lorises

Anthropoids: monkeys, apes, humans

Question 16

What are some of the differences between chimpanzee, bonobo, and gorilla social groups?

Answer 16

…

Question 17

What is the difference between a hominid and a hominin? Provide two examples of hominins and two examples of non-hominin hominids.

Answer 17

Hominids are the superfamily to which apes and humans belong; any fossil of living human, chimpanzee, or gorilla. Hominins are hominids excluding the African apes, chimps and gorillas; all the human ancestors that have ever existed.

Question 18

What is Ardipithecus ramidus? What clue does its pelvis provide about the development of bipedalism and about the enviroment at the time and that it lived?

Answer 18

Hominin that lived around 4.4 MYA. His pelvis was transitional between arboreal and terrestrial. Lived in a humid woodland habitat and was bipedal.

Question 19

What was the role of meat consumption in our evolutionary history?

Answer 19

Archaeological remains suggest meat was first acquired by scavenging, not hunting. Stone tools allowed the addition of meat to diet on a frequent basis. Increase in brain size correlates with appearance of meat in the hominin diet.

Question 20

What was the first hominin to migrate out of africa and what are 3 novel behaviors of this hominin as compared to their evolutionary ancestors?

Answer 20

• Homo erectus.

- Human like body, bigger brain, smaller jaw

Question 21

Explain the biological differences between Homo habilis and Homo erectus.

Answer 21

-Homo habilis
former “handy man”
australopithecine body
brain somewhat bigger.

-Homo erectus
smaller jaws
human-like body
brain much bigger

Question 22

Why was the control and use of fire so essential to Homo erectus in terms of a) biological and b) cultural development?

Answer 22

They were able to migrate into new, colder territories and were able to cook meat.

Question 23

What is thought to different between Neanderthal and modern human brains, and why might this have contributed to the reasons for the Neanderthals’ eventual extinction?

Answer 23

Although the Neanderthals had larger brains, they had more capacity devoted to vision and body control, with less left over for social interactions and complex cognition unlike humans.

Question 24

List 3 features of the H. sapiens crania that are different from other earlier hominins.

Answer 24

• a more vertical forehead
• a diminished brow ridge
• a chin

Question 25

Discuss the origins of the theory of evolution and the earlier concepts from which it drew.

Answer 25

The theory of evolution was developed by Charles Darwin, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual’s ability to compete, survive, and reproduce.

Question 26

How does the concept of a population influence evolutionary change?

Answer 26

Concept of population: a group of individuals within which breeding takes place, natural selection takes place within the population, this is the level at which evolutionary change occurs. The gene pool carries the genetic variants available to a population.

Question 27

What are clines and what is their relationship to the concept of “race”?

Answer 27

Clines are gradual genetic shifts and they are incompatible with discrete races.
Clines are gradual shifts in gene frequencies between neighboring groups. It causes gradual changes in certain characteristics exhibited by members of a series of adjacent populations of organisms of the same species.

Question 28

What are some of the problems with the concept of “race” as it was conceived in the 18th and 19th century? …

Answer 28

“Races” are not biologically distinct. “Color based” racial labels are not accurate. Many populations don’t fit neatly into any one of the three “great races.” No single trait can be used as basis for racial classification.

Question 29

Think back to the Guess Who game you played in class. This game was based on a study. What was one of the major findings from this study about how Americans deal with race? Why is this finding important?

Answer 29

They have found people are very, very reluctant to ask about race when playing the game. Only 57% of people playing with white partners used the word “black or “African- American” while playing the game. When playing with black partners, only 21% of players used the words “black or “African-American.” It appears as if those that are reluctant to ask about race, it might signal that they care about a lot race or might even signal that they might be a racist. Players who avoided asking about race were perceived by their partners to be more biased than players who asked about race. This shows suggest how complicated and interesting the dynamics are when talking about race in contemporary America.

Question 30

What are some of the differences between human biological variation and forms of racial classification?

Answer 30

Human biological variation- based on genetic characteristics

Racial classification- based on visible traits

Question 31

What is the difference between genotype and phenotype, and what is the connection between them?

Answer 31

• Genotype is the description of the alleles an individual possesses for a particular trait. (ex: Bb)
• Phenotype is the physical expression of the alleles - what an organism looks like. (ex: Blue eyes)