Scheduled maintenance: Saturday, March 6 from 3–4 PM PST
Upgrade to remove ads
Only $2.99/month

PHYSICAL ANTHRO FINAL

Terms in this set (47)

Agriculture
ranks as one of the most transformative developments in the record of hominin evolution. It was the foundation for the profoundly important adaptive transition from foraging to farming. I rank agriculture up there with bipedalism and speech as being fundamental to who humans are as an organism.
Denisova fossils
DNA recovered from a hominin hand bone, foot bone, and a few teeth dating to 40,000 yBP from DenisovaCave, in southern Siberia, revealed a hominin genome that is neither Neandertal nor modern human.
hygiene hypothesis
The proposition that increasing allergies among children are the result of decreased exposure to microbes, such as those found in dirt.
Kennewick Skull
Discovered on the banks of the Columbia River, Kennewick Man represents the Paleoindians. dating to 8,400 yBP, is long and narrow; the face and jaws are robust
Laetoli footprints
fossils representing Australopithecus afarensis have been found in four main sites: Laetoli, in Tanzania. collectively dating to 3.6-3.0 mya.
masticatory-functional hypothesis
The hypothesis that craniofacial shape change during the Holocene was related to the consumption of softer foods.
Nariokotome Boy features
Nariokotome hominin has several quintessentially modern anatomical features. One of the most striking modern characteristics is the combination of relatively short arms and long legs. That is, the H. erectusbody plan is much more like that of a living human in its ratio of arm length to leg length. This change in limb proportions in H. erectus signals the beginning of a major alteration in the pattern of bipedal locomotion: H. erectusbecame completely committed to terrestrial life by adopting a fully modern stride. Life in the trees became a thing of the past.
Neolithic demographic transition
Probably the single most visible characteristic associated with the shift from foraging to farming is the increase in population size.This shift from low birthrate to high birthrate resulted in a rapid increase in the world's population. The greater number of births was brought about by a reduced period of weaning.
nutrition transition
The shift in diet to one that is high in saturated fat and sugar; a cause of the global obesity epidemic.
silent tsunami
United Nations calls a global "silent tsunami" killing many thousands from infections and disease. Population increase creates many new hosts for new and newly emerging infectious diseases, and "more hosts" translates into more organisms
Know some advantages to being bipedal
advantages over quadrupedalism included an increased ability to see greater distances (thanks to an upright posture), greater ease of transporting both food and children, ability to run long distances, and the freeing of the hands for, eventually, such remarkable skills and activities as tool manufacture and tool use.
Know the beginning and end dates for the Australopithecus genus.
(8-4) million years ago. 4 million year gap. ???
Know the beginning and end dates for the Homo genus.
(2.865-0 mya)
Know the beginning and end dates for Homo erectus
1.8 mya-300,000 yBP
Know the dates for the Dmanisi fossils
1.7 million years ago
Know when modern Homo sapiens fossils appear
200,000 years ago to present
Know how Homo habilis differs from Australopithecines
Australopithecines are considered to be the missing link between a fossil line of apes and genus Homo . They had smaller cranial capacity compared to Homo habilis, while the latter had a less protruding jaw.
Know Homo erectus cranial capacity
900cc
Know Homo erectus skull morphology
Large brow ridge, low and long skull.
Know Neandertal evidence for speech
Hyoid bone, allowing them to speak
Know the difference in skeletal and cranial features when comparing modern Homo sapiens to archaic Homo sapiens.
archaic:
-low, sloping brow ridges (massive as well), projecting face or chin, large teeth, wide large cheek bones, more prominent occipital buns

modern:
-high, vertical forehead, less prominent occipital bun, small gracile brow ridges, small teeth, small flat cheek bones
Know the archaeological evidence for modern Homo sapiens competing for resources.
???????
Know how cross-sections of bone are used in anthropology.
cross-section of the body's long bones (arms and legs) used to analyze bone shape and reconstruct the mechanical stresses placed on the bone-hence activity patterns
Know how many people are currently malnourished
795 million
Know the percentage of urban people that are currently living in slums
More than 25% of urban populations are packed into slums lacking sanitation.
Know the percentage of people currently living in cities
Today more than 50% of the worlds population lives in cities.
Know how industrialization affects health
Many people are packed into a small area (cities), so disease is very prominent.
Know how population size affects health
It decreases it, due to limited number of resources. Climate extremes result in crisis from Mal nutrition.
Know the obligate behaviors of hominins
???????
Know which hominin species first had precision grip
Homo Habilis
Know how Oldowan tools differ from Aucheulean tools
Acheulian stone tools are more sophisticated than Oldowan tools, were produced from a wider variety of raw materials, and were fashioned into a greater range of tool types, with a greater range of functions
Know the differences between human and nonhuman births
??????
Know the three different hypotheses for modern human evolution
Out of Africa hypothesizes, Multi regional continuity hypothesis, polycentric hypothesis
Know when humans first arrived in the Americas
15,000 years ago
Know the traits that link Native Americans to East Asians
???????
Know the names of the spear points that early Native Americans (Paleoindians) used.
Clovis, Folsom, megafauna (for large game)
Know when farming began
11,500 years ago, people began to farm
Know the key cereal grains from the early Holocene that supply two-thirds of today's calories.
Wheat, barley, corn, and rice.
Know when tooth and jaw size decreased for modern humans
Around 10,000 years ago, and a change in diet, also cooking food to make it softer.
Know the term for the last 10,000 years
A millennium
Know which human activities have contributed to greenhouse gases
Combustion of fossil fuels, which releases greenhouse gases. Clearing of forests for agriculture, which releases carbon dioxide through increased biomass decay.
Know the statistics for human life expectancy in the United States
Life expectancy: 78.8 years
Know hip fractures in older adults
Older people are at a higher risk of hip fracture because bones tend to weaken with age (osteoporosis).
Know why Americans' body weights vary according to socioeconomic status
It has to do with what people can afford to feed themselves, and also education about food.
Know the health problems associated with obesity
Diabetes is very common, and heart issues.
Know why some people are resistant to HIV
Delta 32 mutation at the CCR5 locus
- CCR5 is a key protein that facilitates the HIV virus's entry into target cells of the human body
Know the pale skin mutation
The gene for less melanin SLC24A5 - is present in many europeans, but not in Asian or Africans.

(The mutation and selection likely occurred after shifting to a agricultural diet in the last 10,000 years)
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE...