ANTHRCUL 101 1st Edition Lecture 12Outline of Last LectureI. Evolutionary SimilaritiesII. Humans and ApesOutline of Current Lecture I. Mapping our Hominin Selvesa. Homininsb. The Fossil Recordc. Hominin characteristicsCurrentLecture2/13: Meet the (Early) Humans!**When we talk about primates, were also talking about ourselves – when we discuss human vs. non-human primates, actually discussing what it means to be humanII. Mapping our Hominin Selvesa. When we study human evolution as a way of understanding ourselves much of the debate becomes a debate about race in the US at least – we need to undo thati. Video:1. Race is NOT biological: just because one gene (skin color) is different, other genes are almost the same2. Penguins are twice as genetically different from each other as humans are – fruit flies can be 10 times as different from each other as humans are from chimpanzees 3. Skin tone tied to amount of melatonin in skin – based on how much sunlight people can/need to absorb (northern vs. southern geographies), if you were to walk from the tropics to Norway you would see a continuous shift in skin color – no clear place where they go from “dark” to “light”4. There is as much diversity between the genes of two individuals inone “race” as there is between individuals in different racesThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.a. Some genes are more likely to be found in certain groups of people, like the gene for skin color, but this is not a racial trait – it’s a result of adaptations to b. Hominins: member of human lineage after its split from chimps 6 million years agoc. The Fossil Recordi. Utilizing relative and absolute datingii. Problems of “bias”1. Geological, political processes, other complicating factorsd. Hominin characteristics:i. Bipedalism: walking upright1. Reasons for bipedalism:a. Adapting to late Miocene environment?b. Shift in the Rift Valley separating chimps and hominins?c. Keeping a cool head in the tropical heat?2. Skeletal Demands of Bipedalisma. Relocation of Foramen Magnum (hole at the base of the skull) – from the back of your head to the bottom so neck can support weightb. Spine Curvature – adapts to support weight 3. By standing up, something shifts drastically in ability, possibilitiesa. Hands are free to do thingsi. “The space between ground and hand gets filled and the thing that fills it is called culture”ii. Larger brain-to-body ratio1. Follows bipedalism2. Complications with childbirth – pelvis needs to be flexible enough for a larger brain to come out but small enough that the baby doesn’t fall out iii. Increased tool useiv. Teeth patterns1. Patterns of large black teeth in early hominins, lost in subsequent human
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