Q3 L1: Human Biocultural and Social Evolution

• this deals with the study of origin, evolution, and development of the human species, from those alive today, back to those who lived in the remote past

  anthropology
• a branch that deals with the biological origins and evolution of man, and the variations of the human species and their physical characteristics including the study of different races

  physical anthropology
• archaeologists use this to determine how old an object is

  dating methods
• this dating method is not precise and is only based on comparison with those who are already determined

  relative dating
• this dating method is more precise and the artifact/human remains can be narrowed to a bracket of within a few years

  absolute dating
• radiocarbon dating method is an absolute dating method developed by willard f libby, nuclear physicist, where it is based on measuring the active carbon or carbon 14
• this is an unstable radioactive isotope of a normal carbon used in radiocarbon dating method

  carbon 14
• potassium argon K-AR dating is a radiometric dating method based on measurement of the product of the radioactive decay of an isotope of potassium that breaks into argon, a gas
• the difference of carbon 14 and potassium argon dating is that K-AR only dates inorganic materials like rocks and minerals
• uranium series dating is considered the most accurate and reliable procedure at the present. it is done through a radiogenic isotope facility
• comprises the study of solid earth, its rock composition, and the processes of changes

  geology
• earth began 6 billion years ago
• from the beginning to the present, it is divided by time blocks called era
• this refers to the change on earth that is distinct created by an event and ended by another one

  era
• earth conditions in every era created minor changes called disturbances -- these created epochs and periods
• enumerate the the three geologic eras

  paleozoic, mesozoic, cenozoic
• this is the final era when the primates have fully evolved is is now divided in 7 epochs

  cenozoic
• enumerate the 7 epochs

  paleocene, eocene, oligocene, miocene, pliocene, pleistocene, recent
• what are the three epochs crucial to the emergence of the human being?

  miocene, pleistocene, pliocene
• this refers to the objects embedded into earth's crust and preserved by remains of ancient organisms

  fossils
• this serves as an evidence of life in pre-historic times dug out from the earth-like skeletons or imprints, or whole animals frozen in ice in permafrost (frozen earth), specimens discovered in tar pits; they yield the ancestral origins of organisms


  fossils
• the world's oldest fossil is the single celled microbes found inside a lump of sandstone rocks in western australia aged about 3.5 billion years old
• tertiary period is also called the age of mammals. it was the beginning of the cenozoic era that started 65 million years bc. one celled organisms and mollusks were the major marine life. it lasted for 63 million years
• quartenary period was 1.8 million years ago. it includes the holocene and pleistocene ice ages, 2 million bc. glaciers covered all europe, north america, and most asia. modern man appeared 500,000 bc
• the scientific study of life in the past geologic periodsand deals with life forms known from fossils

  paleontology
• whose theory was the theory of natural selection

  charles darwin
• in what book was the theory of natural selection first proposed?

  on the origin of species
• this is the process where organisms with favorable traits are more likely to reproduce; the ability to adapt to their environment

  natural selection
• what sentence was popularized from the on the origin of species which greatly describes the theory of natural selection

  survival of the fittest
• this theory not only produces changes, also the emergence of new species; as this is expected to occur through the passage of time as environmental changes as they move to new environments

  natural selection
• what are the four components of the theory of natural selection

  variation, inheritance, high rate of population growth, differential survival and reproduction
• since men underwent biological evolution, they have shared some characteristics with other animals in the past; refers to all Great Apes and their ancestors


  hominids
• these are the present monkeys and apes that are not particularly our ancestors, but should be viewed as distant relatives

  primates
• this term refers to "all monkeys"

  simian
• The Oligocene epoch paved the way to the emergence of the monkeys and some of the early apes like the:

  
  

  • Catarrhines: along with the

  - Parapithecus (possible ancestor tp the new and and old world monkeys

  - Propliopithecus (generalized homonoid)

  • Aegyptopithecus zewxis: earliest probable known antecedent to all the later hominid forms; fossil: small, monkey like
• miocene was a period of environmental conditions highlt favorable to the arboreal primates like the miocene hominoids, having mild climate, moist and wetter than present. rainforests covered most asia, africa and europe
• dryopithecus was the first of the fossils of the great apes.

  • he best preserved and known being the dryopithecus africanus. small brained, swung in branches
  • this is where the orangutan. gorillas and chimpanzees were derived from
  • first found in france, europe, china
• pliopithecus was a very early protoape

  • looks and features similar to a gibbon
  • skeleton suggests theyre ancient relatives of gibbons and siamangs
• proconsul is a fossil classified as dryopithecene

  • very early ape; ancestors of gorillas and chimps
• gigantopithecus is a massive ape, largest known primate

  • probably descended from dryopithecus indicus
  • wear on teeth suggests living on woodland/grassland
  • mode of feeding: graminivorous - eating small, tough grass seeds, stems, and rhizones that requires a lot of grinding