Biological anthropology concepts and connections

Description

Biological Anthropology: Concepts and Connections shows the relevance of anthropological concepts to today's students and encourages critical thinking. Throughout the text and especially in its many “Connections” features, Agustin Fuentes links anthropological concepts and questions to students’ lives. One of the top scholars in the field of biological anthropology, Agustin Fuentes’ current research looks at the big questions of why humans do what they do and feel the way they feel. He is committed to an integrated, holistic anthropological approach. Fuentes wrote this text to help answer the “so what” questions and make anthropological knowledge relevant to everyday life. Title Contents Introduction FAQs For Biological Anthropology How Old Is the Planet and What Organisms Have Lived on It Over That Time? If Life on Our Planet Has Changed So Much Over Time, What About the Planet Itself? Have Humans Changed? Where Did Modern Science Come From? Where Is Uzbekistan? Chapter 1 Introduction to Evolutionary Fact and Theory Anthropology Is the Study of Human and Nonhuman Primates Anthropology Is a Scientifi c Discipline Critical Thinking Is the Systematic Assessment of Information The Scientifi c Method Is a Way of Testing Ideas About the World Around Us Connections: That’s a Fact, Jack Scientifi c Investigation Is a Collaborative Process Evolutionary Theory Is the Cornerstone of Anthropology Evolution Is Both Fact and Theory Connections: Making a Monkey Out of You? Early Explanations of Life Were Both Philosophical and Religious The Scientifi c Revolution Opened the Door to Systematic Study of the World Evolutionary Thought Emerged From Scientifi c Collaboration Charles Darwin Proposed Natural Selection as the Mechanism of Evolution Connections: Can You Understand Evolution and Be Religious? What We Know/Questions That Remain Summary Critical Thinking Resources References Chapter 2 Basics of Human Biology The Place of Human Beings in Nature Where Do Humans Fit In? Connections: Why Do Monkeys Look Like Little People and Our Dogs Understand Us? How Are Relationships Among Organisms Determined? Human Morphology: The Body’s Form and Structure Tissues Cover Us and Bind Us Together The Skeleton: Our Basic Form The Musculature Interacts With the Skeleton Connections: My Bones Ache… All Mammals Share Common Skeletal Structures Human Physiology: The Systems of the Body The Circulatory and Respiratory Systems Transport Nutrients and More The Nervous System and Brain Control the Actions of the Body and Assess the Organism’s Surroundings The Endocrine System Regulates and Communicates Hormonal Information Throughout the Body The Digestive System Processes Nutrients The Reproductive System Enables Us to Produce Off spring Connections: Whoa, Where Did That Come From? The Fascinating Development of Human Genitals All of These Systems (and More) Are Interconnected What We Know/Questions That Remain Summary Critical Thinking Resources Chapter 3 Introduction to Genetics and Genomics Heredity Is the Passing of Genetic Information From Generation to Generation Connections: “Gene”—What Is in a Word? DNA Is the Molecule of Heredity DNA Is Found in Cells DNA Has a Specifi c Structure DNA Has Three Main Functions Connections: Why It Is Important to Understand What DNA Does Mendel’s Basic Model of Inheritance Traits Are Passed From Generation to Generation Mendel’s Work Continues to Inform Current Knowledge The Relationship Between Genes and Traits Is Complex Four Ways Genes Produce Traits Are There Specifi c Genes for Certain Diseases? Most DNA Doesn’t Appear to Do Anything! Does DNA Cause Certain Behaviors? Connections: My Genes Made Me Do It! Population Genetics Helps Us Understand Evolution What We Know/Questions That Remain Summary Critical Thinking Resources References Chapter 4 Modern Evolutionary Theory Evolutionary Change Occurs In Populations In Four Ways Mutations Are Changes in the DNA Gene Flow Is the Movement of Alleles Within and Between Populations Genetic Drift Is a Change in Allele Frequency Across Generations Due to Random Factors Current Concepts of Natural Selection Involve an Understanding of Genetics Connections: Survival of the Fittest? Not Really The Four Core Processes Do Not Explain All Change Speciation Is the Process by Which New Species Arise Species Can Be Defi ned in Many Ways Connections: Species, Schmeecies