Exploring Biological Anthropology
An Integrated Lab Manual and Workbook
Frank L'Engle Williams
Table of Contents
Preface
Chapter 1: Biological anthropology and the scientific method
Background
Scientific inquiry
Critical thinking
Hypothesis, fact and theory
Laboratory 1: Epistemology and the scientific method
Chapter 2: Evolutionary theory
Background
Evolutionary theory
Natural selection
Genetic drift and gene flow
Laboratory introduction: Darwinian medicine, fertility, and health
Pathogens
Microbial communities
Human reproduction
Laboratory 2: Explain these evolutionary scenarios
Chapter 3: Genetics
Background
Mendelian inheritance
Mendelian versus polygenic traits
Protein synthesis
Cellular reproduction
Laboratory introduction: Prediction in genetics
ABO blood group
Hardy-Weinberg
Autosomal and sex-lined traits
Genotype and phenotype
Laboratory 3: Punnett Squares, ABO and Hardy-Weinberg
Chapter 4: Human osteology
Part 1: The human skeleton
Vertebral column
Pelvis
Pectoral girdle
Appendicular skeleton
Skull
Worksheet for Lab 4: Identification of features
Laboratory 4 (part 1): Quiz on skeletal features
Part 2: Estimating age and sex
Aging nonadults
Aging adults
Sex estimation
Laboratory 4 (part 2): Age and sex estimation in Homo sapiens
Chapter 5: Living Primates
Background
Diet, locomotion and social behavior
Primate Taxonomy
Laboratory introduction: Methods for observing primate behavior
Sampling procedures
Formats for recording observations
Testing research questions
Social behavior categories
Laboratory 5 (option 1): Observing primates
Laboratory 5 (option 2): Diet, morphology and body size
Chapter 6: Primate classification and comparative anatomy
Background
Phylogeny and taxonomy
Co-opting of traits
Phylogeny worksheet
Laboratory introduction: Functional and craniodental anatomy
Functional anatomy
Teeth
Sexual dimorphism
Laboratory 6: Comparative anatomy
Chapter 7: Dating methods and paleoecology
Background
Laboratory introduction: Dating methods and habitat reconstruction
Stratigraphy, biostratigraphy and biochronology
Chronometric dating
Fluorine dating
Paleomagnetic dating
South African caves
East African stratigraphic sequences
Reconstructing the context of the remains
Laboratory 7: Dating fossils and interpreting diet
Chapter 8: Primate evolution
Background
Precambrian
Paleozoic era
Mesozoic era
Cenozoic era
Laboratory introduction: The primate fossil record
Early primates
Anthropoids
Apes
Early bipeds
Ceropithecid monkeys
Laboratory 8: The evolution of primates, Eocene to Miocene
Chapter 9: Last common ancestor and bipedalism
Background
Laboratory introduction: Anatomy of bipedalism
Laboratory 9: Structure and function of bipedal locomotion
Chapter 10: Australopithecus
Background
South African Australopithecus
Robust australopithecines
Laboratory introduction: Plio-Pleistocene Australopithecus
Laboratory 10: Craniofacial anatomy of Australopithecus
Chapter 11: Early Homo and Homo erectus
Background
Increasing brain size
Life ways
Migration out of Africa
Laboratory introduction: The evolution and extinction of Homo erectus
History of discovery
Taxonomy
Cranial morphology
Laboratory 11: Pleistocene Homo
Chapter 12: Archaic H. sapiens
Background
Isolation and Homo floresiensis
Neandertals
Historical perspectives
Skeletal traits
Genetics
Laboratory introduction: Upper Pleistocene remains of late archaic humans
Growth and development
Neurocranium
Face
Postcranium
Laboratory 12: Morphology, development and paleodemography in Archaic H. sapiens
Chapter 13: Modern human origins
Background
Modernity
Evolution of language
Laboratory introduction: Archaic and modern H. sapiens
Laboratory 13: Modern humans and their relatives
Chapter 14: Human variation
Background
Australia and the Americas
Categorical race and the type concept
Laboratory introduction: Adaptive and nonadaptive patterns of human variation
Skin complexion
Clinal distributions
Male and female
Laboratory 14: Human variation
Chapter 15: Forensic anthropology and bioarchaeology
Background
Age, sex and stature estimation
Stature
Ancestry
Bioarchaeology
Laboratory introduction: Skeletal trauma and pathology
Laboratory 15: Mock cases and skeletal pathology
Chapter 16: Human adaptation
Background
Laboratory introduction: Life history theory
Human growth and development
Adult stature
Life expectancy with respect to subsistence patterns
The grandmother and embodied capital hypotheses
Laboratory 16: Maturation and mortality
Appendix 1: Primate fossil record and geological time scale in millions of years (mya)
Appendix 2: Assessment of learning outcomes
Appendix 3: Textbook correlation table
Appendix 4: Optional laboratory using statistics
Appendix 5: Materials for labs
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
