4 fields of anthropology
Socio-cultural anthropology
Linguistics
Language across space and time
Archaeology
Human and cultural remains
Physical anthropology (biological anthropology)
- primatology–> interspecific, across humans and Non-human primates
Why study primates in anthropology?
Two assumptions that must be true to study primates in anthropology
Derived
Primitive traits
Homology
A trait found in two or more species that is shared due to their common ancestry
Homoplasy
A trait found in two or more species that has evolved independently in each (do not have a shared common ancestor)
Shared traits
A) language and cognition
B) capacity to transform ones environment (ex: took use)
C) transmission of knowledge and the emergence of cultural traditions (ex potato washing)
Examples language and cognition
- use of language
Examples of capacity to transform ones environment
Tool use:
Examples of transmission of knowledge and the emergence of cultural traditions
7 things we learn about humans and the human phenomenon by studying NHP:
1) to understand variation in social systems
2) to analyze derived traits
3) to understand early human behaviour
4) more sophisticated modelling: strategic models
5) to understand human behaviour and variation today
6) primates are flagships/ indicator species that can be used as a gauge of ecological disturbance
7) biological similarities mean primates can contribute to biomedical advances
Ways Social systems vary between species:
Sexual dimorphism
Referential model
The use of a particular species for drawing analogies with others, when you use one species to understand a different species
Colour blindness
- colour blind sees camouflaged items better (ex invertebrates)
Primate Order
Mammals
Mammals are:
1: are endothermic (“warm-blooded- generate own body heat)
2. Have hair on bodies
3. Breastfeeding through mammary glands
4. Most are born alive (except monotremes)
Primate order includes:
Genus homo examples
Us, Neanderthals, denisovans