I See It and So Do They Subspecies Are Divisions Within a Species Phyletic Gradualism and Punctuated Equilibrium: Diff erent Paces of Change Similarities Can Result From Either Parallel or Convergent Evolution Biodiversity in Evolution: Why We Should Care About Biological Variation Connections: Why Conserve Stuff Anyway? What We Know/Questions That Remain Summary Critical Thinking Resources References Chapter 5 Primate Behavioral Ecology Comparative Primatology Provides Insights Into Modern Human Behavior The Living Primates Are Widespread and Diverse Comparing the Primates Helps Us Understand Behavior Connections: Monkey See, Monkey Do, and Humans Too? To Study Behavior, We Have to Measure It Specifi c Methodologies Are Used to Measure Primate Behavior A Behavior Can Be Viewed From Five Perspectives Behavior and Genetics Are Interconnected Behavioral Ecology Provides the Basis for Evolutionary Investigations of Behavior Socioecological Pressures Aff ect Organisms in Five Areas Success of a Behavioral Adaptation Is Measured in Terms of Energy Costs and Benefi ts Reality Is More Complex Than Suggested by Cost-Benefi t Analyses Connections: Are All Men Jerks? General Behavior Patterns in the Living Primates Mother-Infant Bonds Are the Core of Primate Societies There Are a Few Primary Grouping Patterns in Primates Affi liation and Grooming Are Important in Primate Societies Hierarchies and Dominance Help Structure Primate Societies Dispersal and Life History Patterns Are Important to Social Behavior Cooperation and Confl ict Are Integral to Primate Societies Social Organization in Two Nonhuman Primate Societies: Macaques and Chimpanzees Macaques: A Widespread Primate Genus Chimpanzees: Our Closest Relatives Humans Are Also Primates, and Human Behavior Has an Evolutionary History Social Organization and Behavior in Humans Comparisons With Macaques Comparisons With Chimpanzees What Is Uniquely Human? Connections: Why We Never Shut Up What We Know/Questions That Remain Conserving the Nonhuman Primates Is a Critical Challenge Summary Critical Thinking Resources References Chapter 6 Early Primate Evolution Fossils Provide Direct Evidence of an Organism’s Existence Humans Are Members of the Order of Mammals Called Primates A Very Brief History of the Mammals Connections: Homiothermy is Cool! Primates Are Mammals With Specifi c Characteristics The Fossil Primates The Earliest Possible Primates Are Found in the Paleocene Why Did Primates Evolve Out of Early Mammalian Groups? True Primates Appear in the Eocene Anthropoids (Simiiformes) Radiate in the Oligocene Connections: Why Care About 30-Million-Year-Old Dead Primates? Hominoid Primates Radiate During the Miocene Connections: Ok, So Is Gigantopithecus Bigfoot? Nonhominoid Anthropoid Primates Radiate During the Pliocene and Pleistocene Evolutionary Relationships Among These Fossil Primates Are a Matter of Debate What We Know/Questions That Remain Summary Critical Thinking Resources References Chapter 7 Early Hominin Evolution Connections: Why Walking on Two Legs Makes Birth Painful for Mom Classifi cation of Hominids/Hominins Is a Subject of Debate Early Hominins Evolved Primarily in East Africa Early Possible Hominins Hominins of the Middle and Late Pliocene Were Bipedal and Sexually Dimorphic Connections: Big Guys With Small Teeth Rock! Were There Early Hominins in Southern Africa? Evolutionary Relationships Are Unclear Fossils Give Us Clues About Early Hominin Behavior Habitat: Where They Lived Diet: What Did They Eat, and How Did They Get It? Tools: Did They Use Bone, Wood, or Stone Tools? Social Life: How Did They Live Together? The Bipedalism That Wasn’t Connections: Hyenas, Wolves, and Saber-Toothed Cats, Oh My! The Evolution of Bipedality Has Several Possible Explanations What We Know/Questions That Remain Summary Critical Thinking Resources References Chapter 8 Plio-Pleistocene Hominins and the Genus Homo Changes at the Late Pliocene-Pleistocene Boundary The Robust Hominins Had Unique Cranial and Dental Anatomy The Genus Paranthropus: Hominins With Massive Chewing Adaptations Robust Hominin Behavior The Gracile Hominins Shared Characteristics With Both Earlier and Later Groups Genus Australopithecus: Three Plio-Pleistocene Forms Are These Australopithecines Ancestral to Humans? Early Homo: A New Genus Emerges Connections: Where Is the Missing Link? Gracile Hominin Behavior and the Advent of Biocultural Evolution