1. Our place in the planet
1.1. Science
1.1.1. Scientific Revolution
1.1.1.1. Nicolaus Copernicus’ On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres (1543)
1.1.1.1.1. • Solar system is heliocentric
1.1.1.2. Some of the New Ideas:
1.1.1.2.1. Laws of motion and gravity
1.1.1.2.2. Circulatory system
1.1.1.2.3. Microscopic life forms
1.1.1.3. Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626): British statesman emphasized testing assumptions
1.2. A body of knowledge and a methodology
1.2.1. The scientific method
1.2.1.1. Identification of a problem or topic of interest (observation and a question)
1.2.1.2. Statement of hypothesis
1.2.1.3. Experiment/Observation/Data collection
1.2.1.4. Evaluation of the hypothesis
1.2.1.5. Construction of a theory •If the hypothesis can be repeatedly verified and stands
1.3. Hierarchical
1.3.1. Hierarchical nature of science
1.3.1.1. 1. Sociology
1.3.1.2. 2. Physiology
1.3.1.3. 3. Chemistry
1.3.1.4. 4. Physics
1.4. Progressive/Incremental
1.4.1. What is Evolution?
1.4.1.1. Biological change from generation to generation
1.4.1.2. Evolution is an observation about the natural world
1.4.1.3. What is evolution, as understood today?
1.4.1.3.1. • Evolution is the change (of gene frequencies) in a population over time
1.4.2. What is Evolutionary Theory?
1.4.2.1. Theories explain the progress of this biological change
1.4.2.1.1. Does not ask whether evolution occurs (facts)
1.4.2.1.2. But rather explains how evolution occurs (theory)
1.4.2.1.3. Early thoughts on origins
1.4.3. The problem of extinction
1.4.4. An expanding world
1.4.5. Fantastic new creatures!
1.4.6. Incredible human variation
2. Lecture1: Introduction to Anthropology and Physical Anthropology
2.1. What are Humans?
2.1.1. Taxonomy – Homo sapiens
2.1.1.1. Roughly 175,000 – 200,000 years old
2.1.1.2. The genus name Homo means “human” and extends back to around 2.5 million years ago
2.1.2. Bipedal
2.1.2.1. The only living primate to do so regularly
2.1.2.2. Bipedal primates are called hominids
2.1.2.3. Hominids are 5-7 million years old
2.2. Humans: a biocultural species
2.2.1. Human Biology
2.2.2. Culture
2.2.3. Physical Environment
2.2.4. Biocultural Review
2.2.4.1. Human variation is influenced by:
2.2.4.1.1. Inherited genes from our evolutionary past
2.2.4.1.2. Environmental circumstances, including learned and shared culture
2.2.4.2. Culture and biology
2.2.4.2.1. Biology does not determine a group’s culture
2.2.4.2.2. Why do certain cultural traits appear all over the world?
2.3. Being human
2.3.1. Tool making
2.3.2. Abstract thinking
2.3.3. Speech and communication
2.4. The word: 'Anthropology'
2.4.1. The systematic study of humankind
2.4.2. From the Greek:
2.4.2.1. Anthropos (ἄνθρωπος) = humanity
2.4.2.2. Logos (λογος) = word/study
2.4.3. Definition
2.4.3.1. The study of humankind, past and present, that draws and builds upon knowledge from the social sciences and biological sciences, as well as the humanities and the natural sciences.
2.5. The Four Branches of Anthropology
2.5.1. Cultural Anthropology
2.5.1.1. The study of cultures and societies of human beings and their very recent past. Traditional cultural anthropologists study living cultures and present their observations in an ethnography.
2.5.2. Archaeology
2.5.2.1. The study of past societies and their cultures, especially the material remains of the past, such as tools, food remains, and places where people lived.
2.5.3. Linguistic Anthropology
2.5.3.1. The study of language, especially how language is structured, the evolution of language, and the social and cultural contexts for language.
2.5.4. Physical Anthropology
2.5.4.1. Also called biological anthropology, physical anthropology is the study of human evolution and variation, both past and current.
