ISE Biological Anthropology: Concepts and Connections

<p><strong>PREFACE </strong>xvi</p><p><strong>ABOUT THE AUTHOR</strong> xxi</p><p><strong><u>Introduction</u></strong></p><p>FAQs For Biological Anthropology&nbsp; &nbsp;3</p><p>How Old Is the Planet and What Organisms Have Lived on It Over That Time? 3</p><p>If Life on Our Planet Has Changed So Much Over Time, What About the Planet Itself? 6</p><p>Have Humans Changed? 6</p><p>Where Did Modern Science Come From? 7</p><p>Where Is Uzbekistan? 8</p><p><strong><u>Chapter 1 Introduction to Evolutionary Fact and Theory</u></strong> &nbsp;13</p><p>Anthropology Is the Study of Human and Nonhuman Primates 15</p><p>Anthropology Is a Scientific Discipline 16</p><p>Critical Thinking Is the Systematic Assessment of Information 16</p><p>The Scientific Method Is a Way of Testing Ideas About the World Around Us 18</p><p>Connections: That’s a Fact, Jack . . . Or Is It? 19</p><p>Scientific Investigation Is a Collaborative Process 21</p><p>Evolutionary Theory Is the Cornerstone of Anthropology 22</p><p>Evolution Is Both Fact and Theory 22</p><p>Connections: Making a Monkey Out of You? 22</p><p>Early Explanations of Life Were Both Philosophical and Religious 23</p><p>The Scientific Revolution Opened the Door to Systematic Study of the World 25</p><p>Evolutionary Thought Emerged From Scientific Collaboration 26</p><p>Charles Darwin Proposed Natural Selection as the Mechanism of Evolution 31</p><p>Connections: Can You Understand Evolution and Be Religious? 39</p><p>What We Know/Questions That Remain 40</p><p>Summary 40</p><p>Critical Thinking 41</p><p>Resources 42</p><p>References 43</p><p><strong><u>Chapter 2 Basics of Human Biology 45</u></strong></p><p>The Place of Human Beings in Nature 47</p><p>Where Do Humans Fit In? 47</p><p>Connections: Why Do Monkeys Look Like Little People and Our Dogs Understand Us? 47</p><p>How Are Relationships Among Organisms Determined? 48</p><p>Human Morphology: The Body’s Form and Structure 49</p><p>Tissues Cover Us and Bind Us Together 49</p><p>The Skeleton: Our Basic Form 50</p><p>The Musculature Interacts With the Skeleton 55</p><p>Connections: My Bones Ache... 55</p><p>All Mammals Share Common Skeletal Structures 55</p><p>Human Physiology: The Systems of the Body 57</p><p>The Circulatory and Respiratory Systems Transport Nutrients and More 57</p><p>The Nervous System and Brain Control the Actions of the Body and Assess the</p><p>Organism’s Surroundings 58</p><p>The Endocrine System Regulates and Communicates Hormonal Information</p><p>Throughout the Body 60</p><p>The Digestive System Processes Nutrients 61</p><p>The Reproductive System Enables Us to Produce Offspring 62</p><p>Connections: Whoa, Where Did That Come From? The Fascinating</p><p>Development of Human Genitals 64</p><p>All of These Systems (and More) Are Interconnected 64</p><p>What We Know/Questions That Remain 65</p><p>Summary 66</p><p>Critical Thinking 66</p><p>Resources 67</p><p><strong><u>Chapter 3 Introduction to Genetics and Genomics 69</u></strong></p><p>Heredity Is the Passing of Genetic Information From Generation to Generation 70</p><p>Connections: “Gene”—What Is in a Word? 71</p><p>DNA Is the Molecule of Heredity 72</p><p>DNA Is Found in Cells 72</p><p>DNA Has a Specific Structure 73</p><p>DNA Has Three Main Functions 74</p><p>Connections: Why It Is Important to Understand What DNA Does 82</p><p>Mendel’s Basic Model of Inheritance 82</p><p>Traits Are Passed From Generation to Generation 82</p><p>Mendel’s Work Continues to Inform Current Knowledge 84</p><p>The Relationship Between Genes and Traits Is Complex 85</p><p>Four Ways Genes Produce Traits 86</p><p>Are There Specific Genes for Certain Diseases? 87</p><p>Most DNA Doesn’t Appear to Do Anything! 87</p><p>Does DNA Cause Certain Behaviors? 