Anth 125 Introduction to Biological Anthropology
Dr. Darlene Applegate
Spring 2008
Review Material for Midterm Exam 1

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The first midterm exam covers Unit 1 lectures, Relethford chapters 1-4, the "15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense" article, and video shown in class.

DISCLAIMER:  Though it is very complete, this study guide does not necessarily contain all the information that may appear on the test.

TERMS

• anthropology
• holistic
• cultural anthropology
• linguistic anthropology
• archaeology
• biological anthropology
• applied anthropology
• primatology
• paleoanthropology
• modern human biological variation
• demography
• osteology
• forensic anthropology

• immutable
• Great Chain of Being
• natural selection
• descent with modification
• differential reproduction
• isolation: geographic, reproductive, ecological
  
• particulate inheritance
  
• segregation
• independent assortment
• mutationists
  
• modern synthesis

• population
• endogamy
  
• microevolution
• macroevolution
• megaevolution
• Darwinian gradualism
• punctuated equilibrium
• adaptation (used as a noun and a verb)
  
• reproductive fitness
• contingent
• multilineal
• teleology
  
• mutation
• gene flow
• gene drift
• founder effect
• bottleneck effect
  
• natural selection
• normalizing selection
• diversifying selection
• directional selection
  

• DNA
• nucelotide
  
• adenine
• thymine
• cytosine
• guanine
  
• genetic code
• amino acid
• protein
• protein synthesis
• chromosome
• gene
• structural gene
• regulatory gene
• locus
• allele
• dominant
• recessive
• genotype
• phenotype
• homozygote /homozygous dominant / homozygous recessive
• heterozygote / heterozygous
• gamete / sex cell
  
• somatic / body cell
  

• Charles Darwin
• Alfred Russell Wallace
  
• Thomas Malthus
• Gregor Mendel
• James Watson
• Francis Crick
• Stephen Jay Gould
• Niles Eldridge

• age of earth, based on pre-Darwinian view of nature
• age of earth, based on geology today
• publication year of Origin of Species
• total number of human chromosomes, number of pairs of human chromosomes (in somatic cells)
• number of amino acids
  

• four subfields of anthropology
• four questions with which biological anthropologists are concerned
• three traditional subfields of biological anthropology
• pre-Darwinian view of nature, and which ones Darwin disputed
  
• purpose/goal of Darwin's book
• components of Darwin's theory
• how Darwin explained the origin of new species (how does the process work/flowchart)
• basic principles of modern evolutionary biology
• four forces of evolution
• structure of DNA
  
• why is DNA called the genetic code (relationship to protein synthesis)
  
• how simple traits are inherited (excluding Punnett square problems)
  

For this test, you will be responsible for the following topics from the Relethford text. Some of these were discussed in class, but others were not.

• what is anthropology
• seven characteristics of anthropology that distinguish it from other disciplines
• biological anthropologists at work (in terms of the topics they study)
• individuals' contributions to evolutionary thinking; Lamarck, Cuvier, Wallace, Lyell, Hutton
  
• science and evolution
• molecular genetics, excluding mitosis and meiosis
• Mendelian genetics, excluding the sections listed below
• evolutionary significance of mutations
• population genetics section on definitions of population
• evolutionary forces, excluding the sections listed below
• what is a species, species change
• adaptive radiation
• tempo and mode of evolution
• misconceptions about evolution
  

• how processes of DNA replication and protein synthesis work
• molecular genetics section on mitosis and meiosis and Human Genome project
  
• Mendelian genetics sections on linkage, crossing over, sex chromosomes and sex determination, genetics of complex physical traits, polygenic traits and pleiotropy, heritability, major genes
• types and rates of mutations
• cell biology
• genetics and behavior
• population genetics sections on genotype and allele frequencies and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
• evolutionary forces sections on selection against recessive homozygotes, selection for recessive homozygotes, selection for heterozygote, examples of genetic drift
• interaction of evolutionary forces
• nonrandom mating
• speciation
• extinctions and mass extinctions
• classification of species (will be on second midterm exam)
  

1.     The subfield of anthropology concerned with the study of variation in human culture of living or recently living groups of people is

a. archaeology.
b. biological anthropology.
c. applied anthropology.
d. cultural anthropology.
e. linguistic anthropology.

2.    The biocultural approach

a. involves comparing different human populations in order to identify common patterns of behavior.
b. considers the interaction of biology and culture in past and present human populations.
c. looks at how culture affects the human skeleton.
d. considers how humans successfully interact with the environment.
e. Both c and d are correct.

3.    Prior to Darwin's work, most Westerners believed all of the following except

a. all species on earth today were created at one time during one creation event.
b. no new life forms developed since creation.
c. fossils of extinct life forms represent organisms that did not survive the Biblical flood.
d. the earth is millions of years old.
e. humans are the most complex and most important life form on earth.

4.    Charles Darwin's theory of descent with modification through natural selection

a. attempted to explain how new species arise.
b. assumed that life was created originally by a supernatural being.
c. assumed that there was one or few life forms in the beginning.
d. argued that the environment determines what traits aid in survival and allow certain individuals to compete successfully and pass those traits to their offspring.
e. All of these are correct.

5.    Which of the following statements about genetics and inheritance is true?

a. DNA is called the genetic code because it carries instructions for assembling RNA, the building block of life.
b. An amino acid is a chain of bonded proteins.
c. Simple traits are those that have two alleles, one inherited from each parent.
d. Humans have 48 chromosomes.
e. Recessive alleles are always expressed phenotypically.

6.    True or False:  Anthropology can correctly be considered either a social science or a natural science.
 

7.    True or False:  The three traditional areas of emphasis in physical anthropology are demography, primatology, and forensic anthropology.
 

8.    True or False:  The four forces of evolution, according to modern evolutionary theory, are gene flow, gene drift, mutation, and artificial selection.
 

9.    True or False:  Lamarck suggested that physical traits acquired by parents due to need, want, or use can be passed to offspring.
 

10.    True or False:  Gene drift is the introduction of new genetic material into one population from another population.
 

11.    ________  is the scientific, holistic study of human cultural and biological variation.
 

12.    The idea of catastrophism as it relates to changes in life over time was described by  _________  .
 

13.    _________  are accidental, random changes in the genetic make-up of an individual.
 

14.    Chromosomes are divided into _______ , or segments that control the genetic code for one trait.
 

15.   An individual with one dominant allele and one recessive allele for a trait is describe as  _________  .

 
Click here for answers to the practice questions.