2.6. Two Dimensions of Anthropology
2.6.1. Anthropology
2.6.1.1. Cultural Anthropology
2.6.1.1.1. Study of the culture of present-day societies
2.6.1.1.2. Ethnography
2.6.1.1.3. What is “Culture”?
2.6.1.2. Archaeological Anthropology
2.6.1.2.1. Archaeology
2.6.1.3. Biological Anthropology
2.6.1.3.1. Physical / Biological Anthropology
2.6.1.4. Linguistic Anthropology
2.6.1.4.1. Study of the construction and use of language
2.6.2. Applied Anthro
2.6.2.1. Medical Anthropology
2.6.2.2. Cultural Resource Management (CRM)
2.6.2.3. Forensic Anthropology
2.6.2.4. Non-government Organizations (NGO’s)
2.7. The big questions for this semester
2.7.1. When we became human?
2.7.1.1. Humanity comes by degrees, over millions of year
2.7.1.2. Bipedalism (>6 million years ago)
2.7.1.2.1. Even when bipedal, apes walk “bent hip, bent knee” due to their anatomy
2.7.1.3. Material Culture (2.6 Million years ago)
2.7.1.3.1. Objects used to manipulate environments
2.7.1.3.2. First simple tools made from rocks ~2.6 million years ago in East Africa
2.7.1.3.3. Chimps can make simple tools
2.7.1.4. Large brains (~2 million years ago)
2.7.1.5. Speech (~2 Million years ago)
2.7.1.6. Organized Hunting (>1.8 Million years ago)
2.7.1.6.1. Nonhuman primates do not use tools or travel long distances
2.7.1.7. Symbolic thinking (~100 thousand years)
2.7.1.8. Domestication of Plants and Animals (~11,000 years)
2.7.1.8.1. Plant and animal domestication began 11,000 to 10,000 years ago
2.7.1.8.2. Changed tools, mobility, health, behavior
2.7.2. How did we become human?
2.7.3. How did we become so diverse?
2.7.4. How did we become so impactful on the planet?
2.7.5. What do physical anthropologists do?
2.7.5.1. Human Biology
2.7.5.1.1. Study of:
2.7.5.1.2. Human genetics reconstructs:
2.7.5.2. Primatology
2.7.5.2.1. Study of non -human primates
2.7.5.2.2. Topics of study:
2.7.5.3. Paleoanthropology
2.7.5.3.1. Study of the fossil record of non-human primates and humans
2.7.5.4. Skeletal Biology and Osteology
2.7.5.4.1. Macroscopic study of the form and function of the human skeleton
2.7.5.4.2. Microscopic study of bone structure, growth, pathology, strength
2.7.5.5. Bioarchaeology
2.7.5.5.1. Determines the features of skeletons found in archaeological excavations
2.7.5.6. Forensic Anthropology
2.7.5.6.1. Help to identify features or identities of skeletons found in:
2.8. Course Topics Overview
2.8.1. This course covers the topics of human evolution and modern human variation, focusing on humanity’s biological roots and modern appearance
2.8.1.1. Our place within mammalian evolution
2.8.1.2. Evolutionary theory
2.8.1.3. Human population genetics
2.8.1.4. Behavior of monkeys and apes
2.8.1.5. Human evolution
2.8.1.6. Modern human variation
3. Lecture 2: History of evolutionary thought
4. Lecture 3: Heredity and biological evolution
4.1. The Big Question - Where does biological variation come from?
4.1.1. Preformation Hypothesis
4.1.1.1. Blending of Fluids
4.1.1.1.1. Blending of Fluids – Problems?
4.1.1.1.2. Blending vs. Particulate Inheritance
4.1.1.2. DNA Deoxyribonucleic Acid
4.1.1.2.1. DNA The molecular basis of evolution
4.1.1.2.2. DNA: The Blueprint of Life
4.1.1.2.3. Two important properties of DNA
4.1.1.2.4. The Steps of DNA Replication
4.1.1.2.5. Mendelian genetics, a summary
4.1.2. Evolution in action
4.1.2.1. MICROEVOLUTION AND MACROEVOLUTION
4.1.2.2. Evolution is…
4.1.2.2.1. Descent with modification
4.1.2.2.2. A genetic process
4.1.2.2.3. A process which takes place on the scale of a population
4.1.2.2.4. A process which takes many generations
4.1.2.2.5. The result of evolutionary forces which produce and redistribute variation
4.1.2.3. Evolutionary Forces
4.1.2.3.1. Mutation
4.1.2.3.2. Natural selection
4.1.2.3.3. Sexual Selection
4.1.2.3.4. Gene flow
4.1.2.3.5. Genetic drift
4.1.2.3.6. Nonrandom (assortative) mating
4.1.2.3.7. Forces of evolution can be observed at different levels:
4.1.2.4. Natural Selection
4.1.2.4.1. Natural Selection causes evolutionary change whenever there is genetic variation for traits that affect fitness.
