Intro to Physical Anthropology Exam 2

Pliocene

5-1.8 mya; Time of cooling after warmer Miocene. Grasslands and Savannahs expanded. Warmer than present. Polar ice caps formed in Antartica.

Phanerozoic

600 MYA-now; abundant life, first multicellular animals

Cenozoic

65 million years ago-today (time of mammals and birds).

Tertiary

65-2.5 million ya; spans 5 epochs

Paleocene

65-55 mya. The earliest primates were here. extinction of dinosaurs, milder climate (tropical/subtropical forests)

What is adaptation?

All organisms have some degree of biological plasticity (ability to physiologically respond to changes in environment)

Mesozoic

An era with the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods from 251 to 65.5 M years ago, marked by dinosaurs, gymnosperms and angiosperms, as well as the mass extinction at the end of the period

Periods under tertiary

Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, First part of Pliocene

Epochs

Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, Holocene

What is a lemur?

-A primate only found on Madagasca

Jurassic

..., period of the Mesozoic Era in which the first birds appeared, from 190 million to 135 million years ago, many seagoing reptiles, early large dinosaurs, later, flying reptiles and earliest known birds

Pleistocene

1.8mya-10,000ya; Ice Age. First appearance of Homo sapiens. Periodic advances and retreats of continental glaciers.

Cretaceous

145.5 to 65.5 mya

What is a polymorphic gene?

2 or more distinct phenotypes existing in a population

Quaternary

2.5 million ya; to present spans 3 epochs

Miocene

23 mya - 5.3 mya: Continued radiation of mammals and angiosperms; apelike ancestors of humans appear.

Triassic

251.0 to 199.6 mya; dinosaurs first appear, first mammals appear

Oligocene

34-24 mya; Cooler and drier than Eocene, warmer than today. Radiation of early anthropoids, mostly Old World. Fayum Depression-gold mine of fossils

Monogenism example

Adam and Eve

Frequency-dependent balanced

Balanced polymorphism that is maintained b/c one or more of the alternative phenotypes has a selective advantage only when present within a population below a certain frequency

Person who is a monogenist

Blumenbach

What are Bergmann's rules?

Body size is larger in colder climates to conserve body temperature.

Who came up with the predation hypothesis?

Cartmill

What is an old world monkey?

Cattahrini; Anthropoid, large with no tails and opposable digits

Visual predation hypothesis

Forward-facing eyes, depth-perceptive, grasping hands for catching prey, not for climbing trees

Who came up with Arboreal hypothesis?

Frederic Wood-Jones and George Elliot-Smith

What is population genetics?

Genetic variation within/between groups

What is a hylobate?

Gibbons or lesser apes

What are Allen's rule's?

In warmer climates the limbs of the body are longer relative to body size

What is a strepsirhine?

Lemurs and lorises

Advantages of dark skin

Melanin blocks UV rays

What is polygenism?

Multiple creations/origins

Arboreal hypothesis

Origin of primate adaptation; value of grasping hands and stereoscopic vision for life in trees

Eons

Phanerozoic

What is a new world monkey?

Plattyrrihini; Anthropoids with a prehensile tail

What are the four principals of stratigraphy?

Principle of Original Horizontality, Principle of superposition, Principle of cross-cutting relationships, Principle of faunal succession

Eocene

Relating to the second epoch of the Tertiary period

Polygenism example

Separate species of ape

Branching points

Separation of any pair (or groups) or populations

Node

Split occurs due to presence or absence of mutation

Balanced Polymorphism

Stable polymorphism in a population where natural selection prevents any alternative phenotypes from becoming fixed or lost

What is the primate order broken down into?

Strepsirhines and haplorhines

What is paleontology?

The study of fossils

What is a loris?

Tropical Africa and Asia,

Advantages of light skin

Vitamin D from ultra violet radiation

Person who is a Polygenist

Wallace

Paleozoic

an era occurring between 570 million and 230 million years ago, characterized by the advent of fish, insects, and reptiles

What is a fossil?

any trace or remains of a living organism that has been preserved by a natural process

What is a hominoid?

apes and humans

What is the geological time scale?

categories of time into which Earth's history is usually divided by geologists and paleontologist

What is a pongidae?

chimp, bonobo, gorilla, orangutan, great apes

What is a tarsier?

haplorrhine and prosimian

What life history traits do primates possess?

single offspring, large brains, extended ontogeny

Holocene

the current interglaciation period, extending from 10, 000 years ago to the present on the geologic time scale

What is stratigraphy?

study of rock layers

Eras

Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic

Examples of acclimatization

Change in temperature

Who introduced the principals of stratigraphy?

Charles Lyell

What is monogenism?

Common descendant for all human "races"

How do primates contribute to their ecology?

Disperse seeds, pollinate plant

Disadvantages of dark skin

Doesn't get as much vitamin D

What is a heterozygous advantage?

Having one dominant allele and one recessive allele for a trait.

What is ecology?

Interrelationships of animals, plants, and their physical environment

What constitutes a populations?

Members of an interbreeding group

What three main groups do taxonomists divide mammals into?

Metatheria, Prototheria, Eutheria

Disadvantages of light skin

Mostly at risk for skin cancer

What anatomical traits do primates have?

Quadruped, grasping hands with opposable thumbs, forward facing eyes

How are phylogenetic trees constructed?

Relating populations or individuals from different populations

Periods under Quaternary

Remainder of the Pliocene, Pleistocene, Holocene

Polymorphic gene example

Rh factor

Acclimatization

Short term changes in physiology

Heterozygous advantage examples

Sickle cell and Malaria

What is a haplorhine?

Tarsiers, monkeys, apes, humans

Periods

Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Tertiary, Quaternary,

How do organisms become a fossil?

part of the organism must be preserved by burial, Skeletal materials absorb minerals from the surrounding soil or ground water, Trace fossils such as tracks left by animals provide impressions of their activities