Biological Anthropology
A field within biological anthropology that focuses on the study of primates
What is primatology?
The closest living evolutionary relatives to humans
What are chimpanzees and bonobos?
A trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce in a specific environment
What is an adaptation?
A section of DNA that codes for a specific trait
What is a gene?
A trait that involves walking on only two feet
What is bipedalism?
A field within biological anthropology that looks at the genetic and molecular aspects of evolution and traits
What is molecular anthropology?
How new variation enters into a population
What is a mutation?
The person credited with coming up with evolution by natural selection
Who is Charles Darwin?
A specific version of a gene, such as blue eyes
What is an allele?
A trait that possibly evolved in response to our variable environments that allows us to learn more
What are larger brains?
A field within biological anthropology that looks at the health, well-being and functioning of humans
What is human biology?
A mechanism of evolution that occurs when individuals migrate in or out of the population
What is gene flow?
A trait that can be passed down from parent to offspring through their DNA
What is a heritable trait?
A long strand of DNA clustered together that contains many genes
What is a chromosome?
A unique human trait that possibly evolved for thermoregulation purposes
What is hairlessness?
A field within biological anthropology that looks at the bones and skeletal structure of humans and their effects
What is skeletal biology/osteology?
The trait that distinguishes mammals from other animals?
What are mammary glands?
When certain individuals in the population are able to produce more offspring than others
What is differential reproductive success?
A process that results in gametes with half the number of chromosomes as a somatic cell
What is meiosis?
A trait that helps with the higher demand for coordinated cooperation
What is language?
A field within biological anthropology that looks fossils of our ancestors to make inferences about human evolution
What is paleoanthropology?
When the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans occurred
What is 5-6 million years ago?
The three conditions for evolution by natural selection
1) variability exists
2) the variability is heritable
3) the variants have different probabilities of survival and reproduction based on their inherited variation
What DNA stands for
What is deoxyribonucleic acid?
A human trait connected to the ability to read the intentions of others
What are white sclera?