Test One Professor Guide Flashcards
anthropology
Study of humans, the study of all aspects of the human species, including biology, culture, language, etc.
What are some questions that anthropologist try to answer?
Who are we as a species, where do we come from, why we are the way we are, why are people so diverse, etc.
major difference between anthropology and sociology
Anthropology studies, human behavior at the individual level, sociology focuses particularly on group behavior and relations with social structures and institutions
What are some features of anthropology?
Holism, comparison, dynamism, fieldwork
Who are we?
Humans are members of the species homeo sapiens
What is the correct species name in binomial format for human
Homeo sapiens
What are some unique human features?
Bipedalism, small canines with non-honing complex, symbolic behavior, such as language and speech, hunting and sharing, domestication of food items
Do humans have a honing complex?
No, they have non-honing complex
four subdisciplines of anthropology
Archaeology, cultural anthropology, linguistic, anthropology, biological anthropology
archaeology
Study of past societies and their cultures through their material remains (tools Food remains places where they lived)
cultural anthropology
Study of the similarities and differences among living societies and cultures
linguistic anthropology
Study of the emergence and diversification of language and the relationships between language thought and culture
biological anthropology
Study of the human origins biological evolution and variation past and current
What are some aspects of the human condition that biological anthropologist seek to explore?
Primatology, paleoanthropology, bioarchaeology, molecular anthropology
What are some questions that biological anthropologist try to answer?
How modern humans came to exist, where did we first evolve, who are our ancestors, what is our evolutionary relation to other primates, mammals or organisms?
What is a hominin
Humans and fossil relatives that are more similar to us than chimpanzees
What is the LCA?
Last common ancestor
When did the LCA between chimpanzees and humans lived?
Approximately 6 to 7 million years ago
Which two features are shared by all hominins
Bipedalism, canine size reduction
What is primatology and what do primatologist study?
Study of non-human primates (anatomy, behavior, ecology, and genetics.) they learn how evolution has shaped that were species and primates in general
What is paleoanthropology and what do paleoanthropologist study?
Study of the human fossil record, including instinct, hominis, and primates they learn why how and where hominins and and nonhuman primacy involved
What is bioarchaeology and what do bioarchaeologists study?
Study of the human skeletal remains, soils, and other materials found in and around remains, soils, and other materials found in and around remains from archaeological context. They learn about the lifeways of past populations, sex, height, age, diet, health, and socioeconomic status.
What is molecular anthropology and what do molecular anthropologist study?
Study of human and non-human primate genomes. They estimate how closely or distantly related human or non-human primary populations are.
What is forensic anthropology? What do forensic anthropologist do?
Use of bioarchaeological and osteological techniques to aid in legal and criminal investigations. They investigate sex, Egypt, death, height, ancestry, health status, presence of disease, cause of death, ancestry.
What is human biology and what a human biologist do
Explores how the body is impacted by environment, nutrition, and culture. They examine the different dimensions of health, substance, economy, and demography.
evolution
Change in living organisms overtime
micro evolution
Changes in allele frequencies from one generation to the next
macro evolution
Large scale evolution over thousands to millions of years
Can we spot evolution?
Yes
Does the fossil record allow us to spot evolution?
Yes
Steps of scientific method
Observation, hypothesis, gather and analyze data, support, or reject hypothesis
What happened to Darwin’s hypothesis on the origins of bipedality
It was rejected
Who was Darwin
English naturalist that proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection and the theory of sexual selection
What are some important areas of the world visited by Darwin
South America, Europe, Australia, Africa
What is natural selection
Mechanism for change, favoring the survival and reproduction of some individuals over others because of hereditary differences between them
What are the three components of natural selection (Also known as Darwin’s three postulates)
Variation, heritability, competition
Which important ideas were held by people in Europe before the scientific revolution
Idea of grand design, idea of statuses, the great chain of being, Ptolemaic view
What is the idea of grand design?
The world thought to be the result of God’s creation
What is the stasis?
The world is fixed and unchanging (and the gates evolution)
What is the great chain of being?
Life is arranged from simplest to most complex according to how useful organism are to humans
Nicholas Copernicus
Proponent of the heliocentric theory
Galileo Galilei
Invented the first telescope
John Ray
Define the terms, genus and species
What is a genus?
Group of closely related species
What is a species?
Group of closely related organisms that can successfully reproduce
Why do we use scientific species names?
