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Physical anthropology
 
 
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Biological anthropology, or physical anthropology is a branch of anthropology
Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humans and humanity in its totality. Anthropology has origins in the natural sciences, and the humanities. In Great Britain it was originally divided into physical anthropology and cultural anthropology, which itself was divided into archaeology, technology, ethnology and sociology ....
 that studies the mechanisms of biological evolution
Evolution

In biology, evolution is change in the heritability trait of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. These changes are caused by a combination of three main processes: variation, reproduction, and selection....
, genetic
Genetics

Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of heredity and Genetic variation in living organisms. The fact that living things inherit traits from their parents has been used since prehistoric times to improve crop plants and animals through selective breeding....
 inheritance, human
Human

A human being, also human or man, is a member of a species of bipedalism primates in the family Hominidae . Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in east Africa about 200,000 years ago....
 adaptability
Adaptation

Adaptation is the process, which takes place under natural selection, whereby an organism becomes better suited to its habitat. Also, the term may refer to some characteristic which stands out as being especially significant in the organism's survival....
 and variation, primatology
Primatology

Primatology is the study of primates. It is a diverse discipline and primatologists can be found in departments of biology, anthropology, psychology and many others....
, primate
Primate

A primate is a member of the biological order Primates , the group that contains lemurs, the Aye-aye, Lorisidaes, galagos, tarsiers, monkeys, and apes, with the last category including humans....
 morphology
Morphology (biology)

The term morphology in biology refers to form, structure and configuration of an organism. This includes aspects of the outward appearance as well as the form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs....
, and the fossil record
List of human fossils

The following charts give a brief overview of several notable primate fossil finds relating to human evolution. As there are thousands of fossils, this overview is not meant to be complete, but does show some of the most important finds....
 of human evolution
Human evolution

Human evolution, or anthropogenesis, is the part of biological evolution concerning the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species from other hominans, great apes and placental mammals....
.

Physical anthropology was developed in the 19th century, prior to the rise of Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace, Order of Merit, Fellow of the Royal Society was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Natural history, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist....
's and Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin Royal Society was an English people natural history who realised and presented compelling evidence that all species of life have evolution over time from common descent, through the process he called natural selection....
's theories of natural selection
Natural selection

Natural selection is the process by which favorable heritable trait become more common in successive generations of a population of Reproduction organisms, and unfavorable heritable traits become less common, due to differential reproduction of genotypes....
 and Gregor Mendel
Gregor Mendel

Gregor Johann Mendel was an Augustinians priest and scientist, and is often called the father of genetics for his study of the biological inheritance of certain Trait s in pea plants....
's work on genetics
Genetics

Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of heredity and Genetic variation in living organisms. The fact that living things inherit traits from their parents has been used since prehistoric times to improve crop plants and animals through selective breeding....
. Physical anthropology was so called because all of its data was physical (fossils, especially human bones).






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Encyclopedia


Biological anthropology, or physical anthropology is a branch of anthropology
Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humans and humanity in its totality. Anthropology has origins in the natural sciences, and the humanities. In Great Britain it was originally divided into physical anthropology and cultural anthropology, which itself was divided into archaeology, technology, ethnology and sociology ....
 that studies the mechanisms of biological evolution
Evolution

In biology, evolution is change in the heritability trait of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. These changes are caused by a combination of three main processes: variation, reproduction, and selection....
, genetic
Genetics

Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of heredity and Genetic variation in living organisms. The fact that living things inherit traits from their parents has been used since prehistoric times to improve crop plants and animals through selective breeding....
 inheritance, human
Human

A human being, also human or man, is a member of a species of bipedalism primates in the family Hominidae . Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in east Africa about 200,000 years ago....
 adaptability
Adaptation

Adaptation is the process, which takes place under natural selection, whereby an organism becomes better suited to its habitat. Also, the term may refer to some characteristic which stands out as being especially significant in the organism's survival....
 and variation, primatology
Primatology

Primatology is the study of primates. It is a diverse discipline and primatologists can be found in departments of biology, anthropology, psychology and many others....
, primate
Primate

A primate is a member of the biological order Primates , the group that contains lemurs, the Aye-aye, Lorisidaes, galagos, tarsiers, monkeys, and apes, with the last category including humans....
 morphology
Morphology (biology)

The term morphology in biology refers to form, structure and configuration of an organism. This includes aspects of the outward appearance as well as the form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs....
, and the fossil record
List of human fossils

The following charts give a brief overview of several notable primate fossil finds relating to human evolution. As there are thousands of fossils, this overview is not meant to be complete, but does show some of the most important finds....
 of human evolution
Human evolution

Human evolution, or anthropogenesis, is the part of biological evolution concerning the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species from other hominans, great apes and placental mammals....
.