The Genus Homo Diversifi es: The First Humans A Classifi cation Debate: One Genus but How Many Species? Physical Characteristics of H. erectus Geographic Distribution of H. erectus Connections: Is that You Frodo? Ardi? When Did Hominins Expand Beyond Africa? Why Did Hominins Expand Beyond Africa? H. erectus Material Culture and the Expansion of the Biocultural Evolution Connections: What’s the Deal With Fire? What We Know/Questions That Remain Summary Critical Thinking Resources References Chapter 9 The Rise of Modern Humans Archaic Homo Sapiens and the Changing Speed of Innovation The Oldest Archaic Human Fossils Are Found in Africa Archaic Human Fossils Are Found Across Eurasia Archaic Humans Are Found in China but Not in Southeast Asia Is Homo heidelbergensis a True Species? The Neanderthals Were Not as Diff erent as First Thought, but They Were Diff erent Connections: I’m No Neanderthal! Material Culture of the Archaic Humans Increased Complexity in Tool Use and Hunting Dietary and Behavior Changes Associated With New Tool Kits Social Patterns: High Levels of Communal Cooperation Postmortem Modifi cation of Bodies Why Did the Neanderthals Disappear? The Appearance of “Anatomically Modern” Homo sapiens Anatomically Modern Humans Are Defi ned Morphologically, Not Behaviorally The Earliest Anatomically Modern Fossils Are Found in Africa The Eurasian Record Demonstrates the Spread of Modern Humans Material Culture Becomes Very Complex With the Appearance of Modern Humans Blades and Associated Industries Revolutionized the Human Tool Kit Changing Technologies and Behavioral Patterns Aff ected Diet Modern Humans Used Art and Symbols Connections: Art for Art’s Sake? Burial of the Dead Was Ubiquitous and Postmortem Modifi cation Common Connections: Why We Love Our Dogs (At Least Some of Us Do) Current Human Patterns Began to Emerge 20,000 Years Ago The Origin of Modern Humans Is a Matter of Debate The Case for a Recent African Origin The Case for Multiregional Evolution The Case for Multiple Dispersals As Usual, Reality Is Not This Clear What We Know/Questions That Remain These Models Infl uence the Way We Think About Human Diff erences Summary Critical Thinking Resources References Chapter 10 Human Biological Diversity in Context A Basic Summary of Human Evolution: The Origin of Behavioral and Biological Diversity Humans Have Long Exhibited Biological Diversity A Visible but Misunderstood Variation: Skin “Color” Connections: Everyone Tans! But Skin Color is Still Culturally Defi ned Another Visible Diff erence: Body Shape and Size A Cornerstone of Variation Research: Skull Morphology Connections: Skulls Are Us? Sex Diff erences Are Seen in the Skeletal and Soft Tissue of Humans The Impact of Disease Environments: Variation in the Human Immune System Blood Groups Vary Within and Across Populations Most Genetic Variation Is Found Within Populations Human Biological Diversity Is Best Explained Using a Biocultural Approach Natural Selection and Human Cultural Behavior Examples of Selection and Adaptation in Human Variation Race Is A Very Poor Way to Describe Variation In Homo Sapiens Sapiens What Is the Evidence Regarding Biological Races in Humans? Connections: Is High Blood Pressure a Black Thing? There Is a Scientifi c Study of Human Biological Variation Why Does the Notion of Biological Race Persist? A Very Brief History of Racism Modern Notions Are Also Due to a Lack of Context What We Know/Questions That Remain Summary Critical Thinking Resources References Chapter 11 The Present and Future of Human Evolution How Do We Study Human Behavioral Evolution? Sociobiology Human Behavioral Ecology (HBE) Evolutionary Psychology (EP) Dual-Inheritance Theory (DIT) Biocultural Approaches to Studying Modern Humans A Modern Approach to Studying the Evolution (Past and Future) of Human Behavior Humans Are Still Evolving Diseases and Modern Humans Connections: Can Evolutionary Perspectives Be Applied to Modern Medicine? Cultural Patterns Infl uence Morphology Culture, Evolution, and the Future: Where Are We Headed? Human Densities and Global Population Are Dramatically Diff erent Today Genetic Manipulation Can Infl uence Our Evolution Connections: Where Is That Banana From? Some of Our Behavior Refl ects Adaptations Understanding Biological Anthropology and Understanding Ourselves What We Know/Questions That Remain Summary Critical Thinking Resources References CREDITS GLOSSARY INDEX