4.1.2.4.2. Natural selection acts on the individual
4.1.2.4.3. Sexual Selection: A Special Case of Natural Selection
4.1.2.5. Evolution is not...
4.1.2.5.1. EVOLUTION IS NOT LAMARCKIAN
4.1.2.5.2. EVOLUTION IS NOT RANDOM
4.1.2.5.3. EVOLUTION IS NOT A LINEAR PROGRESSION FROM SIMPLE TO COMPLEX
4.1.2.5.4. HUMAN EVOLUTION IS NOT HUMAN PROGRESS
4.1.2.5.5. EVOLUTION IS NOT GOAL ORIENTED
4.1.2.6. EVOLUTION WORKS ON PRE-EXISTING STRUCTURES/PROCESSES
4.1.2.7. Polymorphisms and Natural Selection
4.1.2.7.1. Lactose Intolerance (Lab 1&2 info)
4.1.2.7.2. Dairy consumption (Lab 1 info)
4.1.3. Human variation: evolution + environment + culture
4.1.3.1. Adaptation (Lab 1 info)
4.1.3.1.1. Types of adaptations
4.1.3.1.2. Cultural responses
4.1.3.1.3. Adaptations to environment
4.1.3.1.4. Traits (physical, structural, behavioral) that increase an individual’s ability to survive and reproduce in a given environment
4.1.3.1.5. Purpose of Adaptation
4.1.3.1.6. Four Levels of Adaptation
4.1.3.1.7. Functional Adaptations
4.1.3.1.8. Adaptation: Bergmann’s Rule
4.1.3.1.9. Adaptation: Allen’s Rule
4.1.3.2. RESPONSES TO THERMAL ENVIRONMENTS
4.1.3.2.1. Vasodilation
4.1.3.2.2. Expansion of blood vessels
4.1.3.2.3. Helps radiate heat
4.1.3.2.4. Evaporative Cooling
4.1.3.2.5. Sweat cools body surface
4.1.3.2.6. Culture can elicit functional response
4.1.3.3. RESPONSES TO HIGH ALTITUDE
4.1.3.3.1. Stressors:
4.1.3.3.2. Hypoxic effects:
4.1.3.4. Nutrition
4.1.3.4.1. Malnutrition
4.1.3.4.2. Diet insufficient in quality
4.1.3.4.3. Obesity – excess nutrition
4.1.3.4.4. Undernutrition
4.1.3.4.5. Diet insufficient in quantity
4.1.3.4.6. Problem
4.1.3.4.7. Vitamin C
4.1.4. What is variation?
4.1.4.1. Differences between people
4.1.4.1.1. Within a population
4.1.4.1.2. Between populations
4.1.4.2. Human variation can be:
4.1.4.2.1. Genetic variation
4.1.4.2.2. Phenotypic variation
4.1.4.3. Genotype + Environment = Phenotype
4.1.4.4. All variation is caused by
4.1.4.4.1. Non-adaptive change (example: physical effects of disease)
4.1.4.4.2. Randomness (mutation, drift, flow)
4.1.4.4.3. Different degrees of adaptive change
4.2. What is a Population?
4.2.1. All inter-breeding individuals of a species in a local area
4.2.2. Gene flow
4.2.2.1. Distribution of the B Blood Type
4.2.3. Genetic Drift
4.2.4. Founder Effect (aka Bottleneck effect)
4.2.5. Assortative mating in humans
4.2.5.1. Examples:
4.2.5.2. Language: very high positive assortative mating, individuals with same language pair up much more often than would be expected by chance
4.2.5.3. Socio Economic Status: moderate positive assortative mating
4.2.5.4. Height: slight positive assortative mating
4.2.5.5. Redheads: moderate negative assortative mating - red haired individuals pair up less often than would be expected by chance
4.2.6. INBREEDING
5. Lecture 4: Evolution in Humans
5.1. How are human evolving?
5.1.1. Evolutionary processes act on Discrete and Continuous traits
5.1.1.1. Mendelian traits are discrete, controlled by alleles at one genetic locus, their phenotypic expressions do not overlap.
5.1.1.2. Polygenic traits are continuous, controlled by alleles from more than one genetic locus, each locus making a contribution (additive).