88</p><p>Connections: My Genes Made Me Do It! 88</p><p>Population Genetics Helps Us Understand Evolution 89</p><p>What We Know/Questions That Remain 90</p><p>Summary 91</p><p>Critical Thinking 91</p><p>Resources 92</p><p>References 93</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong><u>Chapter 4 Modern Evolutionary Theory 95</u></strong></p><p>Evolutionary Change Occurs In Populations In Four Ways 96</p><p>Mutations Are Changes in the DNA 98</p><p>Gene Flow Is the Movement of Alleles Within and Between Populations 99</p><p>Genetic Drift Is a Change in Allele Frequency Across Generations Due to Random Factors 100</p><p>Current Concepts of Natural Selection Involve an Understanding of Genetics 101</p><p>Connections: Survival of the Fittest? Not Really 104</p><p>Speciation Is the Process by Which New Species Arise 108</p><p>Species Can Be Defined in Many Ways 108</p><p>Connections: Species, Schmeecies . . . I Know One When I See It and So Do They 109</p><p>Subspecies Are Divisions Within a Species 110</p><p>Phyletic Gradualism and Punctuated Equilibrium: Different Paces of Change 111</p><p>Similarities Can Result From Either Parallel or Convergent Evolution 112</p><p>Biodiversity in Evolution: Why We Should Care About Biological Variation 113</p><p>Connections: Why Conserve Stuff Anyway? 114</p><p>What We Know/Questions That Remain 115</p><p>Summary 115</p><p>Critical Thinking 116</p><p>Resources 117</p><p>References 117</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong><u>Chapter 5 Primate Behavioral Ecology 119</u></strong></p><p>Comparative Primatology Provides Insights Into Modern Human Behavior 120</p><p>The Living Primates Are Widespread and Diverse 120</p><p>Comparing the Primates Helps Us Understand Behavior 127</p><p>Connections: Monkey See, Monkey Do, and Humans Too? 129</p><p>To Study Behavior, We Have to Measure It 129</p><p>Specific Methodologies Are Used to Measure Primate Behavior 129</p><p>A Behavior Can Be Viewed From Five Perspectives 130</p><p>Behavior and Genetics Are Interconnected 131</p><p>Behavioral Ecology Provides the Basis for Evolutionary Investigations of Behavior 132</p><p>Socioecological Pressures Affect Organisms in Five Areas 132</p><p>Success of a Behavioral Adaptation Is Measured in Terms of Energy Costs</p><p>and Benefits 133</p><p>Reality Is More Complex Than Suggested by Cost-Benefit Analyses 135</p><p>Connections: Are All Men Jerks? 136</p><p>General Behavior Patterns in the Living Primates 137</p><p>Mother-Infant Bonds Are the Core of Primate Societies 137</p><p>There Are a Few Primary Grouping Patterns in Primates 138</p><p>Affiliation and Grooming Are Important in Primate Societies 138</p><p>Hierarchies and Dominance Help Structure Primate Societies 139</p><p>Dispersal and Life History Patterns Are Important to Social Behavior 140</p><p>Cooperation and Conflict Are Integral to Primate Societies 141</p><p>Social Organization in Two Nonhuman Primate Societies: Macaques and Chimpanzees 141</p><p>Macaques: A Widespread Primate Genus 141</p><p>Chimpanzees: Our Closest Relatives 146</p><p>Humans Are Also Primates, and Human Behavior Has an Evolutionary History 151</p><p>Social Organization and Behavior in Humans 152</p><p>Comparisons With Macaques 152</p><p>Comparisons With Chimpanzees 153</p><p>What Is Uniquely Human? 154</p><p>Connections: Why We Never Shut Up 154</p><p>What We Know/Questions That Remain 155</p><p>Conserving the Nonhuman Primates Is a Critical Challenge 156</p><p>Summary 156</p><p>Critical Thinking 157</p><p>Resources 158</p><p>References 158</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong><u>Chapter 6 Early Primate Evolution 161</u></strong></p><p>Fossils Provide Direct Evidence of an Organism’s Existence 162</p><p>Humans Are Members of the Order of Mammals Called Primates 165</p><p>A Very Brief History of the Mammals 165</p><p>Connections: Homiothermy is Cool! 167</p><p>Primates Are Mammals With Specific Characteristics 167</p><p>The Fossil Primates 168</p><p>The Earliest Possible Primates Are Found in the Paleocene 168</p><p>Why Did Primates Evolve Out of Early Mammalian Groups? 