Loading...

Physical Anthropology> Terminologies

Definition :

Biological Anthropology

Definition :

Classical Biological Anthropology

Definition :

The dominant medical paradigm in Western societies today

Definition :

Evolution

Definition :

Life Science

Definition :

Nutritional Anthropology

Definition :

Medical Science

Definition :

The application of anthropology, usually physical anthropology, to help identify human remains and assist in solving crimes.

Definition :

It is a subfield of anthropology that draws upon social, cultural, biological, and linguistic anthropology to better understand those factors which influence health and well being (broadly defined), the experience and distribution of illness, the prevention and treatment of sickness, healing processes, the social relations of therapy management, and the cultural importance and utilization of pluralistic medical systems.

Definition :

Epidemiological Anthropology

Definition :

Ecological Anthropology

Definition :

The health-related beliefs, knowledge, and practices of a cultural group grounded in traditions.

Definition :

The analysis of the relationship between a culture and its environment.

Definition :

In contrast to other evolutionary ecological perspectives, this theory gives much more importance to culture as part of the evolutionary process. Dual inheritance refers to both genes and culture playing different, but nonetheless important and interactive roles in transmitting traits to future generations.

Definition :

Impermanent physiological changes that people make when they encounter a new environment.

Definition :

It refers to genetic changes that allow an organism to survive and reproduce in a specific environment.

Definition :

The rule that protruding body parts (particularly arms and legs) are relatively shorter in the cooler areas of a species’ range than in the warmer areas.

Definition :

The rule that smaller-sized subpopulations of a species inhabit the warmer parts of its geographic range and larger-sized subpopulations in the cooler areas.

Definition :

The rule that populations of birds and mammals living in warm, humid climates have more melanin (and therefore darker skin, fur, or feathers) than populations of the same species living in cooler, drier areas.

Definition :

A condition of oxygen deficiency that often occurs at high altitudes. The percentage of oxygen in the air is the same as at lower altitudes, but because the barometric pressure is lower, less oxygen is taken in with each breath. Often, breathing becomes more rapid, the heart beats faster, and activity is more difficult.

Definition :

Organic Evolution

Definition :

Social Evolution

Definition :

Lamarckism

Definition :

Darwinism

Definition :

Synthetic Theory of Evolution

Definition :

Doll’s rule

Definition :

Cope’s rule

Definition :

Gause’s rule

Definition :

Parallelism

Definition :

Convergence

Definition :

Adaptive radiation

Definition :

Mosaic evolution

Definition :

Primates

Definition :

Primate Taxonomy

Definition :

Primate Adaptations

Definition :

Tertiary and Quaternary fossil primates

Definition :

Living Major Primates

Definition :

Comparative Anatomy of Man and Apes

Definition :

Locomotion in which an animal walks on its two hind legs

Definition :

Animals that move through the trees by swinging hand over hand from branch to branch. They usually have long arms and fingers.

Definition :

A locomotion pattern of primates such as the chimpanzee and gorilla in which the weight of the upper part of the body is supported on the thickly padded knuckles of the hands.

Definition :

Animals that walk on all fours

Definition :

A locomotion pattern characteristic of several primates, including tarsiers and galagos. The animal normally rests by clinging to a branch in a vertical position and uses its hind limbs alone to push off from one vertical position to another.

Definition :

Adapted to living on the ground.

Definition :

Hominization

Definition :

Opening in the base of the skull through which the spinal cord passes en route to the brain.

Definition :

It is a morphological term used to describe a prominent bulge, or projection, of the occipital bone at the back of the skull.

Definition :

The linea aspera is a longitudinally oriented ridge on the posterior aspect of the femur to which several muscles of the thigh attach. Rougher the linea aspera, more surface area for the muscles to attach

Definition :

A gap between the canine and first premolar found in apes.

Definition :

A physical feature in which jaws are sticking out or pushed forward, such as the faces in apes and some hominid species.

Definition :

A ridge of bone running along the top of the skull in apes and early hominins.

Definition :

Having teeth with an enlarged pulp cavity.

Definition :

A marked difference in size and appearance between males and females of a species.

Definition :

Phylogenetic Status

Definition :

Cell

Definition :

Paired rod-shaped structures within a cell nucleus containing the genes that transmit traits from one generation to the next

Definition :

The process by which reproductive cells are formed. In this process of division, the number of chromosomes in the newly formed cells is reduced by half( haploid-n ), so that when fertilization occurs the resulting organism has the normal number of chromosomes appropriate to its species, rather than double that number.

Definition :

It is a process where a single cell divides into two identical daughter cells (cell division). During mitosis, one cell divides once to form two identical cells. The major purpose of mitosis is for growth and to replace worn-out cells.

Definition :

The gradually increasing (or decreasing) frequency of a gene from one end of a region to another. Eg- Skin color.

Definition :

Deoxyribonucleic acid; a long, two-stranded molecule in the genes that directs the makeup of an organism according to the instructions in its genetic code.

Definition :

RNA

Definition :

Protein

Definition :

Protein Synthesis

Definition :

Cell Division

Definition :

Chromosome

Definition :

Histone

Definition :

Gene

Definition :

One member of a pair of genes

Definition :

Exchanges of sections of chromosomes from one chromosome to another.

Definition :

The process by which genes pass from the gene pool of one population to that of another through mating and reproduction.

Definition :

Possessing differing genes or alleles in corresponding locations on a pair of chromosomes

Definition :

Possessing two identical genes or alleles in corresponding locations on a pair of chromosomes

Definition :

The creation of a viable offspring from the mating of two different species.

Definition :

A sudden change in the DNA sequence, producing an altered gene that could be transmitted to future generations.

Definition :

Human Genetics

Definition :

A type of selection that occurs when a heterozygous combination of alleles is positively favored even though a homozygous combination is disfavored.

Definition :

Polygenic inheritance in man.

Definition :

The type of natural selection that removes harmful genes that arose by mutation

Definition :

The various random processes that affect gene frequencies in small, relatively isolated populations.

Definition :

The total complement of inherited traits or genes of an organism.

Definition :

The observable physical appearance of an organism, which may or may not reflect its genotype or total genetic constitution.

Definition :

In biology, race refers to a subpopulation or variety of a species that differs somewhat in gene frequencies from other varieties of the species. Many anthropologists do not think that the concept of race is usefully applied to humans because humans do not fall into geographic populations that can be easily distinguished in terms of different sets of biological or physical traits. Thus, “race” in humans is largely a culturally assigned category.

Definition :

A population that consists of organisms able to interbreed and produce viable and fertile offspring.

Definition :

A population that consists of organisms able to interbreed and produce viable and fertile offspring.

Definition :

Man-family study

Definition :

Pedigree analysis

Definition :

Twin study

Definition :

Foster child

Definition :

Co-twin method

Definition :

Sublethal

Definition :

Lethal

Definition :

Multifactor inheritance in man

Definition :

Single factor inheritance in man

Definition :

Recombinant technologies

Definition :

D.N.A. technology

Definition :

Immunological methods

Definition :

Biochemical methods

Definition :

Karyotype analysis

Definition :

Cytogenetic method

Definition :

A type of natural selection that increases the frequency of a trait (the trait is said to be positively favored, or adaptive).