ANTH 196 Exam 1 Study Guide PDF

*PLEASE NOTE: Although a useful tool, the information on the test is NOT limited to this study guide. This study guide is meant to help you condense your notes/practice your knowledge. Even if you don't fill it out, skim through it to see if there are any topics/concepts you are unsure of or don't r...

*PLEASE NOTE: Although a useful tool, the information on the test is NOT limited to this study guide. This study guide is meant to help you condense your notes/practice your knowledge. Even if you don't fill it out, skim through it to see if there are any topics/concepts you are unsure of or don't recognize... this study guide may also be very useful when you're trying to cram for a cumulative exam down the road.* [ **Intro. to Anthropology** ] - Describe **anthropology** and its *four subfields*. Be able to provide some examples of each subfield. **Anthropology**: the study of humankind. Integrates sociology, economics, political science, history, psychology, and biology 1. cultural anthropology: urban anthropology, medical anthropology 2. linguistic anthropology: language 3. archaeology: artifacts 4. biological anthropology: human biology - Describe the *three major criteria* of anthropology: **Evolutionary, Comparative, Holistic** - Give a basic definition for the terms - **Primate**: a group of mammals comprising prosimians (ex: lemur, monkeys, apes, humans) - **Species**: a group of similarly looking organisms capable of interbreeding - **Evolutionary tree: a diagram showing evolutionary relationships among species or groups of species** - **Hominin**: a bipedal member of the evolutionary lineage leading to modern humans. There is one living hominin (us) and many extinct ones (australopithecines and neandertals) - Be able to define the *specializations within biological anthropology* and site their *primary* *data*. 1. **Anthropological Genetics**: the study of inherited traits [primary data]: transmission genetics and population genetics 2. **Human Biology**: study of human variation with respect to evolution and physiology [primary data]: modern human traits and features 3. **Paleoanthropology**: the interdisciplinary study of human origins- "human paleontology" [primary data]: fossil human ancestors 4. **Primate Paleontology**: the interdisciplinary study of primate origins in paleontological framework [primary data]: fossil non-human primates 5. **Primatology**: study of non-human primates, usually in the wild -- "primate behavioral ecology" [primary data]: living non-human primates 6. **Forensic Anthropology**: the application of anthropological techniques to solve unexplained deaths [primary data]: genetic and anatomical evidence **[The Scientific Method ]** - Be able to identify and explain the *three major ways* of explaining the world. - **Religion**: beliefs, teachings, and practices concerned with supernatural beings, powers, and forces - **Science**: systematic search for understanding using empirical observation and testing - **Philosophy**: search for understanding by mostly speculative and/or logical reasoning, but generally not observational means - How does science differentiate itself from the other ways of understanding the world? - What are the *major criteria of science*? - **What is the scientific method**? Describe the four *steps (from diagram)*. What is an **independent variable**? What is a **dependent variable**? **[Evolution and Darwin's influencers]** Early ideas about nature involved the [Great Chain of Being] which is a vertical arrangements of species on a scale of better-than, worse-than. Some of the earliest ways to scientifically approach nature was to classify it, the science is formally called [Taxonomy]. - Be able to explain the contributions each thinker made below. - **[John Ray]**: proposed that interbreeding organisms be called "**species**" and similar groups of species be called "**genera**", fixity of species - **[Carl Linnaeus]**: added "class" and "order." **Best legacy**: established a simple and universal classification scheme. **Worst legacy**: classifying humans into different groups. Challenged the "great chain of being" - **[George du Buffon]**: suggested that species were not completely fixed (they degrade). Dynamic relationship between organisms and environment. Believed world was old, not young - **[Erasmus Darwin]**: proposed idea of origin of species through evolution in "**zoonomia**" a book in rhyming verse. Common ancestry and life in the sea. Did not have a mechanism for evolution - **[Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck]**: theory of evolution by