5.1.1.3. Polygenic Inheritance
5.1.1.4. Environment guides evolution
5.1.1.5. Evolution as tinkering
5.1.1.5.1. Homologies: Evolution as tinkering
5.1.1.6. Evolution shapes human diversity
5.1.1.6.1. ABO Blood Group –genetic drift, gene-flow, and maybe natural selection
5.1.1.6.2. HLA System – selection for diversity
6. Lecture 5: Modern human variation and the concept of race
6.1. Common Misconceptions
6.1.1. Humans naturally sort into separate races.
6.1.2. Different races differ in obvious ways.
6.1.3. Differences between races reflect underlying genetic differences.
6.2. Race and Ethnicity
6.2.1. Race: when an ethnic group is assumed to have a biological basis
6.2.2. Racism: discrimination against such a group
6.2.3. Race is a cultural category rather than a biological reality
6.2.4. Difficult to make precise distinction between race and ethnicity
6.3. The Social Construction of Race
6.3.1. Hypodescent: race in the United States
6.3.1.1. Descent: assigns social identity on the basis of ancestry
6.3.1.2. Hypodescent: children of a union between members of different groups are automatically placed in the minority group
6.3.1.2.1. Rule of hypodescent affects blacks, Asians, Native Americans, and Hispanics differently
6.3.2. eg. Race in the U.S. Census
6.3.2.1. 2010 census asked about both race and Hispanic origin
6.3.2.2. Attempts to add a “multiracial” category are opposed by interest groups
6.3.2.3. Choice of “some other race” in the U.S. Census tripled from 1980 to 2010
6.3.2.4. Canada’s census asks about “visible minorities
6.3.3. eg. Not US: race in Japan
6.3.3.1. Image of racial and ethnic homogeneity cultivated in Japan, despite presence of minority groups
6.3.3.2. About 10% of Japan’s national population are minorities
6.3.3.2.1. Majority Japanese define themselves by opposition to others
6.3.3.2.2. Japanese culture regards certain ethnic groups as having a biological basis
6.3.3.3. Burakumin
6.3.3.3.1. Descendants of historically low-status social class
6.3.3.3.2. Physically and genetically indistinguishable from the dominant population, but stigmatized as a separate, inferior race
6.3.3.3.3. Origin lies in historical tiered system of stratification
6.3.3.3.4. Discrimination against burakumin strikingly like discrimination experienced by U.S. Blacks
6.3.4. eg. Phenotype and fluidity: race in Brazil
6.3.4.1. Less exclusionary categories in Brazil allow individuals to change racial classification
6.3.4.1.1. Brazil lacks a hypodescent rule
6.3.4.1.2. Racial labels that people use to describe themselves or others can vary from day to day
6.3.4.1.3. Phenotype: organism’s evident traits, including skin color, hair form, facial features, eye color
6.3.4.2. Changing in the context of international identity politics and rights movements
6.4. The Concept of Race
6.4.1. Nationality?
6.4.2. Ethnic Group?
6.4.3. Color?
6.4.4. Religion?
6.4.5. Is race biological?
6.4.5.1. “Race” = subspecies
6.4.5.1.1. Group of individuals that share a common ancestor.
6.4.5.1.2. Geographically isolated from other members of their species
6.4.5.1.3. Not genetically isolated from other members of their species
6.4.5.1.4. Members possess discrete characteristics not possessed by other members of their species
6.4.5.1.5. Example of Subspecies
6.4.5.2. Monotypic species
6.4.5.2.1. (no distinct populations or races – no subspecies)
6.4.5.3. Polytypic species
6.4.5.3.1. (two or more populations that are clearly distinct from one another and do not generally interbreed, but which would interbreed freely if given the chance to do so)
6.4.5.4. Problems with the biological concept of “Race”
6.4.5.4.1. 1) HUMAN RACE REPRESENTS A BIOLOGICAL CONTINUUM (CLINE)
6.4.5.4.2. What causes light/dark skin coloration?
6.4.5.4.3. 2) NOT EVERY HUMAN POPULATION FITS INTO NEAT CATEGORIES.
6.4.5.4.4. 3) GROUPS OF TRAITS USED TO DEFINE “RACE” DON’T ALWAYS APPEAR TOGETHER
6.4.5.4.5. 4) The degree to which the environment influences physical characteristics is not always clear, but it can affect "race" determinations.
