Anthropology B200

Bioanthropology

a learning guide
(3 credit hours)

Course designed by
Cheryl Sorenson Jamison, Ph.D.

Associate Scientist
Department of Anthropology
and
Institute of Social Research
Indiana University

Indiana University
School of Continuing Studies
Independent Study Program
Copyright © 2005 by the Trustees of Indiana University

All rights reserved.

No parts of this guide may be reproduced in any form.

Edited by Millicent Elliott.

About the Author
Cheryl Sorenson Jamison received her B.A. from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana,
with a major in psychology. She then received an M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from Indiana
University in Bloomington (the latter degree in 1987). An associate scientist in the anthropology
department and the Karl F. Schuessler Institute of Social Research, Dr. Jamison is currently study
director of the Sociological Research Practicum at the Institute.

Dr. Jamison’s bioanthropological interests include evolutionary medicine, dermatoglyphics (i.e.,

palm- and fingerprints), evolutionary theory, evolution and behavior, and growth and
development. Her doctoral dissertation investigated the dermatoglyphics of dyslexia.

Acknowledgments
Many thanks to Robert J. Meier for allowing me to attend his Anthropology B200 lectures, upon
which this course was originally based. I also very much appreciate the suggestions and
constructive criticisms of my students, both those in the classroom and those enrolled in the
earlier Independent Study version of the course. And special thanks to Paul L. Jamison for his
ever-present help, editing, and encouragement.
Table of Contents: Anthropology B200
Important Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

Study Hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Required Study Materials Order Form

Lessons

1 Introduction to Bioanthropology, the Evolutionary Mechanisms

and the Laws of Heredity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 Evolution and Genetics in Today’s World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

3 Tips for the First Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Application for the First Examination

4 Taxonomy, Living Primates, Anatomy,

and an Introduction to Studying Fossil History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

5 Primate Evolutionary History Before the Genus Homo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

6 Tips for the Second Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Application for the Second Examination

7 Human Paleontology: The Genus Homo and Modern Human Diversity . . . . . . . 213

8 Adaptation to Environmental Stress; Growth and Development;

Evolutionary Medicine; and Human Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

9 Tips for the Final Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Application for the Final Examination

Bulletin Request Form

Selling Your Textbook

 Introduction

Anthropology B200
Bioanthropology
Bioanthropology is the study of the present biological diversity of our species and the
evolutionary history that has led us to our present condition. In this course, we will discover
answers to the following questions and many others:

! How does evolution occur? What is the evidence that it has occurred?

! What evolutionary changes have occurred in our species to lead us to our present
condition? How long has our species existed as a separate species? What were the
“first” humans like, and was there actually such a thing as the “missing link”?

! How are we different from other animals and other primates (if, indeed, we really are so
different)?

! Why is our species, Homo sapiens, better than any other species at not only surviving
but actually thriving in wide climatic and geographic ranges?

! Are all humans equally capable of living in every environment, or do biological

differences among populations permit some to thrive where others cannot? For example,
in what ways are the desert-dwelling African San different from the tundra-inhabiting
Inuit (Eskimos)?

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! Are all humans equally susceptible to all diseases, or are some populations particularly
vulnerable to certain ones while others are not?

! Are all diets equally appropriate for our species, or is there one that is evolutionarily
more suited to us?

! What about behavior—are our minds really “tabula rasa” as some psychologists would
have us believe? Or do we have genetically based predispositions to respond
behaviorally in certain ways?

! Are we still evolving?

Required Textbook and Other Resources

The textbook for this course is Philip L. Stein and Bruce M. Rowe’s Physical Anthropology
(9th edition, McGraw-Hill, 2006). I selected it because it presents what is really a vast amount of
material in a clear and organized way. It has excellent illustrations that will help you understand
the fossil record and why there is disagreement among paleontologists on how it should be
interpreted. When I refer to “your textbook,” it is this book I mean. Please be sure to read all
boxes, illustrations, figures, and tables in your textbook.

I strongly recommend that you make frequent use of the McGraw-Hill Student Online Learning
Center associated with your textbook: www.mhhe.com/stein9. This site offers many helpful
tools including self-quizzes, PowerPoint lecture notes, and interactive exercises. If you have
problems with this site, please contact the publisher.

The Internet offers “hands-on” views of the fossil records and much more. Your textbook lists
relevant Web sites at the end of each chapter. I recommend that you explore some of them for
additional material to use in your essays. Please give the URL for any material you use, and be
sure to use quotation marks for direct quotes.

If you are interested in pursuing more in-depth study of any of the topics covered in each lesson,
there are Additional Readings listed both in the textbook and in each lesson. The Additional
Readings lists also give you the references for the works cited in the lessons.

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Course Overview

We’ll begin the course by exploring how evolution works. Four mechanisms operating together
affect the ongoing evolutionary process: natural selection, mutation, gene flow, and random
genetic drift. The first of these was identified by Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace a century
and a half ago, but the other three were not integrated into evolutionary theory until well into the
last century. Lesson 1 introduces you to the history of the development of evolutionary theory
leading up to our current understanding of it and explains how genetics works to actually change
the underlying biological variation. Lesson 2 continues the discussion of genetics, and then
moves into how the rules of genetics operate on a population level. After this lesson, you will
take the first exam (lesson 3).

