Anthro Midterm 1, UC BERKELEY UPDATED ACTUAL Questions
and CORRECT Answers
What are the four fields of anthropology? 1. archaeology - culture as interpreted through bones
2. cultural anthropology - study cultural practices
3. linguistic anthropology - how people make and use language
4. biological anthropology - theories of DNA
What topic of focus unifies all the fields of anthropology? It is the study of people
Linguistics the scientific study of the structure, sounds, and meaning of language
Archaeology study of culture via artifacts and relics of early mankind
Primatology the study of living primates and particularly their similarities and differences and
why they may exist
Skeletal Biology The study of the human skeleton in relation to other tissues such as muscles and
tendons.
Paleoanthropology study of anatomy and behavior of humans and our extinct relatives
What were the first origin myths and what was the The first origin myths found that the world is fixed and unchanging, life is a series
concept of fixity of species? of creations reflecting increasingly perfect organisms and there is a great
watchmaker designing people.
Fixity of species is a term which means all species remained unchanged
throughout the history of the earth
What is the Great Chain of Being? god, angels, humans, animals, plants, minerals
What contribution did John Ray and Carl Linnaeus make John Ray - defined and establish species (defined by individual capacity to
to classifications of organisms and our place in nature? reproduce)
Carl Linnaeus - added class and order, included humans in the animal kingdom
How did people interpret the fossil record in the early leonardo da vinci suggested that fossils are extinct organisms and the deeper you
17th and 18th century? go the older they are. BUT for a while they believed in biblical time frames
Lamarckian v Darwinian theories of evolution darwin: wanted to explain geologic record, suggested environment was shaping
and changing organisms
lamarck: animals drive to accomodate environment "inheritance of acquired
charecteristics"
Influences on Darwin's Theory of Evolution Lyell- slow incremental pace of geologic change
Malthus- resource competition
Wallace - discovered logic of natural selection
, What is selective intentional breeding and how did it help selective intentional breeding - The intentional breeding of organisms with
Darwin? desirable traits in an attempt to produce offspring with enhanced characteristics
or traits that humans consider desirable.
Darwin used this as a springboard to explain natural selection - its non purposeful
breeding
intentional v inadvertent artificial breeding intentional: breed for certain traits, aka wolfs to dogs
inadvertent artificial selection: peppered moths survived in ash
differential reproduction organisms with the best adaptations are most likely to survive and reproduce
What does survival of the fittest mean? fittest means relative reproductive success, how something best fits with the
environment
Does evolution mean progress? Evolution on earth is not about progress. It is spontaneous and leads towards
increasing complexity. It's a very complex bush.
Difference between stabilizing, directional, and Stabilizing - favors the average individuals in a population (ex: humans baby
disruptive selection weight, number of offspring)
Directional - selection favors extremes (ex: same variation of heights but overall
taller)
Disruptive - selection favors divergent forms (ex: male and female height
differences)
What are chromosomes? How many do humans have? A tightly coiled strand of DNA within a cells nucleus. Humans have 46 or 23 pairs
What is a gene and what is an allele? gene - a section of DNA that codes for a particular trait
allele - an alternative form of a gene
the gene for eye color has several variations (alleles) such as an allele for blue
eye color or an allele for brown eyes.
What did Mendel do? He crossbred pea plants and discovered the law of segregation (traits appear
separate in parents and are reunited in offspring) and also the law of independent
assortment ( genes for traits are sorted independently of one another)
Mitosis and Meiosis Differences Mitosis: somatic cells, produces 2 daughter cells, chromosome # is diploid (46),
used for growth and healing
Meiosis: occurs in gametes, 4 daughter cells, chromosome # is haploid, used for
sexual reproduction
When does crossing over occur? prophase I of meiosis, genetic info is exchanged between two chromosomes in a
homologous pair
and CORRECT Answers
What are the four fields of anthropology? 1. archaeology - culture as interpreted through bones
2. cultural anthropology - study cultural practices
3. linguistic anthropology - how people make and use language
4. biological anthropology - theories of DNA
What topic of focus unifies all the fields of anthropology? It is the study of people
Linguistics the scientific study of the structure, sounds, and meaning of language
Archaeology study of culture via artifacts and relics of early mankind
Primatology the study of living primates and particularly their similarities and differences and
why they may exist
Skeletal Biology The study of the human skeleton in relation to other tissues such as muscles and
tendons.
Paleoanthropology study of anatomy and behavior of humans and our extinct relatives
What were the first origin myths and what was the The first origin myths found that the world is fixed and unchanging, life is a series
concept of fixity of species? of creations reflecting increasingly perfect organisms and there is a great
watchmaker designing people.
Fixity of species is a term which means all species remained unchanged
throughout the history of the earth
What is the Great Chain of Being? god, angels, humans, animals, plants, minerals
What contribution did John Ray and Carl Linnaeus make John Ray - defined and establish species (defined by individual capacity to
to classifications of organisms and our place in nature? reproduce)
Carl Linnaeus - added class and order, included humans in the animal kingdom
How did people interpret the fossil record in the early leonardo da vinci suggested that fossils are extinct organisms and the deeper you
17th and 18th century? go the older they are. BUT for a while they believed in biblical time frames
Lamarckian v Darwinian theories of evolution darwin: wanted to explain geologic record, suggested environment was shaping
and changing organisms
lamarck: animals drive to accomodate environment "inheritance of acquired
charecteristics"
Influences on Darwin's Theory of Evolution Lyell- slow incremental pace of geologic change
Malthus- resource competition
Wallace - discovered logic of natural selection
, What is selective intentional breeding and how did it help selective intentional breeding - The intentional breeding of organisms with
Darwin? desirable traits in an attempt to produce offspring with enhanced characteristics
or traits that humans consider desirable.
Darwin used this as a springboard to explain natural selection - its non purposeful
breeding
intentional v inadvertent artificial breeding intentional: breed for certain traits, aka wolfs to dogs
inadvertent artificial selection: peppered moths survived in ash
differential reproduction organisms with the best adaptations are most likely to survive and reproduce
What does survival of the fittest mean? fittest means relative reproductive success, how something best fits with the
environment
Does evolution mean progress? Evolution on earth is not about progress. It is spontaneous and leads towards
increasing complexity. It's a very complex bush.
Difference between stabilizing, directional, and Stabilizing - favors the average individuals in a population (ex: humans baby
disruptive selection weight, number of offspring)
Directional - selection favors extremes (ex: same variation of heights but overall
taller)
Disruptive - selection favors divergent forms (ex: male and female height
differences)
What are chromosomes? How many do humans have? A tightly coiled strand of DNA within a cells nucleus. Humans have 46 or 23 pairs
What is a gene and what is an allele? gene - a section of DNA that codes for a particular trait
allele - an alternative form of a gene
the gene for eye color has several variations (alleles) such as an allele for blue
eye color or an allele for brown eyes.
What did Mendel do? He crossbred pea plants and discovered the law of segregation (traits appear
separate in parents and are reunited in offspring) and also the law of independent
assortment ( genes for traits are sorted independently of one another)
Mitosis and Meiosis Differences Mitosis: somatic cells, produces 2 daughter cells, chromosome # is diploid (46),
used for growth and healing
Meiosis: occurs in gametes, 4 daughter cells, chromosome # is haploid, used for
sexual reproduction
When does crossing over occur? prophase I of meiosis, genetic info is exchanged between two chromosomes in a
homologous pair
