ANTHROPOLOGY 103 EXAM 1

What are some key approaches to anthropological research?

Holism Comparison Dynamism Fieldwork

Euprimates

The first true primates from the Eocene: the tarsierlike omomyids and the lemurlike adapids

Frugivore

fruit eater, large incisors for slicing through the outer coatings, molars are bunodont (rounded and broad), thicker enamel to protect from excessive wear from proteins

When you have seen primates in person, did you observe any facial expressions, behaviors, or physical traits that seemed familiar to you? If so, which ones and why?

full use of shoulder blades, oposable thumbs, social systems

What are premolars used for?

grinding

Homodont

having teeth that are uniform in form, shape, and function.

What factors would you take into consideration when deciding which dating method to use for a particular artifact?

how much it has decayed

Visual Predation Hypothesis

hypothesis for the origin of primate adaptation that focuses on the value of grasping hands and stereoscopic vision for catching small prey

Describe the variety of social and mating systems observed in primates.

polygyny, monogamy, polyandry, polygamy

What is the full taxonomic classification of humans, and what are some of the traits we have of each of these categories?

primates, haplorhini, catarrhini, hominoidea, homo, homosapien

What are some subfields of biological anthropology and what do those anthropologists study?

primatology, paleoanthropology, molecular anthropology, bioarchaeology, forensic anthropology, and human biology.

Ape dental formula

2-1-2-3

old world monkey dental formula

2-1-2-3

New World Monkey Dental Formula

2-1-3-3

Tarsier Dental Formula

2-1-3-3

Monogamous Mating

Mated individuals remain together for a longer time, forming stronger pair-bonds gibbons

vertical clinging and leaping

A locomotor pattern characteristic of several primates, including tarsiers and galagos. The animal normally rests by clinging to a branch in a vertical position and uses its hind limbs alone to push off from one vertical position to another. longer legs than arms, long fingers and toes, and smaller bodies, elongated ankle bones, which help them push off with their legs and leap to another branch.

What is the difference between a social system and a mating system?

A social system describes the typical number of males and females of all age classes that live together. A mating system describes which male(s) and female(s) mate. Two species can have the same social system but a different mating system and vice versa

What is science?

An organized way of gathering and analyzing evidence about the natural world.

In what ways did early paleontologists shape our modern methods of fossil extraction and analysis?

Deep Time gave the history of Earth enough time—4.543 billion years—to encompass continental drift, the evolution of species, and the fossilization process.

Tarsiers

Distribution: southeast Asia, Phillipines General features: Grooming claw (like lemurs and lorises) No tapetum lucidem (like anthropoids) No toothcomb (like monkeys, apes, humans) Nocturnal (like many prosimians)

How does science compare to other ways of knowing?

other ways of knowing do not require repeated testing or validation

Heterodont

Having different kinds of teeth; characteristic of mammals, whose teeth consist of incisors, canines, premolars, and molars.

How does the "fifth subdiscipline" of applied anthropology fit within the larger discipline of anthropology?

Involves the practical application of anthropological theories, methods, and findings to solve real world problems Span the subdisciplines

dental formula

Numerical device that indicates the number of each type of tooth in each side of the upper and lower jaws.

What is the scientific method?

Observation of the natural world -> hypothesis -> predictions -> test -> hypothesis supported or rejected May have many different starting points Often repeat steps and circle back around Gathering evidence does not always rest on experiments in the laboratory Evaluating data is not always clear cut Results sometimes surprising or inconclusive

Why does the field of anthropology, a field dedicated to the study of humans, include the study of non-human animals? What important things can we learn from non-human primates in anthropology?

Observe traits from ancestors/relatives so we can learn about where we came from (evolution)

Polyandry

One female, several males. marmosets

Polygyny

One male, several females. orangutans and gorillas

tooth comb

a dental structure found in some mammals, (strepsirrhines) comprising a group of front teeth arranged in a manner that facilitates grooming, similar to a hair comb.

