ANTHRO 213 Exam 3 (ALL TERMS)

Question 1

Mosaic evolution

Answer 1

pattern where the rate of evolution for one part of an organism is different from the rate for another (exp. the rate at which dental system evolved is different than evolution of locomotor system); and these rates are slow and over time

Question 2

Postorbital constriction

Answer 2

the narrowing of the skull behind the eyes; allowed for increased chewing power; slowly phased out as we get to modern humans

Question 3

Prognathism

Answer 3

protrusion of the lower jaw (mandible) beyond/past the upper jaw (maxilla); jutting out appearance; ancestral trait

Question 4

Megadont

Answer 4

having large teeth

Question 5

Sagittal keel

Answer 5

trait of early Homo species (i.e., H. erectus); small ridge running along the midline of the skull; possibly carry over from sagittal crests

Question 6

Grade

Answer 6

rather than classifying organisms together based on shared ancestral descent, they are grouped together based on shared characteristics and functional traits (such as adaptive strategies) – Homo erectus and modern humans a part of the same grade

Question 7

Acheulian (a-shool-lee-an) technology

Answer 7

newer stone tool kit (first found ~ 1.4 mya – Early and Middle Pleistocene); bifacial (modified on two sides which helps retain sharp edges for longer period); common in Africa, Southwest Asia, and western Europe

Question 8

Olduwan technology

Answer 8

oldest stone tool technology (~2.5 mya) and used by early Homo; included unifacial tools (cores, flakes, hammerstones)

Question 9

Charles Linnaeus

Answer 9

had taxonomic classifications of humans based on skin color – H. sapiens europaeus (white, ruled by law, etc.), asiaticus (pale-yellow, haughty, ruled by opinions), americanus (red, obstinate, ruled by habit), afer (black, indolent, ruled by impulse)

Question 10

Friedrich Blumenbach

Answer 10

classification of humans based on anatomy not skin color (physical traits, cranial variation resulting from geography, diet, etc.); 5 races (caucasoid, ethiopian, american, mongoloid, and malay); rejected Linnaeus’ use of personality traits; still ranked racial categories (hierarchical/whites being closest to God)

Question 11

Herbert Spencer

Answer 11

pushed Social Darwinism/evolutionary approach (some individuals better equipped to survive in environment); coined “survival of the fittest”; argued things like welfare, education public health programs contrary to law of nature and should be avoided because it slowed natural evolutionary process of weeding out those less fit; ranked societies on evolutionary scale: from simple to complex, based on: technology, economy and social structure

Question 12

Francis Galton

Answer 12

father of eugenics (born of fear that civilized society was being weakened by the failure of natural selection to eliminate the unfit and inferior members of society); genetically inferior people (criminals, feeble-minded, disorders/disabilities, all non-white races) need to be removed

Question 13

Carleton Coon

Answer 13

candelabra model for human evolution; human races evolved as separate lines for the past 1 million years (evolved independently of one another; some populations evolving faster than others) – if true, would expect a lot more variation than we see

Question 14

Franz Boas

Answer 14

opposed Social Darwinism; cultural differences are based on historical, social, and geographic conditions not biology (opposition to biological determinism); highlighted how environmental conditions influence morphology; a challenge of previous race concepts

Question 15

Ashley Montagu

Answer 15

asserted that humans are more alike than we are different; condemned determinist thinking – race was not a biological reality but a social myth

Question 16

Frank Livingstone

Answer 16

provided more evidence to support the claim that races were not genetically real by introducing concept of clines to describe human variation

Question 17

Richard Lewontin

Answer 17

posed the question “how good are races at explaining variation?”; what he found when assessing this question is genetic apportionment; found that most human variation occurs WITHIN members of same race

Question 18

Relethford

Answer 18

replicated Lewontin’s experiment 30 years later; results were the same – variation within populations/race variation was still very high; coined non-concordance of traits

Question 19

Race

Answer 19

groups people based on perceived shared similarities (often superficial – skin color); cultural/social power construct

Question 20

Clines

Question 21

Eugenics

Answer 21

philosophy of ‘race improvement’ through selective breeding (of people with “superior” traits)

Question 22

Biological determinism

Answer 22

what a lot of prevailing race theories of the past were based on

behavior is governed by one’s genetics or genes dictate everything about you

behavioral and cognitive differences INHERENTLY exist between groups due to genes; cultural traits are inherited just like biological ones are

pushes idea that some groups are naturally superior to others

Question 23

Racial purity

Answer 23

idea that races are conformed of people who conform to an idealized “type”; interbreeding between races leads to “contamination”; wrong because homogeneity is a detriment, losing genetic diversity increases mutations/diseases/disabilities and reduces adaptive potential

Question 24

Social Darwinism

Answer 24

domination of an inferior society by a dominant one is the result of natural law; using natural selection and applying it to social contexts; serves as justification for racism, colonialism, imperialism, etc.