The middle portion of the course concentrates on the place of humans in the animal kingdom,
first looking at our closest relatives, the other living primates (in lesson 4), and then studying the
evolutionary history of the Primate order. We next investigate our own fossil history in lesson 5,
from the origin of the first hominins (and their immediate ancestors), through the evolution of the
australopithecines, the group of species immediately preceding our own genus, Homo. Then
comes lesson 6, which is the second exam.

The final portion of the course begins with the evolution of the first members of our genus,
leading to the arrival of fully modern humans and a discussion of modern human diversity
(lesson 7). The last learning lesson (lesson 8) explores human biological adaption to stressful
environments, growth and development, nutrition and disease, evolutionary medicine, and human
behavior. Following this lesson is the final exam (lesson 9).

Completing the Lessons

The course is comprised of nine lessons, three of which are proctored examinations (lessons 3, 6,
and 9). Complete each non-exam lesson by doing the following steps in order:

1. Acquaint yourself with the objectives, which highlight what you will learn in the lesson.

2. Complete the primary reading assignment in your textbook. While there is some overlap in
material in the assigned textbook readings and the lessons’ discussions, there is also a
considerable amount of material covered in one but not the other. You are responsible for all
of the subject matter covered in the lessons and the textbook, including maps, tables, figures,
and boxes. Be sure you understand the key terms listed at the end of the textbook chapters.
Read through the study questions (some of which you are required to answer for your
assignment) and the critical thinking questions, and take a look at the suggested Web sites.

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3. Next, read the lesson’s discussion, which both clarifies and supplements the assigned
textbook material and introduces new topics. The discussion often refers you to specific
pages or figures in your textbook—please follow these suggestions because they will help
clarify and emphasize important points. Think through possible answers to questions I pose
in the discussions. Please feel free to ask me any questions that aren’t answered thoroughly
enough in the readings. I welcome your phone calls (although I’m not always the easiest
person to reach) and thus particularly appreciate your posing questions by e-mail. Please see
your student handbook on how to e-mail me.

4. Review the key concepts at the end of the discussion, making sure that you’ve developed a
thorough understanding of each one.

5. Complete and submit the written assignment. While most questions are directly related to
the material from that particular lesson, sometimes you will be required to include relevant
material from earlier lessons. There are several parts to the written assignments. The first
section consists of essay questions. Please read the section below called How to Answer
the Essay Questions to find out what I expect of you in answering the long essay
questions. Sound essays that are well written but also reflect your interest and enthusiasm are
essential in getting a good grade and will improve your grade in borderline situations.

The second section contains a variety of short answer and objective questions. Write your
responses to these questions on the tear-out sheets on which they appear. When you’ve
finished, tear out the pages and submit them with the rest of your written assignment. If you
think the possible responses to a question are not clear, indicate the reason for your concern,
and I will take that into consideration.

Study Hints

As you move from lesson to lesson, keep in mind the following two points: (1) This is a course in
human evolution, past and present. Most of your essays should be written with this thought in
mind. (2) This is a science course: you need to learn a good deal of factual material. This course
takes a full 15-week semester to teach in the classroom, and for this independent study course, all
of that material is divided into nine lessons, three of which are exams. So each of the study
lessons covers material that usually takes 2-3 weeks to cover in the classroom. It is a lot of
material. You are responsible for everything included in the lesson discussions and the assigned
textbook readings—including tables and illustrations. You need to commit a great deal of
material to memory, and you also need to spend the time to make sure you fully understand it.
Ideas, of course, are very important, but they are not enough—you need to know and understand
the relationships among the underlying factual material. You must become knowledgeable about

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the fossil record. Although the Independent Study Program allows you to submit two lessons at a
time, this is a practice that I do not recommend, since there is so much material in each lesson for
which you are responsible. Take the time to learn and understand it before you submit your
assignment.

The textbook chapters will not all be read in order. Sometimes there are references in the
textbook to chapters that have not yet been assigned—you might want to go ahead and skim such
chapters before continuing with the presently assigned chapter to be sure you understand the
point the authors are making. Then later, when those chapters are assigned, you will already be
familiar with the material, and the reading will go more quickly. Additionally, some topics are
discussed in different lessons in the textbook and this learning guide. Since the course is
cumulative, when you encounter a topic for the second time you might want to go back and
review how it was handled earlier.

How to Answer the Essay Questions

As you’ll see, the written assignment essay questions ask more than one question. It is your
responsibility to organize your answer, make the connections, and cover all the points raised.

Each essay must be a minimum of one and one-half to two pages in length (double-spaced
and typed); longer than two pages is fine, but shorter than a page and a half per question is
probably too short an answer. The font should be 10 or 12 points (or 10 or 12 characters per
inch), and the margins should be no larger than one inch. Many essays can only be fully
answered in three to four pages (or more). If you are handwriting, the length should be at least
doubled (three to four pages per question at a minimum), more if your handwriting is large. If I
can’t read your writing, you will receive no credit.

