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Anthropology
study of humans
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4 subfields of anthropology
cultural (study of society), archaeology (material remains, tools), linguistic anthropology (use of language), biological (evolution and variation)
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biological anthropologist?
genetics, ecology, primates, evolution
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biological anthropologist -> societal concerns?
applied anthropology -> solves contemporary problems (forensic anthropology)
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How do biological anthropologist know what they know?
- science; observation of phenomena
- "empirical" - observations, hypothesis, experiments
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How did theory of evolution come to be?
handful of scientists came to believe organisms change over time, across generations
emerged through scientific collaborations
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Jean-Baptiste/Lamarckism?
plants and animals change over time for self-improvement
ex: giraffes stretch to reach food on tall trees -> necks grew -> passed this trait onto offsprings
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Darwin's contribution to evolution?
Galapagos voyage, observations of finches -> different shapes & sizes of beaks -> different diets
Process = evolution by natural selection
Adaptive Radiation
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Adaptive Radiation
evolution of ancestral species into several different species to fit ecological niches and needs
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importance of Darwin's contribution?
Darwin's theory set the stage for mechanism of evolution (natural selection), led biologicals to further question evolution in what is know as evolutionary synthesis
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Was it just Darwin?
Alfred Russel Wallace arrived at same conclusions as Darwin, had 20 pg report outlining theory of evolution by natural selection
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How/why Darin's idea of evolution by natural selection misunderstood?
people believe that humans come from apes; false, humans and apes have same ancestry
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How are physical traits passed from generation to generation?
genes with 2 alleles (one from mother, one from father) pass on physical traits
Law of segregation (each gamete receives one allele from each pair)
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How do Punnett Squares work?
mother and father alleles either dominant or recessive, 4 boxes to determine offspring
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Modern theory of evolution/modern evolutionary synthesis?
combination of Darwin + Mendel's theory, biologists questioned evolution (origins of genes, genetic variations, change in physical characteristics over time)
led to new field in evolutionary biology called population genetics
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Genetic code (DNA)?
molecule of heredity, "blueprint"
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How are genes and traits related?
genes = DNA sequences, distributed across chromosome -> affects traits upon location of their distribution
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Why do anthropologist study genetics?
to understand the genetic variation, which underlies all evolutionary processes and explains a portion of human biological variation
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Human genome project?
international scientific research project to map the human genome (20k - 25k genes)
important: wasn't just 1 country, involved EVERY nation; unified goal
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Other causes of evolution?
Natural selection, mutations, gene flow, genetic drift, also artificial selection ("hybrids") created by humans
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example of natural selection at work in modern human populations?
lactose intolerance, loss of wisdom teeth (no longer needed after the invention of fire, since it was primarily used to grind raw meat)
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