Critical Thinking: Critical Thinking Questions: Physical Anthropology

Critical thinking questions: physical anthropology textbook

1. Given that you’ve only just been introduced to the field of physical anthropology, why do you think subjects such as skeletal anatomy, genetics, nonhuman primate behavior, and human evolution are integrated into a discussion of what it means to be human?

The study of physical anthropology integrates the subjects of skeletal anatomy, genetics, nonhuman primate behavior, and human evolution because anthropologists look to the fossilized remains of hominins to see what their environments were like and what they ate. In addition to these sub fields, anthropologists look to skeletal anatomy to see any evolutionary change or if the hominin had died from any diseases and how old and tall

That connection is how the human foot shape has not had any drastic changes, however the fact that there are human footprints on the moon shows that human intelligence has evolved to the point that we are now able to invent crafts that enable us to escape the earth’s gravity.

3. Can you identify some areas of overlap between the subfields of anthropology? Why is it important to understand humankind from a holistic perspective?

Some of the overlapping areas of the subfields of anthropology are that forensic anthropology and osteology are connected because a forensic anthropology relies on processes that osteologists use to determine how an individual died, weather it was from diseases, natural causes, or other causes. Forensic anthropologists used the same methods when human remains are found in an archeological site, forensic anthropologists determine if the remains are recent or the remains of a hominin. Another overlapping area would be primate paleontology and primatology. These two subfields are similar because on focuses on the habits, environment, and lifestyles of fossilized primates while the other subfield focuses on the behavior patterns of primates and how they differ from the behavior of humans and other non-human primates. It is important to understand humankind from a holistic perspective because it will show how humans developed and evolved and adapted to their environments

Darwin’s theory of natural selection is the process of an organism being better adapted into it’s environment than other species and the stronger and better evolved the more likely it was that that organism would pass its traits on to its offspring. This is important because it explains how animals adapt and become more suited for the environment they live in.

(2) Why was Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle so important to the development of his theory? Be sure to provide examples from the film to support your answer. Shows that he would have the chance to collect rocks and animals to study as an amateur naturalist. And shows that animals indeed did evolve from lager extinct animals. The voyage as so important to the development of his theory because it shows that fossils were evidence of evolutionary