Quadrupedalism

a form of locomotion that uses all four limbs, legs and arms that are about the same length and typically have a tail for balance

sexually dimorphic

a marked difference in size and appearance between males and females of a species -> canines

Brachiation

a method of movement that uses the arms to swing from branch to branch. longer arms than legs, short back, lack of a tail. apes

Discuss the biogeography of the origins of African great apes and orangutans using examples from the Miocene ape fossil record

a short-faced ape with generalized dentition and above-branch locomotor behaviors. body mass reconstructions ranging from 17 to 50 kg. habitat- a dense, closed-canopy tropical forest. lacking a tail

Arboreal Hypothesis

a theory for primate evolution that proposes that life in the trees was responsible for enhanced visual acuity and manual dexterity in primates

Angiosperm-Primate Coevolution Hypothesis

argued that the few primates that eat mostly insects often catch their prey on the ground rather than in the fine branches of trees. predatory primates often use their ears more than their eyes to detect prey. he argued, the earliest primates were probably seeking fruit. Fruit of angiosperms often develop in the terminal branches. any mammal trying to access those fruits must possess anatomical traits that allow them to maintain their hold on thin branches and avoid falling while reaching for the fruit

If anthropology is the study of humans, why do some anthropologists study primates?

biological anthropologists study primates to better understand the evolution of social behavior and its costs and benefits. Because primates are our closest living relatives, we study them to gain insights into how our human ancestors may have behaved as well as to better understand our own behavior.

Why and how, do females choose a potential mate?

choose a male who can provide important resources, such as food, paternal care, or protection because they want their offspring to survive. choose based off of genes (health and longevity)

Why is it important to try to place taxa into a clade classification rather than groupings based on grade? Can you think of an example?

clade classification is based on evolutionary relationships rather than levels of adaptation and overall similarity. an example is placing orangutans, gorillas, bonobos, and chips into a grade and excluding humans, but they would be in the same clade

What is the nature of interactions between primates and other members of their broader ecological communities, including other species of primates?

competition for food and mates avoid each other to avoid predation communicate to alarm of enemy

What kind of information could you acquire from a single fossil? What could it tell you about the broader environment?

dating, global reconstruction, diet reconstruction, migration

insectivores

eat insects, smallest primates, sharp pointed molars

Adapoids

family of mostly Eocene primates, probably ancestral to all strepsirhines

How do primatologists use the distribution of food, females, and males to understand this variation, including the fact that two species can have the same mating system but different social systems? Compare and contrast male and female mating strategies.

female reproductive success is limited by access to food, females "map onto food". If food exists in large clumps that can feed multiple individuals, females can also exist in groups and will benefit from doing so because living in groups helps with defense of food sources. because male reproductive success is limited by access to females, males "map onto females" forming the third layer of the map. If females live in cohesive groups, one or a few males have the opportunity to monopolize them. If females are widely distributed, it is more difficult for males to monopolize multiple females.

Folivores

leaf eaters, smaller incisors, high sharp molars

how to tell taxon groups apart

locomotion, eyes, teeth, sensory adaptations

Polygamy

multiple males mate with multiple females chimpanzees

What are some similarities and differences between the subdisciplines?

similarities: all study human behavior differences: all study different aspects of human behavior

What are incisors used for?

slicing

Plesiadapiforms

small, large snouts, lateral eyes, rodent like

grooming claw

specialized claw or nail on the foot of certain primates, used for personal grooming in suborder strepsirrhines

How has the discipline of anthropology changed over time?

study both biological and social/cultural human life

Omomyoids

superfamily of mostly Eocene primates, probably ancestral to all haplorhines: skeletons, postorbital bar

how to distinguish between primate taxa: dental characteristics

tells us directly what their diets are, size and shape and number tell us about evolutionary history, differences in teeth between male and females can tell us about competition over mates, preserve well in fossil records

Explain how changes in temperature, rainfall, and vegetation led to major changes in primate biogeography over the Early Tertiary.

temperatures and rainfall increased globally and rainforests likely extended to very high latitudes. With cooling and increased aridity at the end of the Eocene, many primate extinctions occurred in the northern continents and the surviving primates were confined to lower latitudes in South America, Afro-Arabia, Asia, and southern Europe

locomotion

the ability to move from place to place

Why and how do males compete for potential mates?

they do not want to raise another male's offspring. use vocalizations, displays, or physical combat to defend their group of females from extra-group males

How do stable isotopes help us reconstruct past environments and lifestyles?

they remain in their normal structure indefinitely

bipedialism

two foot locomotion freed the hands to use tools

What are canines used for?

use as weapons against predators and each other. honed by gnashing teeth together to sharpen the sides