inheritance of acquired characteristics (first **mechanistic** theory of change). **Mechanism** = how it works. Paid attention to **heritability**. - **[Charles Lyell]**: many fossils showed gradual change over long periods of time, "**deep time**". Thought earth was very old. Introduced "**uniformitarianism**" -- past and current natural processes are one and the same - **[Thomas Malthus]**: populations have the potential to increase at a faster rate than resources/ as a result there is intense competition among individuals. **Eugenicist** - **Charles Darwin** - Who is Charles Darwin and what did he first study in college? - Where did he travel to help develop his theory of evolution by natural selection? **[Natural and Sexual Selection]** - *Darwin's Theory of Evolution* by **[Natural Selection]** 1. Individuals within a population vary 2. Most of this variation can be inherited 3. Struggle for existence/intense competition 4. Due to variation in traits some individuals are better able to survive and reproduce than others (differential reproductive success) - *Problems* with Darwin's Theory - He could not explain why variation existed or was maintained in the population - There was considerable debate about the rate at which evolution of a species and speciation occurs - Some individuals have traits that appear maladaptive, yet these traits persist in populations **[Key Concepts and Definitions]** - Be able to explain the relationship between natural selection, adaptation, and fitness. - Key Definitions - **Adaptation: a feature or trait that evolved via natural selection to perform a specific task that directly or ultimately leads to reproduction or survivorship** - **Fitness: the relative ability to survive and reproduce** - **Heritability: the extent to which offspring resemble their parents** - Sexual Selection Theory - **Sexual Selection**: traits of an organism are either adaptations or neutral with respect to fitness - **Sexual Selection Theory**: the evolutionary change that occurs because of variation in ability to acquire mates (often male) - Two General Methods - What is **INTRAsexual Selection** a.k.a "male-male competition"? - What is **INTERsexual Selection**, a.k.a "female choice"? - What is **sexual dimorphism**? How do *mating systems influence* the degree of sexual dimorphism? **[Cells, Chromosomes, and Genes]** - Darwin recognized that offspring resemble their parents but could not explain why. *What mechanism is used to explain parent/offspring resemblance?* - **Cells** - What is a cell? **What kind of cells** make up humans? DNA is found in two places within a eukaryotic cell...what two places? - What are the two types of **eukaryotic cells**? - **Gametes** are cells used for *reproduction* - **Somatic** cells are cells that *comprise of body tissues* - **Chromosomes** - What is a **chromosome**? - What is *carried* within a chromosome? - - - Give a definition for the two types of chromosomes. - **Autosomes**: DNA on autosomes make proteins that govern all physical characteristics except sex determination - **Sex Chromosomes: chromosomes generally associated with specifying sex determination** - DNA is carried on chromosomes. DNA comes in units called nucleotides. What does each nucleotide consist of? What are the first letters of each nucleotide and how do they "pair up"? - DNA can be **coding** or **non-coding**. *What determines* if it is coding or noncoding? - Triplets of nucleotides are called **Codons**. These code for **a single amino acid** which join to create proteins. The *relationship between DNA triplets and amino acids* is called the **Genetic Code** - How does DNA make proteins? - **Transcription** (where does this take place and what RNA molecule(s) are involved)? - **Translation** (where does this take place and what RNA molecule(s) are involved)? - When a g*ene makes a protein* this is formally known as "gene expression" or protein synthesis - **Genes** - The portion of DNA that *specifies a protein* is called a **gene** - What is a **mutation**? - Mutations are the *ultimate source* of **Genetic variation.