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Biological Anthropology - The nature of humankind4th revised edition/2017 Author(s): John Scott Allen, Susan C. Antón, Craig Britton Stanford
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Chapter 1
☁︎ History and principles of evolutionary Biology I
History of Evolutionary Biology
1. The Great Chain of Being (Medieval Organization of the Universe)
○ Hierarchical organization of the universe
○ Structure: Heaven (top) → Angels → Humans → Animals → Plants → Minerals
→ Hell (bottom)
○ Reflected the belief in a fixed, divinely planned hierarchy
2. Taxonomy
○ Definition: The science of classification of organisms
○ Key concepts:
a) Taxon: A group of organisms in a taxonomy
b) Binomial nomenclature: The genus and species naming system
■ Developed by Carl von Linné (Carolus Linnaeus) in 1735
■ Format: Genus species (e.g., Homo sapiens)
○ Taxonomic Hierarchy (from broadest to most specific):
■ Kingdom
■ Phylum
■ Class
■ Order
■ Family
■ Genus
■ Species
Common Names vs. Scientific Names:
Common Name Scientific
Name
Gorilla Gorilla gorilla
Chimpanzee Pan troglodytes
Bonobo Pan paniscus
Human Homo sapiens
, Key Figures in Evolutionary Biology:
a) Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788)
○ Wrote "Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière" (1749)
○ Proposed that species are varieties modified from an original form by
environmental factors
○ Suggested common ancestry for similar species (e.g., lions, tigers, leopards, and
house cats)
3. b) Georges Cuvier (1769-1832)
○ Developed the theory of Catastrophism (1796)
○ Proposed that fossils represented extinct species wiped out by cataclysmic
events
○ Believed areas were repopulated by "more advanced forms" after catastrophes
4. c) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829)
○ Proposed the theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics (1809)
○ Believed that traits acquired during an organism's lifetime could be passed to
offspring
5. d) Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and Alfred Russell Wallace (1823-1913)
○ Independently developed the theory of evolution by natural selection (1858)
○ Darwin's key works:
■ "On the Origin of Species" (1859)
■ Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle (1831-1836)
6. e) Thomas Malthus (1766-1834)
○ Economist who wrote "Essay on the Principle of Population" (1798)
○ Argued that populations expand faster than resources
○ Influenced Darwin's thinking on natural selection
7. f) Archbishop James Ussher (1581-1656)
○ Calculated the age of the Earth based on Biblical chronology
○ Proposed creation occurred on the night before October 23, 4004 BC
8. g) Charles Lyell (1797-1875) and James Hutton (1726-1797)
○ Pioneers of modern geology
○ Demonstrated that the Earth was much older than previously thought
○ Lyell's "Principles of Geology" (1830-1833) influenced Darwin's thinking
9. Biological Evolution through Natural Selection
○ Key principles:
a) Traits vary within a population
b) Traits are heritable
c) Individuals with advantageous traits survive and reproduce more successfully
d) Advantageous traits become more common in subsequent generations
○ Definition of Evolution: Change in the heritable characteristics of biological
populations over successive generations
10. Impact of Darwin's Theory
○ Challenged traditional views of species' origins and Earth's age
○ Provided a natural mechanism for the diversity of life
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