Anthropology ch5

In biology, the ordering of organisms into categories, such as orders, families, and genera, to show evolutionary relationships.

The Phylum of the animal kingdom that includes vertebrates.

Animals with segmented, bony spinal colunms, includes fishes, amphibians, reptiles (including birds) and mammals.

Similarities between organisms based on descent from an common ancestor.

similarities between organisms based strictly on common functio, with no assumed common evolutionary descent.

( Homo meaning same) ( plasy meaning growth) the separate evolutionary developement of similar characteristics in different groups of organisms.

A traditional approach to classification (and evolutioary interpretation) in which presumed ancestors and descendnts are traced in time by analysis of homologous characters.

An approach to classification that attempts to make rigorous evolutionary interpretations based solely on analysis of certain types of homologous characteristics. ( Those considered to be derived characters.)

Referring to characters inherited by a group of organisms from remote ancestor and this not diagnostic of groups (lineages) that diverged after the character first appeared; also called primitive

A group of organisms sharing a common ancestor. The group includes the commonancestor and all descendants.

Referring to an evolutionary group (clade) composed of descendants all sharing a common ancestor

Referring to an evolutionary group composed of descendants with more than one common ancestor ( and thus not true clade)

referring to characters that are modified from ancestral condition and thus diagnostic of particular evolutionary lineages.

Small to medium sized group living dinosaurs, dated to approximately 150MYA and thought to be related to birds.

Relating to specific character traits shared in common between two life forms and considered the most useful for making evolutionary interpretations

A chart showing evolutionary relationships as determined by evolutionary systematics. It contains a time component and implies ancestor-descendant relationships.

A chart showing evolutionary relationships as determined by cladistic analysis. Its vased solely on interpretationof shared derived characters. It contains no time component and does not imply ancestor-descendant relationships.

A depiction of species as groups of individuals capable of fertile interbreeding but reproductively isolated from other such groups.

the process by which a new species evolves from an earlier species. Speciation is the most basic process in macroevolution

A depiction of species in which the key aspect is the ability of individuals to identify members of their own species ) In theory, this type of selective mating is a component of a species concept emphasizing mating and is therefore compatible with the biological species concept.

the concept thata species is a group of organisms exploiting a single niche. this view emphasizes the role of natural selection in separating species from one another.

The position of a species within its physical and biological environments. A species ecological niche is defined by such components as diet, terrain, vegetation, type of predators, relationships with other species and activity patterns, and eac niche is unique to a given species. Togeather, ecological niches make up an ecosystem.

Splitting many populations into separate species based on an identifiable parental pattern of ancestry.

Living in a different areas. The allopatric pattern is important in the divergence of closely related species from each other and from their shared ancestral species because it leads to reproductive isolation.

Differences in physical characteristics between males and females of the same specie. For example, humans are slightly sexually dimorphic for body size, with males being taller on average, than females of the same population.sexual dimorphism is a very pronounced in many species, such as gorillas.

within species, refers to variation seen within the same species.

Between species, refers to variation beyond that seen within the same species to include additional aspects seen between two different species.

species defined from fossil evidence, often covering a long time span..

A group of closely related species.

Traces or remnants of organisms found in geological beds on earths surface.

The process in which parts of animals for some plants become transformed into stone- like structures. Mineralizatio usually occurs very slowly as water carrying minerals, such as silica or iron, seeps into the tiny spaces within a bone. In some cases, the original minerals within rhe bone or tooth can be completely replaced, molecule by molecule, with other minerals.

the study of how bones and other materials come to be buried in the earth and preserved in fossils.

The organization of earth history into eras, periods, and epochs, commonly used by geologists and Paleoanthropologists.

The movement of continents on sliding plates of the earths surface. As a result, the positions of large landmasses have shifted drastically during earths history.

Categories of the geological time scale; subdivisions of periods in the Cenozoic era, epochs include the Paleocene, Eocene,Oligocen,Miocene, and Pliocene (from the tertiary period) and the Pleistocene and Holocene ( From the Quaterny Period).

The most recently evolved portions of the cortex of the brain that are involved with higher mental functions and composed of areas that integrate incoming information from different sensory organs.

A type of subclass of mammal . During the Cenozoic, placentals became the most wide spread and numerous mammals and today are represented by upward of 20 order, including the primates.

Having different kinds of teeth; characteristics of mammals, whose teeth consist of incisors, canines, premolars, and molars.

endo meaning within or internal. Able to maintain internal body temperature by producing energy through metabolic processes within cells; characteristic of mammals, birds, and perhaps some dinasaurs.

The relatively rapid expansion and diversification of life forms into new ecological niches.

The concept that evolutionary change prroceeds through long periods of stasis punctuated by rapid periods of change.