** - Mutations *must appear* in the **gametes** to be inherited. - **What is mitosis**? - What does it produce and more specifically, *what* is the thing it produces? - **What is meiosis**? (What does the process of meiosis result in? What does the term haploid mean?) - What is *exchanged between homologous chromosomes*? What is this process called? - How does a **zygote** form? - Zygotes *divide* and eventually the *cells differentiate* to form an **embryo** - Key Definitions - **Gene**: the entire sequence of DNA bases responsible for the synthesis of a protein - **Locus**: location on a chromosome where homologous genes are located - **Alleles**: alternate forms of the DNA sequence at a locus (can be used synonymously with "gene") - **Heterozygous**: having [different] alleles (different DNA sequences) at a particular locus - **Homozygous**: having the [same] alleles (same DNA sequence) at a particular locus - **Genotype**: the genetic comparison (or DNA sequences or types of alleles) at a specific locus - **Phenotype**: the observable trait that is expressed by the genotype - Traits - **Dominant Trait: CAN be expressed from a heterozygous locus or from a homozygous locus** - **Recessive trait: CAN'T be expressed in a heterozygous locus. Require 2 copies of the same allele to produce their phenotype** **[Population Genetics and Evolution]** - **Population Genetics** - Define **population genetics**: concerns the genetics of populations - How is it *different from transmission genetics*? - What is a **population**: within a species, it is a community of individuals where mates are usually found. A group of interbreeding individuals located in time and space that are members of single species - Define **Frequency**: frequency of a type of object is the proportion of all objects that are of that type If you have 36 things of type X out of 120 total things, then fill in the numbers in the parentheses below (you will NOT need a calculator on this exam): - The frequency of things X is FREQ\[x\]= **\_\_\_** line = divided by - **Understanding Evolution** - **Evolution**: a change in gene frequency from one generation to the next in a population - How does this *relate* to **gene frequency**? - How can **new** genes enter a population? - Mutation - Migration - What are the *factors* that *cause* evolution? - Mutation - Migration - Circumstances \...which can be non-random (think **natural selection**) or random (known as **genetic drift**) - **What are some *mechanisms/forces* of evolutionary change** - **Mutation** - How would this *contribute* to evolutionary change? - **Migration** - What is migration? - Make up a scenario: red individuals enter a population, and non-red individuals leave the population - **Natural (or Sexual) Selection** - What is natural selection? (and is it *random* or *non-random*?) - Example: A population of mice were living in the grass, generation one had decent variation: mostly green mice, some brown, and a few blond ones. In the past, the green mice had the most babies because eagles couldn't find them in the green grass---brown mice were not as hard to find, but blond mice stood out the most so they were eaten the most. Over several generations, the grass dried out and their habitat became a sandy desert. By generation 10, the mouse population is mostly blond, some brown, and very, very little green ones. In recent generations, more blond mice were able to reproduce because of their ideal camouflage. The brown ones still did okay, but the eagles fed mostly off the easy to find, green mice. - What variable determines **fitness**? - What is the **selection pressure**? - What **adaptation** did the selection pressure lead to? - **Genetic Drift** - What does genetic drift refer to? (and is it *random* or *non-random*?) - What does "**genetic**" specifically refer to? - What does "**drift**" specifically refer to? - Try to picture it\... - A form of drift: **The Founder Effect** - Define and describe the above effect: rare individuals (and the genes they carry) become prevalent due to disproportionate frequencies in an initial breeding population - **The relationship between genotype and phenotype** - **Environmental influences...** -... the expression of the phenotype, but the genotype remains unaffected. - - - - **Continuous Traits** - Many traits have *clear categories* and are controlled by a single locus, these traits are called **discrete** - Some traits are **continuous** - Definition: no clearly defined categories of phenotypes, instead the phenotypes overlap - *How are **continuous traits built**?* - If you plot a continuous trait in a population, it results in a Bell-Shaped distribution? - What are they **also** referred to as? - Common continuous traits in humans... height - **How does selection operate on continuous traits?** - Example (left side shorter people, right is taller, middle is average) If tall people are most fit then what occurs? **Directional selection**: selection eliminated the unfit "non-tall" individuals If average people are most fit then what occurs? **Stabilizing Selection**: selection eliminates the unfit "non-average" individuals