Question 25

Polytypic

Answer 25

varied; many different types (like breeds of dog); why these racist theories don’t work (no hindrance in mating)

Question 26

Genetic apportionment

Answer 26

race represents an ARBITRARY division of what is a continuous geographic variation; if we accept race it must be acknowledged that it only explains a small portion of genetic variation; race is a social construct genes are not apportioned/allocated based on skin color/race; there's mutliple variations implicated in your genes

Question 27

Population genetics

Answer 27

all contemporary humans are members of the same polytypic species (Homo sapiens); populations differ in the expression of one or more genetic traits; dispels misconceptions that races are fixed biological entities that do not change over time

Question 28

Scientific racism

Answer 28

using scientific principles to justify racism; conclusions predetermined and using science to justify conclusion they’d already made (confirmation bias – not order of scientific method); ranking in human species (great chain of being – races are fixed and ranked, immutable steps descending from God)

Question 29

Non-concordance of traits

Answer 29

skin color is atypical (not representative of a group; can’t classify a group using it alone) and doesn’t represent or determine the rest of your biological variation

Question 30

Biocultural evolution

Answer 30

better way of accounting for the variations we see in our species besides race concept; evolutionary processes are understandable only within its cultural context (things in cultural context can have direct impact on your biology)

Question 31

Example for Biocultural evolution

Answer 31

lactose intolerance: all mammals drink milk and have the ability to break down proteins. in the milk we consume from mom, there's an enzyme called lactase, for most mammals the only time that enzyme is present is during the time you’re feeding from mom. when you reach reproductive maturity that ability to break down milk “turns off”, humans show a trait called lactase persistence (those who are lactose intolerant are actually normal mammals), lactase persistence is a adaptation we see in humans and frequency of lactase persistence differs from population groups (areas where pastoral development and domestication of dairy-producing animals happened early on in development)

Question 32

Acclimization

Answer 32

better way of accounting for the variations we see in our species besides race concept; kind of physiological response to a environmental condition temporary/rapid: an example would be tanning/sunburn (short term change in response to environmental pressures; when exposed to UV radiation for the short term skin has an immediate response to stressor) permanent/developmental: result of prolonged or long term exposure to an environmental challenge and becomes incorporated into organism’s biology; example would be populations that live at high altitudes, they tend to have greater lung capacity or a greater ability to transfer oxygen from the air they breath in into their bloodstream differently than others

Question 33

UV Radiation Hypothesis

Answer 33

better way of accounting for the variations we see in our species besides race concept; increased melanin production (i.e., darker skin color) would be favored in areas closer to the equator; evolutionary perspective: early hominins lived in tropic regions, they spent most of their life outdoors, no significant clothing (no protection from sun) AKA they needed to develop darker skin over time

Question 34

AAPA statement on race

Answer 34

1. Humans are all a single species and share a common ancestor 2. Biological difference = genetics, natural, and social/culture (i.e., religion and marriage) 3. There's a lot of genetic diversity within human populations 4. Humanity cannot be classified into discrete categories with absolute boundaries 5. Nothing clearly defines race 6. Race has no foundation in scientific knowledge

Question 35

Folate (Vitamin B) Hypothesis

Answer 35

directly relates to UV radiation hypothesis; Vitamin B needed for DNA synthesis, RBC formation, sperm production and we can only get vitamin B from diet, isn’t made naturally in body; exposure to UV radiation can deplete folate/vitamin B supplies; supports UV radiation hypothesis because it shows the importance of having darker skin in equatorial places where there’s a lot of UV radiation that can lead to skin cancer and depletion of macronutrient (folate) evolutionary perspective: variation of skin color was an adaptation as we saw the loss of hair density in hominins (most early hominins had light skin and dark hair)

Question 36

Vitamin D Hypothesis

Answer 36

directly relates to UV radiation hypothesis; important for development of skeleton; obtained through food and synthesized through exposure to UV radiation (so it's not all bad); deficiency called rickets (softer and weaker bones); exposure to UV radiation is essential for normal bone growth

Question 37

Bergmann’s rule

Answer 37

body size (torso) tends to be greater in cooler climates; as body mass increases relative surface area decreases; allows for heat retention

