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Physical Anthropology
Second Exam
77
Anthropology
Undergraduate 1
10/31/2010

Additional Anthropology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Why have humans lost the opposable/divergent big toe?
Definition
We are bipeds and we are not arboreal. 
Term
The Longitudinal Arch
Definition
Present in humans. Helps with heel to toe pressure (heel strike to the outside of the foot, to the inside of the foot, and then to the big toe).
Term
How did human locomotion evolve?
Definition
Humans developed by walking in the heat of the day when other carnivorous predators were relaxing/sleeping and unable to hunt.
Term
Dorsiflexion
Definition
Upward movement of the ankle. 
Term
Plantarflexon
Definition
Movement of the foot hat flexes the foot or toes downward. 
Term
Two major muscles for chewing
Definition
Temporalis muscle and Masseter muscle 
Term
Joint where the jaw meets the skull
Definition
Temporal Mandibular joint
Term
Gorilla's dietary pattern
Definition
Folivores. They are a rinding, lead-eating food processor (molars have high cusps and long, shearing crests).
Term
Sagittal Crest
Definition
Bony protrusion on the top of the skull. Present in male Gorillas. It allows for a larger Temporalis muscle. 
Term
Utility of the canine teeth
Definition
Canines have very little to do with diet. They provide a threat (form of male dominance/protection). 
Term
Canine Diastema 
Definition
Gap. Diagnostic of animals with large overlapping canine teeth. 
Term
Gorilla molars
Definition
They are offset so that the cusps fit into the fissures.
Term
Human molars
Definition
Molars do not interlock due to dietary pattern. We do not need to shred leaves but rather grind harder foods such as granola. 
Term
Utility of molars and muscles among Humans
Definition
Emphasis on the back teeth (Temporalis and Masseter muscle). Muscles move/pull up and down, forward and back. 
Term
U-shaped
Definition
Teeth behind canine run in long vertical rows- creates a longer face (Ape/Gorilla). 
Term
Parabolic
Definition
Pallet and jaw is much wider- shaped like a parabola. 
Term
Parabolic dental pattern and utility of the tongue
Definition
The parabolic pattern allows for an incredibly wide and flexible tongue, which helps with speech articulation and diet. Our tongue lets us push our food back up onto molars to be repeatedly ground. 
Term
Temporal Mandibular Joint
Definition
Highly diagnostic. When we open our jaw, we dislocate our jaw- pulls flap of cartilage forward and then the cartilage snaps back. 
Term
Tooth movement among Gorillas vs. Humans
Definition
When we chew, our jaw slides forward allowing our teeth to slide over each other. Gorillas teeth move up and down. 
Term
Tongue utility among Gorillas and Baboons
Definition
They have a long and narrow tongue. 
Term
WWII and it's influence on the study of primate behavior
Definition
Large numbers of men and women found themselves in exotic places/jungles . They were also offered the opportunity to go to university and they came back curious. 
Term
Prejudices among First Generation Primatologists 
Definition
(Zoo studies). They thought primate behaviour was simple, highly stereotypes, and easy to describe.
Term
Africa and Savannah Grassland Baboons
Definition
Extremely social and live in troops (20-100 animals). Spend a lot of time on the ground and were therefore easy to study. Sleep together in cluster of trees, and out on the grasslands they are always in view of each other. 
Term
Baboon competition focuses more on...
Definition
Social interaction rather than physical aggression. Social exposure is power and violence is just momentary. 
Term
Baboon troops
Definition
20-100 animals, consists of both sexes and all ages, consistent social patterns and relationships, adaptable, dominated primarily by females who remain in the troop throughout their lives, males shift around.
Term
Baboon sexual behaviour 
Definition
Primarily for reproduction and not recreation. 
Term
Hamadryas Baboons
Definition
Form troops during the night, but split into individual families during the day. Males have an exclusive group of females and are highly territorial. If they feel threatened, the males will come together to defend, but will return to their families once the threat is gone. 
Term
Gibbons
Definition
They form mated pairs and are highly territorial. 
Term
Orangutans 
Definition
Due to shortage of food, they live alone, because they cannot afford to eat/live together in troops. 
Term
Langurs
Definition
A male will capture a group of females he wants to mate with, and when a new male takes over a group of females, he kills all the babies (infanticide). If the female has a baby, she will not go into heat, therefore the male cannot mate with her. Since they only maintain the group of females for 3-4 years, time is of great importance. 
Term
Sociobiology 
Definition
Focuses on the inner play of how animals are born, succeed, live and die... (how animals adapt to each other). 
Term
Socioecology 
Definition
Seeks to understand how animals adapt to the environment. 
Term
Two kinds of reproductive success
Definition
Individual and Inclusive fitness. 
Term
Inclusive fitness
Definition
Drone bees are increasing survival for their fertile relatives and grandparents (infertile primates) support their young who are still reproducing. 
Term
Male and female success in the Baboon troop
Definition
For males it is in numbers (mate as much as possible), for females it is quality (can only have one baby at a time). Males compete for access to females, females compete for resources for their babies. 
Term
Two strategies in Baboon troops
Definition
One is female and stable (blood related), one is male and transitory. 
Term
Male Baboon appearance and its affect on reproductive success
Definition
The price of being terrifying in a world where males don't rape. If a male looks too scary and cannot earn trust from a female, he has no chance of earning reproductive rights. Therefore, they must establish friendships with babies and earn the mother's trust. 
