UNIT 1 Flashcards
natural selection
change and adaptations made to local environment over time creating a variation in species and how these changes relate to survival
adaptation
traits that are passed on specific to success in the environment
evolution
changes in allele/gene variants over time
sociobiology
the study and understanding of social behavior through biological mechanisms
homology
similarities in structure, due to common ancesters
analogy
similarities in behaviors due to similar environments
kin selection
behavioral favoring of your close genetic relatives
reciprocal altruism
unrelated organisms enter into relationships that can be characterized as fitness value relationships… mutually beneficial
adaptation
traits that improve chances of survival/reproduction/fitness of an individual in a particular environment
main tenets of Darwin’s theory of natural selection
- variation in nature, no two species are exactly alike
- some variation is inherited
- not all individuals are created with equal opportunity of survival
- Individual is the unit of survival not the species
- overproduction of reproduction better chances of survival
- gradual change over time
5 microevolutionary forces
genetic drift
mutation
gene flow
natural selection
non-random mating
Baldwin effect
suggests that the ability to learn and adapt to new situations can lead to evolutionary change.
Washburn’s “new” physical anthropology
scientific, evolutionary approach to understanding human behavior. Biology/environment/behavior moved away from just using fossils
ultimate explanations for behavior (POPF)
1) proximate explanation
2) ontogenetic explanation
3) phylogenetic explanation
4) fitness explanation
E. O. Wilson’s sociobiology
the systematic study of the biological basis of all forms of social behavior in all organisms”.
Richard Dawkins’s “selfish gene”
genes or DNA behave selfishly and are the primary unit for understanding natural selection – competition for reproduction within the genes
two ways in which evolution is often misunderstood
1) belief that biology is nature and culture is nurture… humans are biocultural beings both are combined
2) the changes are “better” or that the change leads to progress … it is just simply change over time
evidence at least some aspects of behavior are heritable
1) one trait that separates our primates species from ours
2) it is an original trait adapting and changing along the way
3) breeding animals for their traits
basal behavior
instincts
mutation
only way unique combinations are introduced
gene flow
the movement (or limitations) of genetic material and complexes through and between populations, with migration and non-random mating
genetic drift
when random events effect frequencies of genetic combinations from generation to generation
new synthesis view of natural selection
filtering of phenotypes by natural factors resulting in phenotypes with better “fit” in a population/environment over time. ONLY PHENOTYPE
Evolution Anthropology
field of anthropology that focuses on relation between social behavior and evolution of hominids and non- hominid primates