170</p><p>True Primates Appear in the Eocene 171</p><p>Anthropoids (Simiiformes) Radiate in the Oligocene 173</p><p>Connections: Why Care About 30-Million-Year-Old Dead Primates? 174</p><p>Hominoid Primates Radiate During the Miocene 176</p><p>Connections: Ok, So Is Gigantopithecus Bigfoot? 181</p><p>Nonhominoid Anthropoid Primates Radiate During the Pliocene and Pleistocene 182</p><p>Evolutionary Relationships Among These Fossil Primates Area Matter of Debate 182</p><p>What We Know/Questions That Remain 184</p><p>Summary 184</p><p>Critical Thinking 185</p><p>Resources 185</p><p>References 186</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong><u>Chapter 7 Early Hominin Evolution 189</u></strong></p><p>Connections: Why Walking on Two Legs Makes Birth Painful for Mom 191</p><p>Classification of Hominids/Hominins Is a Subject of Debate 191</p><p>Early Hominins Evolved Primarily in East Africa 195</p><p>Early Possible Hominins 196</p><p>Hominins of the Middle and Late Pliocene Were Bipedal and Sexually Dimorphic 200</p><p>Connections: Big Guys With Small Teeth Rock! 203</p><p>Were There Early Hominins in Southern Africa? 205</p><p>Evolutionary Relationships Are Unclear 205</p><p>Fossils Give Us Clues About Early Hominin Behavior 206</p><p>Habitat: Where They Lived 207</p><p>Diet: What Did They Eat, and How Did They Get It? 207</p><p>Tools: Did They Use Bone, Wood, or Stone Tools? 207</p><p>Social Life: How Did They Live Together? 208</p><p>The Bipedalism That Wasn’t 208</p><p>Connections: Hyenas, Wo
lves, and Saber-Toothed Cats, Oh My! 209</p><p>The Evolution of Bipedality Has Several Possible Explanations 209</p><p>What We Know/Questions That Remain 211</p><p>Summary 212</p><p>Critical Thinking 213</p><p>Resources 213</p><p>References 214</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong><u>Chapter 8 Plio-Pleistocene Hominins and the Genus Homo 217</u></strong></p><p>Changes at the Late Pliocene-Pleistocene Boundary 219</p><p>The Robust Hominins Had Unique Cranial and Dental Anatomy 220</p><p>The Genus Paranthropus: Hominins With Massive Chewing Adaptations 220 </p><p>Robust Hominin Behavior 225</p><p>The Gracile Hominins Shared Characteristics With Both Earlier and Later Groups 226</p><p>Genus Australopithecus: Three Plio-Pleistocene Forms 226</p><p>Are These Australopithecines Ancestral to Humans? 230</p><p>Early Homo: A New Genus Emerges 231</p><p>Connections: Where Is the Missing Link? 232</p><p>Gracile Hominin Behavior and the Advent of Biocultural Evolution 235</p><p>The Genus Homo Diversifies: The First Humans 237</p><p>A Classification Debate: One Genus but How Many Species? 238</p><p>Physical Characteristics of H. erectus 240</p><p>Geographic Distribution of H. erectus 241</p><p>Connections: Is that You Frodo? Ardi? 243</p><p>When Did Hominins Expand Beyond Africa? 245</p><p>Why Did Hominins Expand Beyond Africa? 246</p><ol><li style="margin-left: .5in;"> erectus Material Culture and the Expansion of the Biocultural Evolution 246</li></ol><p>Connections: What’s the Deal With Fire? 250</p><p>What We Know/Questions That Remain 251</p><p>Summary 252</p><p>Critical Thinking 253</p><p>Resources 253</p><p>References 254</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong><u>Chapter 9 The Rise of Modern Humans 257</u></strong></p><p>Archaic Homo Sapiens and the Changing Speed of Innovation 259</p><p>The Oldest Archaic Human Fossils Are Found in Africa 259</p><p>Archaic Human Fossils Are Found Across Eurasia 261</p><p>Archaic Humans Are Found in China but Not in Southeast Asia 262</p><p>Is Homo heidelbergensis a True Species? 264</p><p>The Neanderthals Were Not as Different as First Thought, but They Were Different 264</p><p>Connections: I’m No Neanderthal! 266</p><p>Material Culture of the Archaic Humans 267</p><p>Increased Complexity in Tool Use and Hunting 267</p><p>Dietary and Behavior Changes Associated With New Tool Kits 268</p><p>Social Patterns: High Levels of Communal Cooperation 269</p><p>Postmortem Modification of Bodies 270</p><p>Why Did the Neanderthals Disappear? 