Term
Jane Goodall's research on Chimpanzees
Definition
Studied them from a peak and observed their abandoned sleeping nests, Chimpanzees are nomadic, they have dramatic emotional extremes, grooming and the need to be social, chimps eat up to 7 hours per day, male bluffing, life expectancy is 40-50 years. 
Term
Chimpanzees 
Definition
Live in a band society, fission-fusion (breaking apart, coming together), friendship exists, dominance and aggression (the roots of human violence go deep), tool-making . 
Term
Two strategies in Chimp societies
Definition
One is male and stable, and one is female and migratory. 
Term
Male dominance in Chimp societies
Definition
Seek dominance, attack females and infants are sometimes killed, rape exists- males will take females away from the centre of the community and control her for a number of days, alliances among brothers and friends, dominance and combat is self-rewarding. 
Term
Bonobos 
Definition
Not as bulky as Chimpanzees, have a bald spot on the top of the head, limited to one location in the Congo, highly endangered, fission-fusion, intense parenting, tool-making, female dominated society, less male aggression, diffuse social tension with sex. 
Term
Bonobos vs. the common Chimpanzee
Definition
Matriarchal society, males aggression is minimal and rape does not exist (because females move together in groups), no violence between males and females, large networks and support groups (as opposed to small nucleus communities among common chimps), face-to-face copulation. 
Term
Symbolic behavior
Definition
The ability to create meaning, and impose meaning arbitrarily. 
Term
Symbolic language vs. animal communication
Definition
human language is open and animal communication is closed. Language can communicate states of the environment displaced in time and space, and animals communicate immediate internal emotion states. 
Term
Languages
Definition
Shared systems (rules) for creating and transmitting meaning. 
Term
Morphology 
Definition
How the word is spelled, written and formed. 
Term
Syntax 
Definition
Location of the word in the sentence. 
Term
Cultural universals 
Definition
Technology, social organisation and ideology. 
Term
Affinal kin
Definition
Marriage. 
Term
Consanguineous kin
Definition
Blood related. 
Term
Vicki 
Definition
Keith and Cathy Hays in the 1950's raised Vicki like their baby boy- as a human child. Tried to teach her how to articulate words like "cup", but they had to hold her mouth closed when she said it. 
Term
The Limbic System
Definition
A part of the brain that is devoted to making emotional noises, almost all animals have it. Deep in the brain around the brain stem. 
Term
Washoe
Definition
A chimp that was cross-fostered by the Gardiners, and was handed over to Roger Fouts (professor at the University of Oklahoma). 
Term
Roger Fout's criteria for linguistic behavior
Definition
Someone must be transmitting and someone must be receiving, the transmitter must be aware that the target is the receiver, the receiver must be aware that they are the target, and the receiver must be capable of becoming the transmitter. 
Term
The Angular Gyrus
Definition
At the back of the skull, an association area for association areas (allows us associate things like vision and sound), allows us to make cross-modal, non-limbic associations. 
Term
The Cenozoic Era (65 million years ago)
Definition
The age of mammals, began after the mass extinction of dinosaurs (Mesozoic).
Term
The extinction of the dinosaurs
Definition
A meteor off the shore of the Yucatan, the world became dark, meteor may have contained chemicals 10 times stronger than a nuclear weapon, only small-bodied animals survived (turtles, mammals, etc).
Term
Why did mammals survive the meteor?
Definition
They are small, which takes less energy. In a world that was cold and dark, mammals were able to maintain a constant body temperature. 
Term
Iridium
Definition
A layer of rock, only common to comets and asteroids, marks the line between Mesozoic and Cenozoic, exists in the earth's crust, found all over the globe. 
Term
The Modern Forest Ecosystem
Definition
When the sun came back out, a whole new forest ecology erupted. Explosion of birds created more flowering plants. 
Term
The Laramide Revolution
Definition
Before, the earth was a flat, lush and tropical world. The formation of mountains due to continental drift, created higher altitudes and took away from the tropical world climate. Led to all modern mountain systems like the Andes, Rocky Mountains, Pyrenees, Alps, Himalayas.
Term
Epochs of the Cenozoic
Definition
Paleocene (65 million)- explosion of animals, Eocene (55 million)- age of prosimians/modern orders of animals are recognisable, Oligocene (34 million)- age of anthropoids.
Term
Eocene punchline 
Definition
True primates. 
Term
Euprimates 
Definition
Prosimians of modern aspect (Lemurs). 
Term
Necrolemur
Definition
Looked like modern Tarsiers. 
Term
The Fayum
Definition
Valley, only a few miles from Cairo, the entire fossil record of Anthropoids (old world monkeys). 
Term
The Competitive Exclusion Principle
Definition
Dominants displace subordinates-- subordinates evolve into anthropoids-- anthropoids replace prosimians. 
Term
Aegyptopithecus (34 million)
Definition
post-orbital bar, bigger brain, still retained a long snout like a Lemur, sagittal crest, a possible hominoid ancestor?
Term
Utility of the Petrous bone and the Auditory Bulla
Definition
Help with diagnosing a primate in the fossil record, all primates have a petrous bone. 
Term
Evolution is driven by...
Definition
Food-getting. 
Term
ASL
Definition
Contains all the qualities of verbal speech. 
Term
Phylogenetic 
Definition
Hard-wired. A behaviour is defined as phylogenetic when it occurs inevitably. 
Term
Brocas area
Definition
Speech articulation. 
Term
Wernikes
Definition
Speech comprehension (where you hear the sounds of speech). 
Term
Angular Gyrus is present in...
Definition
Humans and Chimps. 
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