Physical Anthropology is described as one of the branches of anthropology that specifically deals with the aspect of evolutionary biology, genetics, physical variation, classification and human development .
1. PALEOANTHROPOLOGY - is one of the subjects under physical anthropology that focuses on the study of fossil records to unlock the secrets of the puzzle that is human evolution.
2. NEUROANTHROPOLOGY - is a subject in physical anthropology that talks about the evolutionary process and transformation of the brain and how it influences human evolutionary behavior. It’s also known as the link between anthropology and neuroscience that tackles the subject of how culture and brain chemistry makes us who we are.
3. BIOMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY - is one of the branches of physical anthropology that tackles the realm of human biology and the science of human health. It attempts to explain and unravel the rather complicated cultural, biological and evolutionary processes that affect human health and the various factors that influence and cause the different diseases in humans.
4. PRIMATOLOGY- basically studies primates and their social behaviors. This branch of physical anthropology focuses on studying and comparing the behavior of primates; our closest cousins, with that of ours. The goal is to fully understand primate evolution and how they think and interact.
In Biology and Physical Anthropology, adaptation talks about the process of evolutionary changes that occur in all living organisms that enable them to become better suited and physically equipped with qualities that help them survive their environment and the changes that happen therein.
Kin Selection is a theory formulated by biologist W.D. Hamilton that aims to help explain the issues involving altruism. This theory suggests the importance and the altruism as to why people are most likely inclined to help out blood relations to ensure the chances and increases the possibility of gene transmission among future generations. In a nutshell; as individuals are more closely related, there is a greater inclination of helping each other out.
Natural Selection explains the distinction involving the survival or reproduction of an organism as one of the functions of their individual physical attributes. This further explains the different traits of individuals that make them superior compared to others. Sexual selection on the other hand serves as a way to enhance secondary sexual characters of a phenotype. A very good example of which is the morphology the differentiates the reproductive system of the males from the females.
Phenotypical Plasticity is defined as the capability of an organism to alter its phenotype to adapt to the changes happening in its natural environment. The term Phenotypical Plasticity was originally believed to influence the conditions related to development. Today, this concept generally includes the other changes such as behavior that happens during the adult life of an organism.
The Four forces of evolution are:
1. Mutation - in a nutshell, is described as the permanent or long-lasting change in the DNA sequence of a gene.
2. Genetic Drift - which is also known as allelic drift refers to the change in the frequency of a gene variant within a population as a result of random sampling.
3. Gene Flow - is a very important evolutionary force behind genetic variation that refers to the movement or migration of genes from one population to another.
4. Natural Selection - is the primary mechanism behind evolution. It describes the non-random and progressive procedure where certain biological traits become more or less prevalent within a population which results from differential reproduction of the respective bearers.
Biological Adaptation is the driving force behind human evolution. This is believed to influence the biological changes that happen in humans in relation to their environment while Cultural Adaptation on the other hand explains the non-biological measures that humans employ to survive in any given environment such as information, survival techniques and as well as adaptive tools they use such as clothing and weapons for hunting.
Living primates have spinal columns and are warm blooded, covered with body hair and has four limbs. These are the anatomical characteristics that most primates share. Some of the common behavioral characteristics that they have been observed to share include; being monogamous, adaptability to arboreal lifestyle, the ability to adapt to any form of dietary needs and excellent parenting traits.
Prosimians are primates but are neither monkeys nor apes. They exhibit behavior that is found to be a lot more primitive compared to those of monkeys and apes. The best example of a living prosimian is the lemurs of Madagascar.
Anthropoids are also known as simians or creatures that resemble the shape, outward appearance and are considered to be a “higher primate” class that include the great apes and humans. They exhibit social behavior that is similar to humans and modern primates such as gregariousness, intra-sexual competition and varying patterns of mating systems.
Hominoids are creatures that look similar to apes and human beings but have smaller brains. They are quadrupeds but have flexible forelimbs that work like hands.
Hominids refer to the super-family of primates that include the great apes such as the chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans and also refers to the modern man and their already extinct predecessors. Hominids have an upright posture and are bipedal.
Pecies are are a part of the fundamental units that are categorized biologically. It is a class of living organisms that has the potential of being able to mate, breed and generate productive offspring.
Microevolution is the variation of genetic changes in a certain population as a result in the manner of genetic accumulation, preference, alteration as well as the journey from one location to another. Macroevolution is the changes that occur that result to the conception of a neoteric genera or species.
Simply put, the idea of taxonomy is mainly for classifying or categorizing life. This system has been extremely useful because of the never-ending global list of species that are discovered every year.
There is a code of ethics for primatologists to follow as a means of guidance to better understand their responsibilities regarding treatment of both human and non-human
Two of the most notable issues involving ethical problems in the field of primate research are the issue of safety that applies to both the animals and the humans handling/testing them and the issue of inhumane treatment or animal abuse that includes trauma, keeping them in cramped quarters, cages and holding pens.
References
1. O’Neil Dennis. What is Anthropology? October 8, 2012. Web. http://www.palomar.edu/anthropology/
2. Issak Mark. The TalkOrigins Archive: Exploring the creation/evolution controversy. April 11, 2000. Web. http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CB/CB902.html
3. Wilkins, John, 1997. Macroevolution. http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/macroevolution.html
4. Taxonomy. Scientific Names. October 9, 2011. Web. https://www.msu.edu/~nixonjos/armadillo/taxonomy.html
5. Mackinnon Katherine. Field primatology of today:current ethical issues. January 5, 2010. Web. http://slu.academia.edu/KatieMacKinnon/Papers/265602/Field_primatology_of_today_Current_ethical_issues
