Biological Anthropology 196 Part 1

Uniformitarianism

"present is key to the past" -Earth is very old, erosion happened in the past, so natural processes must exist today -James Hutton;Charles Lyell->Principles of Geology[influence on Darwin]

Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck

(1774-1829) -first proposal of mechanism for evolutionary change -meaning animal would have a change in its own lifetime and then pass it on -correctly recognized heritability and relationship between environment and organism -ex. Giraffe's neck

Charles Darwin

(1809- 1882) -"born a naturalist"->passionate throughout -background in medicine and theology -Voyage of the Beagle (Capt. Robert Fitzroy) -South America, Galapagos Island -implied species go extinct, extant forms resemble extinct forms

Ales Hrdlicka

(1869-1943) began by studying skulls; helped professionalize physical anthropology and found Am. Assoc. of Phys. Anthro.

Ernest Hooton

(1887-1954) taught many people about classification of people

Sherwood Washburn

(1911-2000) wanted a "new" physical anthro., such as studying a living primate; a more biological anthropology was created; trained many people in this new vein of thinking

Artificial Selection

(Domestication) descent from wolves, bred to create dogs quickly, mutation causes different breeds

Natural Experiments

(often used in bio anthro.) -observational problem->hypothesis->prediction

Thomas Hurley

-"Darwin's Bulldog" -Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature[1863] ->all evolutionary ideas apply to humans 1.summary of natural history of apes/living primates 2.comparative anatomy of apes/humans 3.survey of human/primate fossils

Catastrophism

->Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) -comparative paleontology -established standard for fossil analyzation -comparative anatomy and vertebrae paleontology [God creates catastrophic events which can then cause extinction of species] -modern species are *not* linked. But they can still go extinct through God's will.

Linguistics

->helps understand history with the study of language over time -hallmark of being human -anatomy of language=biological perspective -language is impt. b/c it transmits culture

Paleoanthropology

->study of humans through fossils and artifacts; try to reconstruct history -primary data=fossil human ancestors -compare them to animals, infer when things occurred (must have geological processes, dating methods, classification, functional anatomy, social organization) subsets=paleopathology[how things died], paeloprimatology

Great Chain of Being

-Aristotle->hierarchy idea -Divine Creator on top

Scientific Revolution

-Copernicus=heliocentric theory -Kepler, Galileo, Newton -Promoted standardized way

Georges du Buffon

-Natural History, general and particular -frightened of Linnaeus' idea of descent(one common ancestor) -argued for a much older earth -species could change through time, but are not descended from other species

*Facts* of Evolution

-all organisms, living and dead, are the end products of long natural process of change through which each species is descended from different ones. -similarities and differences can be explained through evolution.

religion vs. science?

-both ways to understand the world, but religion can answer questions science can't.

Darwin's ideas after studying the beaks of birds:

-individuals in a species vary. -selection doesn't create variation, it acts on the variation already present. -most of this variation can be inherited. -struggle for existence->success depends on your traits. -differential reproductive success->some will survive and reproduce more than others. -adaptations=favorable traits. -selection PRODUCES adaptation.

Molecular Anthropology

-looks at genes, biology, adaptation, of *human and non-human primate evolution* -primary data=evolution of diseases

Darwin's Dilemna

-some individuals seemed to have maladaptive traits. -ex. Peacock feathers

Franz Boas

-studied ethnography's in Northern Canada; "Father" of American Anthropology who created the *Four Field Approach* ->cultural anthropology ->linguistics ->archaeology ->biological anthropology -helped form American Anthropological Assoc.

Peter and Rosemary Grant

-studied finches on Galapagos Island for many years -figured out what was reproductively successful with birds beak size -populations evolve, individuals do not -showed evolution could take a very short time

Primatology

-studies diversity, behavior, ecology, & psychology of *living* primates -primary data=behavior and ecology of *non-human primates*

Science

-systematic search for understanding through empirical observation and testing -"rigorous", "systematic"->standards -"material"->grasped with the senses

Biological Anthropology

-work with past and present, with evolutionary perspective; place humans within context of nature and as humans -draw many fields such as: 1.paleoanthropology 2.forensic anthropology 3.human biology 4.primatology 5.Molecular anthropology

Major Criteria of Science

1.Testability 2. Falsifiable 3. Established method 4. Empirical 5. Cumulative 6. Repeatable 7. Quantifiable 8. Predictive

Descent of Man

Darwin's other book that focused on human application to evolutionary theory; selection in relation to sex

Who said Earth is young?

John Lightfoot, James Usher, used Bible to determine 6000 years old

Linnaeus

Systema Naturae (1735) -generic term and specific term, no more Great Chain of Being

Alfred Russel Wallace

[1823-1913] -started writing about natural selection outside of Darwin, so Darwin hurriedly published his work Origin of Species

Origin of Species [by means of Natural Selection]

[1829] -fact that evolution exists -theory of natural selection -phylogeny->organisms are related genealogically -ideas of domestication -not about humans, except for one sentence at the end.

Erasmus Darwin

[Darwin's Grandfather] -first proposed origin of species through evolution -"Zoonomia"

intrasexual selection

acquire mates by preventing your rivals from mating (male-male choice)

intersexual selection

attempts to acquire mates between sexes. (female choices.)

How does anthropology create a mediating role?

between the exotic and mundane, past and present, science and religious views

Modern Human Variation

borrow from geology, osteology, paleontology, chemistry, botany, biomechanics, genetics

5. Cumulative

builds on previous hypotheses and ideas

Anthropology is holistic because..

connects many different aspects, such as cultural aspects, biological language, etc.

sexual dimorphism

difference between males and females of the same species due to sexual selection -large body size -large canine teeth

Fixity of Species

doesn't change over time

Sexual Selection

evolutionary change that occurs because of variation in (often males) ability to acquire mates. 2 types=intrasexual and intersexual

John Ray

first to term "species" & "genus"

Thomas Malthus

food production will eventually not be enough for population growth

microevolution

gradual changes in the genetic material of a population over time ex.Darwin's finches, beak size

3. Established Method

guidelines agreed upon

2. Falsifiable

has a means to deem hypothesis "wrong"

Cultural Anthropology

helps to make sense of the different aspects of people around the world

Archaeology

look at artifacts from history to see what has changed

6. Repeatable

must allow others to verify

1. Testability

must make testable statements

macroevolution

origin and extinction of species

Scientific Method

problem is identified, hypothesis is stated, then hypothesis is tested.

Natural Selection

process by which species adapt; leads to adaptation, anatomical, behavioral. [*Nature* or the *environment* determines what traits are descended. ]

Sexual Selection can lead to...

sexual dimorphism.

Darwin's 1st sketch of evolutionary tree..

showed common ancestor descent.

Geocentric Theory

solar system revolves around the Earth, Ptolemy

hypothesis

statement with testable predictions

Forensic Anthropology

try to solve deaths using bones/remains

4. Empirical

uses data we can see and verify

7. Quantitative

uses numbers

8. Predictive

we can try to predict what might occur

theory

well-substantiated explanation of some world aspect

Anthropology

what it means to be human culturally, socially, throughout history, living and dead