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ANTH Lecture NotesWeek 1: Theory and Scientific EpistemologyThe only contradiction between evolution and religion comes when you are dealing withLITERAL reading of historical documents.Science uses strong inference to advance understanding. It also can’t make precise predictionsabout the future of evolution. Science makes general predictions about the future.Three paths leading to the recognition of human evolution:1. Explaining the variation in life formsa. Aristotle (father of natural sciences)i. Great chain of beingii. Platonic thinking - things in the material world are reflections of idealformsiii. Existing giraffes are imperfect copies of the ideal form of giraffesiv. Adopted by the Catholic church (God created humans above all animals)b. Carolus Linnaeusi. Botanistii. A hierarchical classification of lifeiii. Taxonomyiv. Binomial nomenclature of genus and speciesc. Erasmus Darwini. Charles Darwin grandfatherii. First to suggest life evolvesd. Georges Cuvieri. Anatomistii. Demonstrated carnivore from its toothiii. Catastrophism (life forms went extinct because of a catastrophic event)e. Jean-Baptiste Lamarcki. First scientific theory of evolution because he had 2 mechanismsii. Inheritance of acquired characteristics through use and disuse1. Change in environment causes change in behavior2. Changed developed within the lifetime of an individual areheritable3. Challenged the belief that species were immutableiii. Organisms driven to greater complexity1. Organisms become more complex over time due to inherent drivetowards complexityf. Thomas Malthusi. Human populations have the capacity to increase exponentially, this leadsto overpopulationii. Natural populations are kept in check by killing off the excess populationg. Charles Darwini. HMS Beagleii. Read Malthusiii. Read Adam Smith (the invisible hand)iv. Didn’t publish paper until Alfred Russel Wallacev. Wrote a co-paper with Wallace (On the Origin of Species)2. Recognizing the Antiquity of the Planeta. Archbishop James Ussheri. Earth was created on Sunday, October 23, based off Old Testamentb. Charles Lyelli. Begin of geological processesii. Proponent of uniformitarianism (we can study processes today becausethey were happening the same in the past)iii. Gradualism in geology (things happened gradually over time)iv. Studied the age of Earth through Mt. Etnac. Lord Kelvin, William Thompsoni. Cooling experiments showed Earth to be at least 100 million years old3. Recognizing the Antiquity of Humanitya. Jacques Boucher de Perthesi. Excavations in France and discovered bones and fossilsii. Proved association of human made artifacts with extinct faunab. Pivotal Year - 1859i. Darwin publishes bookii. Prestwich and Lyell accept Boucher’s claimsiii. Huxley identifies the first specimen of an extinct species of humanWeek 2: Darwin’s Theories of EvolutionDarwin’s 5 theories of evolution:1. Species changea. Domestic plants and animals are different from their wild ancestorsb. Some animals that once lived no longer existc. Artificial selection - humans have selected traits we find desirabled. Natural selection does not have a long term goal rather than artificial selectione. Species change with no predetermined goal2. Evolution is gradual3. Evolution occurs through natural selectiona. Individuals that are better at surviving and reproducing will leave moredescendents and give their offspring advantageous traits4. Evolution leads to speciationa. The emergence of new speciesb. Galapagos finches, adaptive radiation, rapidly evolves into many different kinds5. All organisms share a common ancestorDarwin proposed “descent with modification”Biological evolution: evolution is the process of descent through modificationThree conditions for natural selection:1. Variation is a trait2. Inheritance of the trait3. Variants of the traits cause differential reproductive successTypes of natural selection:● Directional selection (direction can change over time, peppered moth)● Stabilizing selection (intermediate form of trait, finches eating seeds)● Disruptive selection (environment favors both extremes, different phenotypes coexisting)Selection optimizes reproductive success over the lifetime of the individual (masked boobie)Types of sexual selection:● Male-male competition● Female mate choiceThree major fallacies about evolution:1. Evolution as progressa. Human evolution is not linear2. The Naturalistic fallacya. What is found in nature is not always morally justifiable3. Survival of the fittest is not accurateNatural selection is not goal oriented and always involves tradeoffs.Genetics and Inheritance● Blended inheritance first challenged by Gregor Mendel● Pea plants with two variable traits (green or yellow, smooth or wrinkled)● True breeding plant always produce offspring that look like their parents● Mendel cross true green plant and true yellow plant, offspring were all yellow, nextgeneration had one green, appears at a rate from 1 to 3Mendel’s Three Postulates1. Particles of inheritance (genes) occur in pairs2. Genetic information is inherited from both parents, but only one version is expressed (notblended)3. Each particle has an equal chance of being the next trait, Law of Random SegregationGenotype vs phenotype● Genotype is genetic makeup, phenotype is expression of gene that we can observeLaw of Independent Assortment● Presence of absence of one characteristic does not affectTwo types of cells:1. Somatic cells (makeup organs, body parts)2. Gametes (sex cells, egg and sperm)Somatic vs gametes● Somatic are diploid, have two copies of genetics● Gametes are haploid have one copyEach nucleotide is composed of phosphate (sugar backbone) and ATCG (A and T, C and G)DNA is wrapped around histones, and those are further coiled into chromosomesMonogenic traits are controlled by a single genePolygenic traits are controlled by many genesPleiotropic traits are controlled by a single gene, 3 traits, one gene affects many traitsFunctions of DNA:1. Replicatesa. Genetic info is passed on by replicatingb. Mutation is a source of new genetic variationc. Mitosis is when somatic cells divide and replicate, resulting in two identicaldaughter cells, they are diploidd. Meiosis is when gametes divide and replicate, resulting in four haploid daughtercells, each cell only has one set of chromosomes2. Protein synthesisa. Proteins are amino acid chainsb. Transcription (nucleus) and translation (ribosomes)c. DNA to RNA to


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U of M ANTH 1001 - ANTH Lecture Notes

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