Biological Anthropology Exam 1
Review Questions and Answers
100% Pass
Primate - ✔✔Member of the mammalian order Primates, including prosmians,
monkeys, apes, and humans, defined by a suite of anatomical and behavioral traits
Evolution - ✔✔A change in the frequency of a gene or a trait in a population over
multiple generations
Biological anthropology - ✔✔The study of humans as biological organisms, considered
in an evolutionary framework; sometimes called physical anthropology (origin of
modern species/biological variation)
Hominin - ✔✔A member of the primate family Hominidae, distinguished by bipedal
posture and, in more recently evolved species, a large brain
Adaptation - ✔✔A trait that increases the reproductive success of an organism,
produced by natural selection in the context of a particular environment
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,Anthropology - ✔✔The study of humankind in a cross-cultural context...includes
cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, archaeology, and biological
anthropology (in all times and places)
Culture - ✔✔The sum total of learned traditions, values and beliefs that groups of
people (and a few species of highly-intelligent animals) possess
Biocultural anthropology - ✔✔The study of the interaction between biology and culture,
which plays a role in most human traits
Cultural anthropology - ✔✔The study of human societies in a cross-cultural context; the
subdivision that includes ethnology, archaeology, and linguistics (all aspects of human
behavior)
Ethnology - ✔✔The study of human societies, their traditions, rituals, beliefs, and the
differences between societies in these traits
Ethnography - ✔✔The practice of cultural anthropology; Studying the minute to minute
workings of human societies; especially non-Western
Linguistic anthropology - ✔✔The comparative study of language, its origins, and use in
culture; also called anthropological linguistics; acquisition in infancy and childhood
Archaeology - ✔✔The study of the material culture of past peoples
Artifacts - ✔✔The objects, from tools to art, left by earlier generations of people
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, Material culture - ✔✔The objects or artifacts of past human societies
Paleoanthropology - ✔✔The study of the fossil record of ancestral humans and their
primate kin
Osteology - ✔✔The study of the skeleton
Paleopathology - ✔✔The study of diseases in ancestral human populations
Bioarchaeology - ✔✔The study of human remains in an archaeological context
Forensic anthropology - ✔✔The study of human remains applied to legal context
Primatology - ✔✔The study of the nonhuman primates and their anatomy, genetics,
behavior, and ecology
Human biology - ✔✔Human growth and development, adaptation to environment
extremes and human genetics
Physical anthropology - ✔✔The study of humans as biological organisms, considered in
an evolutionary framework
Observation - ✔✔Gathering of scientific information by watching a phenomenon
Deduction - ✔✔A conclusion that follows logically from a set of observations
Hypothesis - ✔✔A preliminary explanation of a phenomenon; Formation is the first
step of the scientific method
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Review Questions and Answers
100% Pass
Primate - ✔✔Member of the mammalian order Primates, including prosmians,
monkeys, apes, and humans, defined by a suite of anatomical and behavioral traits
Evolution - ✔✔A change in the frequency of a gene or a trait in a population over
multiple generations
Biological anthropology - ✔✔The study of humans as biological organisms, considered
in an evolutionary framework; sometimes called physical anthropology (origin of
modern species/biological variation)
Hominin - ✔✔A member of the primate family Hominidae, distinguished by bipedal
posture and, in more recently evolved species, a large brain
Adaptation - ✔✔A trait that increases the reproductive success of an organism,
produced by natural selection in the context of a particular environment
Emily Charlene © All Rights Reserved 2025. 1
,Anthropology - ✔✔The study of humankind in a cross-cultural context...includes
cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, archaeology, and biological
anthropology (in all times and places)
Culture - ✔✔The sum total of learned traditions, values and beliefs that groups of
people (and a few species of highly-intelligent animals) possess
Biocultural anthropology - ✔✔The study of the interaction between biology and culture,
which plays a role in most human traits
Cultural anthropology - ✔✔The study of human societies in a cross-cultural context; the
subdivision that includes ethnology, archaeology, and linguistics (all aspects of human
behavior)
Ethnology - ✔✔The study of human societies, their traditions, rituals, beliefs, and the
differences between societies in these traits
Ethnography - ✔✔The practice of cultural anthropology; Studying the minute to minute
workings of human societies; especially non-Western
Linguistic anthropology - ✔✔The comparative study of language, its origins, and use in
culture; also called anthropological linguistics; acquisition in infancy and childhood
Archaeology - ✔✔The study of the material culture of past peoples
Artifacts - ✔✔The objects, from tools to art, left by earlier generations of people
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, Material culture - ✔✔The objects or artifacts of past human societies
Paleoanthropology - ✔✔The study of the fossil record of ancestral humans and their
primate kin
Osteology - ✔✔The study of the skeleton
Paleopathology - ✔✔The study of diseases in ancestral human populations
Bioarchaeology - ✔✔The study of human remains in an archaeological context
Forensic anthropology - ✔✔The study of human remains applied to legal context
Primatology - ✔✔The study of the nonhuman primates and their anatomy, genetics,
behavior, and ecology
Human biology - ✔✔Human growth and development, adaptation to environment
extremes and human genetics
Physical anthropology - ✔✔The study of humans as biological organisms, considered in
an evolutionary framework
Observation - ✔✔Gathering of scientific information by watching a phenomenon
Deduction - ✔✔A conclusion that follows logically from a set of observations
Hypothesis - ✔✔A preliminary explanation of a phenomenon; Formation is the first
step of the scientific method
Emily Charlene © All Rights Reserved 2025. 3