6.4.5.4.6. 5) “INTERBREEDING” BETWEEN “RACES” IS COMMON
6.4.5.4.7. 6) GENETICS AND INHERITANCE ARE COMPLICATED
6.4.5.4.8. Not biologically valid – no discrete groups
6.4.5.4.9. Race is a socially-constructed concept
6.4.5.4.10. Differs depending on place, time, subgroups, etc.
6.4.6. Vitamin D Hypothesis
6.4.6.1. Necessary for bone growth
6.4.6.2. Hypervitaminosis D
6.4.6.3. calcium deposits
6.4.6.4. Hypovitaminosis D
6.4.6.5. rickets & osteomalacia
6.4.6.5.1. Inadequate vitamin D = rickets
6.4.6.6. Need for Vitamin D production probably most significant selective force for depigmentation
6.5. How about the variation seen in humans?
6.5.1. Human variation expected if human diversity were organized in distinct biological races
6.5.1.1. Debunking the concept of race: About 85% of human genetic variation is within groups; only 15% is between.
6.6. What can DNA evidence tell us about “ races ” in modern humans?
6.6.1. All non-Africans are descended from this African group and they share a more recent common ancestor than the other three African groups.
6.6.2. Actually then, human variation should be seen more like this then.
6.6.3. So, genetic markers don’t correlate with differences between “races”
7. Lecture 6: Race and Racism
7.1. Knowledge
7.1.1. • Science: the acquisition of knowledge through the scientific method (i.e. to refute knowledge so that we can acquire new knowledge)
