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Antropology ch 4-7
Key terms
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| adaptive | Favored by natural selection in a particular environment. |
| alleles | A biochemical difference involving a particular gene. |
| balanced polymorphism | Two or more forms, such as alleles of the same gene, that maintain a constant frequency in a population from generation to generation. |
| catastrophism | View that extinct species were destroyed by fires, floods, and other catastrophes. After each destructive event, God created again, leading to contemporary species. |
| chromosomes | Basic genetic units, occurring in matching (homologous) pairs; lengths of DNA made up of multiple genes. |
| creationism | Explanation for the origin of species given in Genesis: God created the species during the original six days of Creation. |
| dominant | Allele that masks another allele in a heterozygote. |
| evolution | Descent with modification; change in form over generations. |
| gene | Area in a chromosome pair that determines, wholly or partially, a particular biological trait, such as whether one's blood type is A, B, AB, or O. |
| gene flow | Exchange of genetic material between populations of the same species through direct or indirect interbreeding. |
| gene pool | All the alleles and genotypes within a breeding population—the "pool" of genetic material available. |
| genetic evolution | Change in gene frequency within a breeding population. |
| genotype | An organism's hereditary makeup. |
| heterozygous | Having dissimilar alleles of a given gene. |
| homozygous | Possessing identical alleles of a particular gene. |
| independent assortment | Chromosomes are inherited independently of one another. |
| meiosis | Special process by which sex cells are produced; four cells are produced from one, each with half the genetic material of the original cell. |
| Mendelian genetics | Studies ways in which chromosomes transmit genes across the generations. |
| mitosis | Ordinary cell division; DNA molecules copy themselves, creating two identical cells out of one. |
| mutations | Change in the DNA molecules of which genes and chromosomes are built. |
| natural selection | Originally formulated by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace; the process by which nature selects the forms most fit to survive and reproduce in a given environment, such as the tropics. |
| phenotypical adaptation | Adaptive biological changes that occur during the individual's lifetime, made possible by biological plasticity. |
| population genetics | Field that studies causes of genetic variation, maintenance, and change in breeding populations. |
| random genetic drift | Change in gene frequency that results not from natural selection but from chance; most common in small populations. |
| recessive | Genetic trait masked by a dominant trait. |
| sexual selection | Based on differential success in mating, the process in which certain traits of one sex (e.g.color in male birds) are selected because of advantages they confer in winning mates. |
| speciation | Formation of new species; occurs when subgroups of the same species are separated for a sufficient length of time. |
| species | Population whose members can interbreed to produce offspring that can live and reproduce. |
| theory | An explanatory framework, containing a series of statements, that helps us understand why (something exists); theories suggest patterns, connections, and relationships that may be confirmed by new research. |
| uniformitarianism | Belief that explanations for past events should be sought in ordinary forces that continue to work today. |
| analogies | Similarities arising as a result of similar selective forces; traits produced by convergent evolution. |
| anthropoids | Members of Anthropoidea, one of the two suborders of primates; monkeys, apes, and humans are anthropoids. |
| arboreal | Tree-dwelling. |
| bipedal | Upright two-legged locomotion, the key feature differentiating early hominins from the apes. |
| brachiation | Swinging hand over hand movement through trees, characteristic of arboreal apes and some New World monkeys. |
| convergent evolution | Independent operation of similar selective forces; process by which analogies are produced. |
| hominoid | A member of the human lineage after its split from ancestral chimps; used to describe all the human species that ever have existed, including the extinct ones, but excluding chimps and gorillas. |
| homologies | Traits that organisms have jointly inherited from their common ancestor. |
| m.y.a. | Million years ago. |
| opposable thumb | A thumb that can touch all the other fingers. |
| primatology | The study of the biology, behavior, social life, and evolution of monkeys, apes, and other nonhuman primates. |
| prosimians | The primate suborder that includes lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers. |
| taxonomy | Classification scheme; assignment to categories (taxa; singular, taxon). |
| terrestrial | Ground-dwelling. |
| A. afarensis | Early form of Australopithecus, found in Ethiopia at Hadar ("Lucy") and in Tanzania at Laetoli; dating to the period between 3.8 and 3.0 m.y.a. |
| australopithecines | Varied group of Pliocene–Pleistocene hominins. The term is derived from their former classification as members of a distinct subfamily, the Australopithecinae; now they are distinguished from Homo only at the genus level. |
| bipedalism | Upright two-legged locomotion, the key feature differentiating early hominins from the apes. |
| gracile | opposite of robust. |
| hominid | A member of the taxonomic family that includes humans and the African apes and their immediate ancestors. |
| hominin | A member of the human lineage after its split from ancestral chimps; used to describe all the human species that ever have existed, including the extinct ones, but excluding chimps and gorillas. |
| Homo habilis | Term coined by L. S. B. and Mary Leakey; ancestor or contemporary of H. erectus; lived from about 1.9 to 1.44 m.y.a. |
| Oldowan pebble tools Earliest (2.0 to 2.5 m.y.a.) stone tools; first discovered in 1931 by L. S. B. and Mary Leakey at Olduvai Gorge. | |
| robust | Large, strong, sturdy; said of skull, skeleton, muscle, and teeth; opposite of gracile. |
| Acheulian | Derived from the French village of St. Acheul, where these tools were first identified; Lower Paleolithic tool tradition associated with H. erectus. |
| anatomically modern humans (AMHs) | Including the Cro-Magnons of Europe (31,000 B.P.) and the older fossils from Skhul (100,000) and Qafzeh (92,000);continue through the present. |
| archaic H. sapiens | Early H. sapiens, consisting of the Neandertals of Europe and the Middle East, the Neandertal-like hominins of Africa and Asia, and the immediate ancestors of all these hominins; lived from about 300,000 to 30,000 B.P. |
| blade tools | The basic Upper Paleolithic tool type, hammered off a prepared core. |
| Clovis tradition | Stone technology based on a projectile point that was fastened to the end of a hunting spear; it flourished between 12,000 and 11,000 BP in North America. |
| glacials | The four or five major advances of continental ice sheets in northern Europe and North America. |
| interglacials | Extended warm periods between such major glacials as Riss and Würm. |
| Mousterian | Middle Paleolithictool-making tradition associated with Neandertals. |
| Neandertals | H. sapiens neanderthalensis, representing an archaic H sapiens subspecies, lived in Europe and the Middle East between 130,000 and 30,000 BP. |
| Paleolithic | Old Stone Age (from Greek roots meaning "old" and "stone"); divided into Lower (early), Middle, and Upper (late). |
| Pleistocene | Epoch of Homo's appearance and evolution; began 2 million years ago; divided into Lower, Middle, and Upper. |
| Upper Paleolithic | Blade-toolmaking traditions associated with AMHs; named from their location in upper, or more recent, layers of sedimentary deposits. |
| How many species of humans are living on earth today? | Only 1 species of humans exists today: Homo Sapiens Sapiens |
| What are the 4 man kinds of apes living today? | Gibbons, Orangutans, Gorillas, and Chimpanzees. |
| What were Dr. Maeve Leakey's three stages in developmental process to modern humans? | 1.Bipedality (upright walking) 2.Expanded Manual Dexterity (improved use of fingers and hands, making tools) 3.Encephalization (expansion of the big Hominid brain) |
| What is the Foramen Magnum & what does it tell us about the hominid evolution? | Big hole in bottom of skull where spinal cord connects to brain. located in back = horizontal spine located in base = vertical spine |
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