Physical Anthropology midterm study guide

The study of evolution of the peppered moth provides an excellent example of

natural selection.

In DNA, the base A pairs with the base

T

One chemical difference between DNA and RNA is that RNA has the base ___ instead of the base T.

U

Human beings have ____ pairs of chromosomes.

23

The DNA molecule is made up of ____ chemical bases.

4

A ___________ trait is one that has been inherited from an earlier ancestor.

A ___________ trait is one that has been inherited from an earlier ancestor.

he definition of a "breeding population" can be influenced by

All

Biological anthropologists study -the behavior of monkeys and apes. -the genetics of living human populations. -the fossil record for human evolution. -all of the above

All of the above.

Who wrote On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, the classic work providing the foundation for the development of modern evolutionary thought?

Charles Darwin.

________________ is when a species gives rise to a new and separate species.

Cladogenesis.

______________ acts to inhibit reproductive isolation.

Gene flow

is responsible for transporting genetic information to the site of protein synthesis.

Messenger RNA

____________ is the production of body cells, whereas _________ is the production of sex cells.

Mitosis; meiosis

DNA regulates the process of protein synthesis with the help of

RNA

Rapid speciation following the availability of new environments is known as

adaptive radiation.

The alternative forms of a gene found at a given locus are known as

alleles.

Prior to the development of evolutionary thinking, the dominant view of biological variation focused on

an unchanging natural world.

DNA sequences are found in long chains known as

chromosomes.

Imagine you are studying a population of finches over time and observe an increase in average beak size over many generations. This is an example of ______________ selection.

directional

An allele is _________ if it masks the effect of another allele.

dominant

The only way an allele can be removed in a single generation is when it is -recessive and completely lethal. -dominant and completely lethal. -recessive and has a frequency less than 0.5 to start with. (incorrect) -dominant and has a frequency less than 0.5 to start with.

dominant and completely lethal?

The probability of survival and reproduction of an organism is known as its

fitness

A specific type of genetic drift, known as ___________, results from the formation of a new population by a small number of individuals.

founder effect

The peppered moth in England changed in color from almost all being light-colored to almost all being dark-colored. This change was related to a changing environment, specifically

industrial pollution.

Gene flow acts to make populations

more similar to each other.

New alleles can be brought into a population by

mutation and gene flow.

Catastrophism attempted to explain the fossil record in terms of

natural catastrophes in an area, followed by organisms moving into the area from elsewhere.

The hypothesis of acquired characteristics stated that

organisms changed during their lifetime, and would then pass these changes on to their offspring.

Genes that are involved in turning protein-coding genes on or off, which affects how these genes are expressed, are known as __________ genes.

regulatory

Culture, as used by an anthropologist, refers to

shared learned behavior.

According to the idea of gradualism, macroevolution usually involves

slow and gradual change.

Mutations are

sometimes harmful, sometimes useful, and sometimes neutral.

Nuclear DNA refers to

the DNA found in the nucleus of the cell.

Given enough time, genetic drift will eventually cause

the loss of alleles.

Mendel's Law of Independent Assortment states that

the set of chromosomes that is passed on from a parent to a child is not always the same.

A mass extinction is

the simultaneous extinction of many species.

According to the biological species concept, horses and donkeys are not considered in the same species because

they do not produce fertile offspring

___________ first demonstrated the principles of genetic inheritance.

Gregor Mendel

Each parent contributes one allele at each locus to his or her offspring. This is known as Mendel's Law of

Segregation

Selection against a recessive homozygote will

will gradually decrease the frequency of the recessive allele.