ANTH 260 Midterm Exam Review Sheet
I.
What is science?
A. Empirical data
B. Models
C. Materialism
II. What is life?
A. Essence of engineering
1. What are functions designed to accomplish?
2. Where do functions come from?
a) William Paley’s perspective
b) Charles Darwin’s perspective
3. Adaptation
a) The role of survival vs. reproduction
III. Genetics
A. Important terms & concepts:
1. Nucleotides
2. Proteins
3. Amino acids
4. DNA and inheritance
5. Meiosis & Mitosis
B. The Blue Print Metaphor
1. Gene regulation & gene expression
a) “Code self-regulation”
C. Reproduction
1. The Book Metaphor
a) Two “books” embedded in DNA code
b) Chapters as chromosomes
c) Diploid vs. haploid cells
2. Genetic differences
a) Mutations, copying errors
(1) Positive & negative outcomes
b) The role of gametes in heritable variation
3. What is DNA at the molecular level?
a) Two strands of nucleotides
b) Two complete “codes”
4. Inheritance
a) Alleles, dominant, recessive
b) Homozygous
c) Heterozygous
d) Recombination
e) Sources of genetic variation
5. DNA & Phenotypic variation
IV. Adaptations:
A. The example of Sickle Cell Disease
1. What is sickle cell disease?
a) Hemoglobin
b) Single point mutation
2. 4 phenotypes: Unaffected carriers, unaffected, carriers, affected. Why?
3. Heterozygote advantage
4. Balancing selection
B. Darwin’s finches
1. Drought vs. rainfall
2. Environment and beak morphology
V. Darwin’s theory
A. Critical assumptions
1. A “struggle” for existence
2. Some variation has reproductive consequences
3. Variation is heritable
B. Before Darwin
1. Inheritance & Gregor Mendel
C. What is the “tree of life”?
1. Trunk?
2. Branches, nodes?
3. Leafs?
4. Two big issues
a) Determining
(1) Process of inferring the historical pattern
b) Classifying
(1) Monophyletic cladistics
(2) Paraphyletic cladistics
D. What is a species?
1. The role of hybridization
2. Allopatric speciation
3. Sympatric speciation
4. Parapatric speciation
E. Understanding diversity of life
1. Convergent evolution and the role of the environment
2. Primitive traits vs. derived traits
VI. Dating methods
A. Isotopes
B. Radioactive decay
C. Half-life
D. Uranium-Lead dating
1. Zircon
2. Relative dating
E. Carbon 14 dating
F. The Molecular clock
1. “Ticking”
2. “Starting”
VII. Primates
A. Unique traits
1. What are they good for?
2. Arboreal life & predation adaptation
B. Proto-primates
1. Primate origins
2. Niche expansion
C. Living primates
1. Prosimians & Anthropoids
2. Strepsirrhines & Haplorrhines
a) Why the need for both classification systems?
D. The Anthropoid branch
1. Platyrrhines & Catarrhines
a) Continental drift
E. Important characteristics: Lemurs, New World monkeys, Old World Monkeys,
Apes
F. Comparative analysis
1. Utility?
2. Sexual dimorphism
3. Sperm competition
G. Mating systems
1. One-male/multi-female
2. Multi-male/multi-female
3. One-male/one-female
H. Primate ecology
1. Food & Dietary specializations
a) Morphology related to ecology
2. Primates & their diets
a) Gumivore
b) Insectivores
c) Frugivores
d) Folivores
VIII. Lab content
A. Cortisol
1. Circadian rhythm
2. Production
3. Function
B. Research methodology
1. Interncal validity
2. External validity
3. Variables
IV, DV, confoundsSample questions:
• According to Boyd and Silk, stabilizing selection tends to prevent traits of organisms
changing over time.
a. True
b. False
• All of the following are true of the relationship between DNA and proteins EXCEPT:
a. a sequence of three DNA base-pairs codes for one amino acid
b. a single codon codes for one amino acid
c. an amino acid is coded by only one codon
d. sequences of codons code for sequences of amino acids
• A primitive trait is one that was inherited from a common ancestor and was replaced
because it was poorly adapted to local conditions.
a. True
b. False
• If we found that a species of primate has little to no sexual body dimorphism, what
might we infer is the most likely mating system of this species?
a. Monogamous, pair bonded
b. Multi-male, multi-female
c. One-male, multi-female
d. One-female, multi-male
• According to Boyd and Silk, independent segregation only occurs for traits controlled
by genes on different chromosomes?
a. True
b. False