7.1.2. Knowledge… But what for?
7.1.2.1. Applying knowledge is key to improve our lives
7.1.2.2. That, however, is not always easy
7.2. Common cognition biases
7.2.1. Social desirability bias
7.2.1.1. Put forward opinions that we believe will be well received by others
7.2.2. Confirmation bias
7.2.2.1. We favor ideas that confirm our expectations
7.2.3. Motivated cognition
7.2.3.1. Belief that positive outcomes are more likely than they really are
7.2.4. Sunk cost fallacy
7.2.4.1. Because we invested on it, we keep doing what we’ve been doing long after it stopped being promising
7.2.5. In-group bias
7.2.5.1. We believe members of our group are more intelligent than others
7.2.6. Apophenia
7.2.6.1. We see patterns in noise/chaos
7.2.6.2. Halo effect
7.2.6.2.1. Opinions of famous individuals are more respected
7.2.6.3. False consensus effect
7.2.6.3.1. False consensus effect
7.2.6.4. Attentional bias
7.2.6.4.1. We consider a fact to be more likely the more often we have heard of it.
7.2.6.5. Bias blind spot – the mother of all biases!!!!
7.2.6.5.1. The belief that we are not biased
7.3. Attributes of the race concept
7.3.1. Essentialism
7.3.2. Biological determinismAge of Exploration 1500-1700s
7.3.3. Age of Exploration 1500-1700s
7.3.3.1. Use of ships to discover new distant lands
7.3.3.2. Caused a disconnect
7.3.3.3. Prior to this there was very little interest in “Race”
7.3.3.4. Different groups were described as different but not classified to nearly the same finite degree
7.4. History of the race concept
7.4.1. Linnaeus – 1707-1778
7.4.1.1. Europaeus albus (white European)
7.4.1.2. Americanus rubescens (Red American)
7.4.1.3. Asiaticus fuscus (Yellow Asian)
7.4.1.4. Africanus niger (Black African)
7.4.1.5. Monstrosus
7.4.2. Biological Determinism
7.4.2.1. Character and aptitude inherited
7.4.3. Biological divisions of race
7.4.4. Blumenbach – 1775
7.4.5. Caucasian
7.4.6. Ethiopian
7.4.7. American
7.4.8. Mongolian
7.4.9. Malay
7.4.10. Static
7.4.11. Based on skin color and skull morphology
7.4.12. 1700’s: Competing ideas of race
7.4.13. Monogenism
7.4.13.1. One origin
7.4.13.2. All from Adam and Eve
7.4.13.3. Plasticity
7.4.13.4. Human “degeneration” from a White, European origin
7.4.14. Polygenism
7.4.14.1. multiple origins
7.4.14.2. Humans originated in different places from different ancestors
7.4.14.3. Popular in Ancient Greece and Rome
7.4.14.4. Not popular again until 1700s
7.4.14.5. Did not follow the Bible
7.4.15. Anthropometry
7.4.15.1. Typological Concept: 1700-1900s
7.4.15.2. Humans could be divided into races based on objective “scientific” measurements
7.4.16. Anthropometry
7.4.17. Questioned by Franz Boaz (1858-1942)
7.4.17.1. Took cranial measurements in 18,000 immigrant families
7.4.17.2. Parents born in Europe
7.4.17.3. Children born in the US
7.4.17.4. Adult’s and children's head shapes differed to a mathematically
7.4.17.5. Racial “markers” aren’t static
7.4.17.6. Typological race concept invalid!
7.4.17.7. Environment affected phenotype
7.5. Physical Anthropology and “Scientific” Racism
7.5.1. Francis Galton (1822-1911)
7.5.1.1. English scientist
7.5.1.2. Common fear in 1800s that “civilized society” was being weakened by the failure of natural selection to eliminate unfit and inferior
7.5.1.3. Eugenics
7.5.1.3.1. Eugenics in America: 1900- 1930s
7.5.1.4. “Race improvement”
7.5.1.5. Hugely popular early 1900s
7.5.1.6. ~20,000 forced sterilizations in California between 1909 and 1963
7.5.1.6.1. Targeted mentally ill, physically deformed, blind, deaf, Native Americans
7.5.1.7. 1950s onwards
7.5.1.8. Despite reduced popularity:
7.5.1.8.1. 1950’s: Carleton Stevens Coon identifies 50 “subspecies”
7.5.1.8.2. 1994 Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray
7.6. Racial theories used to justify…
7.6.1. Slavery
7.6.2. Colonization
7.6.3. Immigration restriction
7.6.4. Forced sterilization
7.6.5. Genocide
7.7. The modern Anthropological view of “race”
7.7.1. There is substantial variation among individuals within populations • Some biological variation is apportioned between individuals in different populations • Race is not an accurate or productive way to describe human biological variation
7.8. So, biological races don’t exist, and yet they are all-important.
7.9. Ethnic Conflict
7.9.1. Black lives matter
7.9.1.1. Arose in response to incidents in the U.S. in which Black lives did not seem to matter to police or other local officials
7.9.1.2. Started with shooting of unarmed Black teenager, Trayvon Martin
7.9.1.3. Social media played prominent role with #blacklivesmatter
7.9.2. Anti-ethnic discrimination
7.9.2.1. Genocide: deliberate elimination of a group through mass murder
7.9.2.2. Ethnocide: destruction of an ethnic group’s culture
7.9.2.3. Forced assimilation: forcing an ethnic group to adopt the culture of a dominant group
7.9.2.4. Ethnic expulsion: removal of groups that are culturally different from a country
7.9.2.5. May create refugees: people who have been forced (involuntary refugees) or who have chosen (voluntary refugees) to flee a country to escape persecution or war
7.10. Redlining in Columbus
7.10.1. The outcome of the practice of "redlining" was to deny mortgages and business loans to minorities and lower income borrowers
8. Lab 1:Forces of Evolution
8.1. The emergence of dairying
8.1.1. The domestication and tending of dairy animals for milk and other animal products
8.2. The spread of agricultural complexes
8.2.1. Areas or societies associated with domestication and production of specific groups of plants
8.3. The lactase persistence allele
8.3.1. Adults with lactase persistence continue to produce and utilize the enzyme lactase to digest lactose (a sugar in dairy), while most mammals lose their ability to process lactose as adults
8.4. The sickle-cell allele
8.4.1. "Sickled" red blood cells are shaped like crescent-moons and cannot carry oxygen as easily as normal, doughnut-shaped red blood cells.