There is no maximum length to the essays—if you are especially interested in a topic, feel free
to express yourself in as much detail as you would like (as long as the detail is relevant to the
question). The questions sometimes require you to respond directly with material you’ve
encountered in the textbook or the lessons. However, and this is a very important point, I want
you to go beyond what you’ve read to demonstrate that you really understand the material. Use
examples (as much as possible use examples that are not included in the reading; ones that
you’ve thought about yourself are preferable), ask questions, and consider the implications of the
material you’ve read.

Sometimes you’ll be asked specifically to state and defend your opinion on a topic. It’s perfectly
acceptable to disagree with what you’ve read, but you must explain in a convincingly scientific
manner why you are taking the position that you do. Back up your arguments with factual data

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from the reading. Outside reading or television programs, particularly PBS or Discovery Channel
programs, are also appropriate, as might be your own experience, including such things as trips to
the zoo, lectures you’ve attended, and so forth. Questions asking for your opinion have no right
or wrong answers; you’ll be graded on the thoughtfulness and organization of your responses and
the relevant detail you include.

Pay attention to spelling and grammar, though such errors generally will not be counted against
you unless the problem becomes extreme. These essays should not be lists or single-sentence
paragraphs. Furthermore, they should be presented in your own words—they should not be taken
word for word from the reading. Copying from anyone else’s work is considered plagiarism and
may result in an F for the lesson or course. It’s okay to use short quotations, as long as you
use quotation marks for direct quotations and indicate the source, but please limit these to
one or, at the very most, two short quotes per question (none at all is preferable, but
admittedly, not always possible).

Examinations

There are three supervised examinations in the course. You will not be allowed to bring any
written materials with you to the exam site, though you will be allowed to use a calculator for the
first exam if you wish. You will be given two hours to complete each exam. Exam questions are
multiple-choice, true/false, examples, matching, and identifications, plus one essay question on
each exam. You will be given a choice of three essay questions on which to write. Consult
lessons 3, 6, and 9 for more detailed information about arranging for and taking the exams.

Exams are comprehensive. You are expected to remember basic material from one section to the
next. In particular, you are expected to apply concepts and definitions, especially ones from the
first section of the course, throughout the course. The exams may cover any assigned material,
though they will concentrate mostly on the preceding two lessons.

Grading Policy

Each exam counts as 25% of your grade; the written assignments count as the remaining 25%.
Each exam will be worth 100 points. Each written assignment also will be graded on a 100-point
basis; the average of all written assignment scores will be included with the exam totals in
determining your final course grade.

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Note: To pass the course, the average of your grades on the three exams must be at least 60
points. Even if your lesson grades are excellent, you will not pass the course unless you fulfill
this requirement.

Faxing Your Lessons

It’s fine to submit your lessons by fax, but it is your responsibility to be sure that the entire lesson
is received by the Independent Study Program. The first time I receive an incomplete lesson, I
will grade what I receive and allow you to resubmit it in its entirety, but after that, you will
receive no additional credit for incomplete lessons.

Submitting More Than One Lesson at a Time

Please do not submit or ask to submit more than two lessons at a time without allowing time for
feedback. And, do not submit lesson 4 before you take the first exam, or lesson 7 before you take
the second exam. If they are received before the preceding exam has been sent out, they will be
returned to you unopened. Again, as stated earlier, I do not recommend submitting more than one
lesson at a time.

Plagiarism

As an educational institution, Indiana University puts learning first. We want you to learn, and
we think you value learning as well. We also value honesty and trust. You have every right to
expect fair exams, fair assignments, and fair grades. By the same token, your instructor expects
the work you hand in to be your own. You are welcome to discuss this course with other students
and teachers, but when it comes to writing your assignments, all the words should come straight
from you, unless you are supporting your assertions with a properly cited quote.

Passing off someone else’s work as your own is plagiarism. As stated in Indiana University’s
Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct (Art. III, § A.3), “A student must not
adopt or reproduce ideas, words, or statements of another person without an appropriate
acknowledgment. A student must give due credit to the originality of others and acknowledge an
indebtedness whenever he or she does any of the following:

a. quotes another person’s actual words, either oral or written;

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b. paraphrases another person’s words, either oral or written;

c. uses another person’s idea, opinion, or theory; or

d. borrows facts, statistics, or other illustrative material, unless the information is common
knowledge.”

We take plagiarism very seriously. If you are caught plagiarizing, you could receive an F for the
whole course.

So how can you avoid plagiarizing? When is it appropriate to cite your sources, and how should
you cite them? The answer’s simple. Ask your instructor. If you’re unsure whether you’ve cited
your sources appropriately, call or e-mail your instructor before you submit your assignment. Not
only will you get answers to your questions, you’ll reap the fruit of honesty: trust.

Contacting Your Instructor

With each lesson you are required to submit an assignment cover sheet. Every assignment cover
sheet has a space for your questions and comments; you are strongly encouraged to use this
space. If problems arise between assignments, you can write to your instructor at the Independent
Study Program. Many instructors can be contacted via e-mail or reached by telephone during
established office hours. To learn your instructor’s e-mail address and/or office hours, please
refer to the contact information on the back cover of this learning guide.

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