To avoid confusion and/or misunderstanding
Carolus Linnaeus
Propose the first classification system using seven levels
What is taxonomy
Science of classification of organisms
Seven levels of classification
Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species
What is the species name for chimpanzees?
Pan troglodytes
At which level of classification do humans and chimpanzees differ
Genus and species
Jean- Baptiste Lamarck
Propose the inheritance of acquired characteristics
What is the inheritance of acquired characteristics?
Treats acquired during life, supposedly passed on to offspring
George Cuvier
Propose the idea of extinction and catastrophism
What is extinction
Disappearance of a species
What is catastrophism
Cataclysmic events that are responsible for geologic changes through earths history
Mary Anning
Fossil hunter that described multiple dinosaurs
Charles Lyell
Propose the idea of uniformitarianism
What is uniformitarianism
Theory that natural processes that occurred in geological past are still at work today
Thomas Malthus
Limited resources led to competition
What was Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace’s major contribution to science
Natural selection and their three components
Adaptation
A fit between the organism and the environment
Does natural selection give organisms what they need to
No, organisms may go extinct if they cannot adapt to the changing conditions
Are there any adaptations in human
Yes, adaptation to UV radiation, lactase, persistence, adaptations to high altitude, adaptations to climate, behavioral/cultural adaptations
What are melanocytes?
Cell in skin and eyes that produces melanin
How is skin color adaptive in humans?
Darker skin pigmentation are closer to the equator while lighter skin pigmentation are further
What is rickets?
Softening of the bones due to lack of vitamin D
Which skin color is more susceptible to cold injury or frostbite
People with dark skin
What is lactase persistence?
Genetic trait that allows human to eat dairy
What is lactase?
Enzyme that breaks down sugar in milk into glucose
What is lactose?
Sugar in milk
What are some body changes that we experience when visiting high altitude locations?
Sleep less, fast heart rate, breathing becomes faster, blood being thicker
What are some epigenetic changes associated with high altitude among andean people?
Increased red blood cell production, broad chest, large heart, and lungs
What is Allen’s rule?
Mammals in cold climates tend to have rounder body shape with short, bulky limbs and mammals in hot climates tend to have linear body shape with long slender limbs
What is bergmanns rule
Mammals in cold climates have large, larger body size and mammals in hot climates tend to have smaller body size
Different molecules of life
Proteins, lipids, carbs, nucleic acid
Basic unit of life
The cell
Prokaryotic cells
No nucleus, single cell organism: bacteria, appeared 3.7 billion years ago
Eukaryotic cells
Have nucleus, multicellular organisms. Appeared 1.2 billion years ago
Important areas of the eukaryotic cell anatomy
Nucleus, ribosome, cell membrane, cytoplasm, mitochondria, organelles
Rosalind Franklin
Discovered the DNA molecule in 1953
What is RNA used for
Carries message of DNA base sequence from nucleus to cytoplasm, transports amino acid to ribosome, stabilizes mRNA and tRNA bond during protein synthesis
Bases of DNA
A,T,C,G
bases of RNA
A,U,C,G
How many chromosomes do horses have
32 pairs (64)
How many chromosomes do donkeys have
31 pairs (62)
How many chromosomes do mules have
63
How many chromosomes do humans have
23
Protein synthesis
From DNA to mRNA and from mRNA to polypeptide chain; in and out of the nucleus
Where does protein synthesis take place
Starts inside nucleus finishes out of the nucleus (cytoplasm)
What is transcription
Process of using DNA template to create strand of RNA
translation
From mRNA to polypeptide chain, in the cytoplasm
Exons
2% of DNA exit the nucleus
Haploid number of chromosomes in humans
23
Phenotype
Observable characteristics of an organism
Daphne major (Galapagos islands)
After a severe drought the number of the large beaked finches increased while those with small beaks died
Replication
From DNA to more DNA, inside the nucleus finishes
Human light skin color in high latitudes
Allows for production of enough vitamin D3 to avoid rickets while preventing frostbite
Heterozygous
Two different alleles
In the scientific method a theory is supported by
Rigorous testing of hypothesis
Transcription occurs in the
Nucleus
Homologous chromosomes
Chromosomal pairs that have the same types of genes but potentially different alleles
Malthus
Population growth limited by resource availability
Transcription
From DNA to mRNA, always inside nucleus
DNA nucleotide
One sugar (deoxyribose), one phosphate group, and one base
Human dark skin color in low latitudes
Prevents skin cancer and folate destruction
Diploid number of chromosomes in humans
46