8.5. Natural selection
8.5.1. One of the four forces of evolution, natural selection occurs when alleles associated with greater relative reproductive success increase in frequency from generation to generation compared to others with limited reproductive success
8.6. evolution
8.6.1. change in allele frequency over time, within a population
8.7. locus
8.7.1. location of a gene on a specific chromosome in a genome
8.8. genes
8.8.1. sequences of DNA that code for proteins and regulate functions. Genes are the basic unit of inheritance
8.9. phenotypic trait(s)
8.9.1. the observable or measurable characteristics of an individual, which result from the combination of the expression of specific genotypes and the environment within which individuals grow
8.10. DNA
8.10.1. A molecule in the shape of a double helix, which carries the nucleotide bases forming genes
8.11. chromosomes
8.11.1. Large coils of DNA that compose an organism's genome. Humans have 22 pairs of autosomal chromosomes and 1 pair of sex chromosomes
8.12. autosomal chromosome
8.12.1. Sometimes just called "autosomes," these are all of the chromosomes (1-22, in humans) that are not sex chromosomes. They make up the majority of an organism's genome
8.13. alleles
8.13.1. A variant of a gene. Some genes have only one variant (monomorphic, or a fixed allele), while others have multiple alternative variants (polymorphic) that occur at different frequencies within and between populations
8.14. Mendelian traits
8.14.1. A trait that is determined by a single gene which has only two alleles, one dominant and one recessive
8.15. genotype
8.15.1. The combination of two alleles an individual has at a particular genetic locus
8.16. phenotype
8.16.1. the observable or measurable characteristics of an individual, which result from the combination of the expression of specific genotypes and the environment within which individuals grow
8.17. lactase
8.17.1. an enzyme used to process the sugar lactose, which is often found in dairy products.
8.18. lactase persistence
8.18.1. Adults with lactase persistence continue to produce and utilize the enzyme lactase to digest lactose (a sugar in dairy), while most mammals lose their ability to process lactose as adults
8.19. lactose
8.19.1. a sugar commonly found in dairy
8.20. recessive
8.20.1. For simple Mendelian traits, a recessive allele is overridden by the presence of a dominant allele in a genotype, making the phenotype exclusively represent the dominant allele's trait. An individual must have a homozygous recessive genotype (two copies of the recessive allele) in order to express the recessive phenotype
8.21. dominant
8.21.1. For simple Mendelian traits, a dominant allele is always expressed by the phenotype, regardless of how many copies of the allele are present in the genotype. An individual may be homozygous dominant or heterozygous and express the dominant phenotype
8.22. homozygous
8.22.1. A genotype with two copies of the same allele
8.23. heterozygous
8.23.1. A genotype with two different alleles
8.24. Mutations
8.24.1. A change to the genetic code (DNA). This can include the insertion, deletion, or replacement of individual nucleotide bases or entire sections of DNA
8.25. convergent evolution
8.25.1. The independent evolution of a similar trait in separate, unrelated populations
8.26. Punnett square
8.26.1. A NxN table that identifies all combinations of genotypes for an offspring based on the genotypes of the offspring's parents.
8.27. hemoglobin
8.27.1. A protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen
8.28. sickle cell disease
8.28.1. A genetic disease caused by having two copies of the HbS hemoglobin allele. Symptoms include anemia, sickle cell crises, and other complications along with reduced life expectancy due to the limited ability of their blood to transport oxygen effectively
8.29. sickle cell crises
8.29.1. when sickled cells get stuck in blood vessels, they can cause pain, ecchymosis, thrombosis, and loss of red blood cells
8.30. co-dominant
8.30.1. Co-dominant alleles are neither recessive nor dominant and so heterozygous individuals express both phenotypes at the same time or a combination between them
8.31. Malaria
8.31.1. a life-threatening parasitic disease caused by Plasmodium falciparum, which is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. Mosquitos breed in standing water.
8.32. adaptive
8.32.1. A trait for which a reproductive advantage can be illustrated in a given environment
8.33. niche construction
8.33.1. As organisms moves through their environments, they may alter local conditions, thereby changing their environments. Consequently, this "constructed" environment can itself select for advantageous traits within the organism's population
8.34. Genetic drift
8.34.1. A change in allele frequencies over time due to random chance or random events that cull population members
8.35. gene pool's
8.35.1. All of the alleles from all of the individuals in a breeding population
8.36. bottleneck effect
8.36.1. A collapse in allele counts and shift in allele frequency due to a rapid reduction in population, often as a result of a catastrophe of some kind or migration
8.37. Gene flow
8.37.1. A change in allele frequencies over time due to inter-population movement of alleles and breeding
9. Lab 2: Population Genetics
9.1. Population genetics
9.1.1. The study of genetic diversity within and between populations of the same species, with particular emphasis on the evolutionary forces shaping the makeup of the populations
9.2. allele frequencies
9.2.1. The fraction or percent of each variant allele of a gene in a population.
9.3. anthropogenic
9.3.1. Something that is caused or created by humans
9.4. acculturation
9.4.1. Bringing someone into a culture or society
9.5. fitness
9.5.1. an individual’s ability to reproduce and generate offspring who are also fertile
9.6. viable offspring
9.6.1. offspring who are fertile and can reproduce