270</p><p>The Appearance of “Anatomically Modern” Homo sapiens 272</p><p>Anatomically Modern Humans Are Defined Morphologically, Not Behaviorally 272</p><p>The Earliest Anatomically Modern Fossils Are Found in Africa 273</p><p>The Eurasian Record Demonstrates the Spread of Modern Humans 274</p><p>Blades and Associated Industries Revolutionized the Human Tool Kit 277</p><p>Changing Technologies and Behavioral Patterns Affected Diet 279</p><p>Modern Humans Used Art and Symbols 279</p><p>Connections: Art for Art’s Sake? 281</p><p>Burial of the Dead Was Ubiquitous and Postmortem Modification Common 282</p><p>Connections: Why We Love Our Dogs (At Least Some of Us Do) 282</p><p>Current Human Patterns Began to Emerge 20,000 Years Ago 283</p><p>The Origin of Modern Humans Is a Matter of Debate 283</p><p>The Case for a Recent African Origin 284</p><p>The Case for Multiregional Evolution 287</p><p>The Case for Multiple Dispersals 288</p><p>As Usual, Reality Is Not This Clear 289</p><p>What We Know/Questions That Remain 290</p><p>These Models Influence the Way We Think About Human Differences 291</p><p>Summary 291</p><p>Critical Thinking 292</p><p>Resources 293</p><p>References 293</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong><u>Chapter 10 Human Biological Diversity in Context 297</u></strong></p><p>A Basic Summary of Human Evolution: The Origin of Behavioral and Biological Diversity 299</p><p>Humans Have Long Exhibited Biological Diversity 300</p><p>A Visible but Misunderstood Variation: Skin “Color” 301</p><p>Connections: Everyone Tans! But Skin Color is Still Culturally Defined 302</p><p>Another Visible Difference: Body Shape and Size 305</p><p>A Cornerstone of Variation Research: Skull Morphology 307</p><p>Connections: Skulls Are Us? 307</p><p>Sex Differences Are Seen in the Skeletal and Soft Tissue of Humans 309</p><p>The Impact of Disease Environments: Variation in the Human Immune System 311</p><p>Blood Groups Vary Within and Across Populations 312</p><p>Most Genetic Variation Is Found Within Populations 314</p><p>Human Biological Diversity Is Best Explained Using a Biocultural Approach 315</p><p>Natural Selection and Human Cultural Behavior 316</p><p>Examples of Selection and Adaptation in Human Variation 317</p><p>Race Is A Very Poor Way to Describe Variation In Homo Sapiens Sapiens 321</p><p>What Is the Evidence Regarding Biological Races in Humans? 322</p><p>Connections: Is High Blood Pressure a Black Thing? 324</p><p>There Is a Scientific Study of Human Biological Variation 325</p><p>Why Does the Notion of Biological Race Persist? 326</p><p>A Very Brief History of Racism 326</p><p>Modern Notions Are Also Due to a Lack of Context 328</p><p>What We Know/Questions That Remain 331</p><p>Summary 332</p><p>Critical Thinking 332</p><p>Resources 333</p><p>References 334</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong><u>Chapter 11 The Present and Future of Human Evolution 337</u></strong></p><p>How Do We Study Human Behavioral Evolution? 338</p><p>Sociobiology 338</p><p>Human Behavioral Ecology (HBE) 339</p><p>Evolutionary Psychology (EP) 339</p><p>Dual-Inheritance Theory (DIT) 340</p><p>Biocultural Approaches to Studying Modern Humans 341</p><p>A Modern Approach to Studying the Evolution (Past and Future) of Human Behavior 341</p><p>Humans Are Still Evolving 343</p><p>Diseases and Modern Humans 343</p><p>Connections: Can Evolutionary Perspectives Be Applied to Modern Medicine? 346</p><p>Cultural Patterns Influence Morphology 348</p><p>Culture, Evolution, and the Future: Where Are We Headed? 352</p><p>Human Densities and Global Population Are Dramatically Different Today 352</p><p>Genetic Manipulation Can Influence Our Evolution 356</p><p>Connections: Where Is That Banana From? 357</p><p>Some of Our Behavior Reflects Adaptations 357</p><p>Understanding Biological Anthropology and Understanding Ourselves 358</p><p>What We Know/Questions That Remain 359</p><p>Summary 359</p>