Question 38

Allen’s rule

Answer 38

appendages (arms, legs) tend to be longer in warmer climates; increased surface area relative to mass (more surface are you have more places to sweat and dispel heat); promotes heat loss

Question 39

Thermal effects (hot v cold effects)

Answer 39

responses to heat: evaporative cooling (to prevent us from overheating, we have sweat glands throughout body; compared to other NHP we have a lot of sweat glands, potential result of the reduction of body hair), vasodilation (opening of skin cells to permit increased blood flow facilitating removal of excess heat at surface of body; skin getting “red”), reduced body hair responses to cold: vasoconstriction (goosebumps; narrowing of blood vessel in attempt to retain heat), increased metabolic rate and increased food consumption (increasing energy)

Question 40

Melanin

Answer 40

produced by specialized cells; every human has the same number of melanin-producing cells the difference lies in how much melanin they produce; when you’re exposed to solar/UV radiation, melanin production increases as a protection or defense mechanism (as solar radiation can be damaging to superficial layers of our skin and can affect cell reproduction), like a built in sunscreen

Question 41

Premodern humans

Answer 41

immediate "predecessors" of humans (heidelbergensis, neandertals, denisovan); biologically, culturally and behaviorally similar to humans Humans are still distinct due to being more gracile, increased encephalization, vertical foreheads, and chin development

Question 42

Pleistocene Ice Age

Answer 42

period when premodern humans lived; marked by periods of advances and retreats of major continental glaciers

Question 43

Environmental Changes prompted by Pleistocene Ice Age

Answer 43

In Africa: change rainfall patterns > affected resources (like food supply) and migration routes < expanded Sahara desert In Eurasia: northern regions became uninhabitable, ice sheets expanded and sea lvl dropped, blocked migration between W. Europe and Asia

Question 44

Mousterian tool industry

Answer 44

developed better manufacturing techniques (better control of size and shape allowing for more uniform/consistent tools); more predictability of shape/size and greater productivity

Question 45

Chatelperronian tool industry

Answer 45

part of Upper Paleolithic toolkit; blade technology/blades in development

Question 46

Complete Replacement Model

Answer 46

theory on how modern humans came about; suggest that Homo sapiens arose in Africa and migrated to different parts of the world (“out of Africa” theory); all premodern populations outside of Africa would be classified as a different species of Homo; considered a “speciation event” because they migrated out of Africa and completely replaced the Asian and European pre modern populations (no interbreeding, just completely took over)

Question 47

Regional Continuity Model

Answer 47

theory on how modern humans came about; suggest populations in Europe, Asia, and Africa continued their evolutionary development from pre-modern forms to modern humans (evolved independently of one another on these different continents – though not COMPLETELY due to migration, etc.); suggests no taxonomic distinction between us and earlier hominins; denies “out of Africa” theory; relies on hypothesis of gene flow between regions (how did we come to look anatomically similar if we evolved in different continents); can we rely solely on migration and integrating for our modern evolution?

Question 48

Solutrean industry

Answer 48

cultural period for homo sapiens (21 kya); bifacial tools (pointed sides) and detailed manufacturing (showed lvl of precision and sophistication in tool making technique; diversity of materials used; included things solely for aesthetic/decorative purposes with no practical use

Question 49

Magdalenian industry

Answer 49

cultural period for homo sapiens (17 kya); explosion in long-range weaponry: atlatl, barbed harpoons, bow and arrow; greater diversity in the types of materials used for tools

Question 50

Atlatl

Answer 50

handheld tool used to throw spears

Question 51

Island rule

Answer 51

due to unique adaptive pressure of living on an island, large body vertebrates tend to become smaller and vice versa

Question 52

Influences on life cycle

Answer 52

biology, culture, and evolution (biocultural evolution) all have an impact on life cycle; epigenetics (things happening above genome – interactions with environments – can influence biology)

Question 53

Epigenetics

Question 54

Influences of agriculture

Answer 54

potential example of the disconnect between our evolved biology and our culture; one of the advances humans as a species has made; pros: feeds lots of people and allows for permanent settlements; cons: vulnerable to environment, malnutrition (very concentrated in one dietary area and you could be losing out on other areas), inequality (unequal access to food), sanitation concerns (facilitated by permanent settlements, where does waste go? etc.), zoonotic diseases (lots of interactions with wild animals, including eating them)

Question 55

Life history theory

Answer 55

idea that organisms have limited amount of energy to devote to various life cycle functions (growth, reproduction, maintenance); explains why different species have different gestation periods, time between births, ages of sexual maturity, k-selected vs r-selected (exp. Elephants having long gestation period to give time for their very large brains to fully develop)