Physical anthropology was developed in the 19th century, prior to the rise of Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace, Order of Merit, Fellow of the Royal Society was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Natural history, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist....
's and Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin Royal Society was an English people natural history who realised and presented compelling evidence that all species of life have evolution over time from common descent, through the process he called natural selection....
's theories of natural selection
Natural selection

Natural selection is the process by which favorable heritable trait become more common in successive generations of a population of Reproduction organisms, and unfavorable heritable traits become less common, due to differential reproduction of genotypes....
 and Gregor Mendel
Gregor Mendel

Gregor Johann Mendel was an Augustinians priest and scientist, and is often called the father of genetics for his study of the biological inheritance of certain Trait s in pea plants....
's work on genetics
Genetics

Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of heredity and Genetic variation in living organisms. The fact that living things inherit traits from their parents has been used since prehistoric times to improve crop plants and animals through selective breeding....
. Physical anthropology was so called because all of its data was physical (fossils, especially human bones). With the rise of Darwinian theory and the modern synthesis, anthropologists had access to new forms of data, and many began to call themselves "biological anthropologists."

Some of the early branches of physical anthropology, such as some of the early studies in anthropometry
Anthropometry

Anthropometry , in physical anthropology, refers to the measurement of the human individual for the purposes of understanding human physical variation....
, have been criticised. Metrics such as the cephalic index
Cephalic index

Cephalic index is the ratio of the maximum width of the head to its maximum length , sometimes multiplied by 100 for convenience. It was widely used by anthropologists in the early twentieth century to categorize human populations, and by Carleton S....
 were often used to derive behavioral characteristics.

Branches

  • Primatology
    Primatology

    Primatology is the study of primates. It is a diverse discipline and primatologists can be found in departments of biology, anthropology, psychology and many others....
    , the study of primates,
  • Human adaptation, the study of human adaptive responses (physiological, developmental, and genetic) to environmental stress and variation (see also biomedical anthropology
    Biomedical anthropology

    Biomedical anthropology is a subfield of anthropology, predominantly found in U.S. academic and public health settings, that incorporates perspectives from the biological_anthropology and medical anthropology subfields....
    , human biology
    Human biology

    Human biology is an interdisciplinary academic field of biology, biological anthropology, nutrition and medicine which focuses on humans; it is closely related to primate biology, and a number of other fields....
    ).
  • Human biology
    Human biology

    Human biology is an interdisciplinary academic field of biology, biological anthropology, nutrition and medicine which focuses on humans; it is closely related to primate biology, and a number of other fields....
    , an interdisciplinary academic field of biology, biological anthropology, nutrition
    Nutrition

    Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with good nutrition....
     and medicine which focuses on international, population-level perspectives on health, and on human evolution, adaptation, and population genetics rather than individual diagnosis (see also biomedical anthropology
    Biomedical anthropology

    Biomedical anthropology is a subfield of anthropology, predominantly found in U.S. academic and public health settings, that incorporates perspectives from the biological_anthropology and medical anthropology subfields....
    , human adaptation).
  • Human evolution
    Human evolution

    Human evolution, or anthropogenesis, is the part of biological evolution concerning the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species from other hominans, great apes and placental mammals....
     including:
    • Paleoanthropology
      Paleoanthropology

      Paleoanthropology, which combines the disciplines of paleontology and physical anthropology, is the study of ancient humans as found in fossil Hominidae evidence such as Petrifaction bones and footprints....
      , the study of fossil evidence for human evolution.
    • Human behavioral ecology
      Human behavioral ecology

      Human behavioral ecology or human evolutionary ecology applies the principles of evolutionary theory and Optimization to the study of human behavioral and cultural diversity....
      , the study of behavioral adaptations such as foraging, reproduction, and ontogeny from an evolutionary ecological perspective (see also behavioral ecology
      Behavioral ecology

      Behavioral ecology is the study of the ecology and evolution basis for animal behavior, and the roles of behavior in enabling an animal to adapt to its environment ....
      ).
  • Neuroanthropology
    Neuroanthropology

    Neuroanthropology is the study of culture and the brain. This field explores how new findings in the brain sciences help us understand the interactive effects of culture and biology on human development and behavior....
    , the study of the evolution of the human brain, and of culture as a neurological adaptation of the species to its environment.


The study of human evolution often involves other specializations:
  • Human osteology
    Osteology

    Osteology is the science of bone. A subdiscipline of anthropology and archeology, osteology is a detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, morphology , function, disease, pathology, the process of ossification , the resistance and hardness of bones , etc....
    , the study of skeletal material. Experts in osteology are able to apply their skills and knowledge to other areas:
    • Paleopathology
      Paleopathology

      Paleopathology is the study of ancient diseases. It is useful in understanding the past history of diseases, and uses this understanding to predict its course in the future....
      , which studies the traces of disease and injury in human skeletons
    • Forensic anthropology
      Forensic anthropology

      'Forensic anthropology' is the application of the science of physical anthropology and human osteology in a legal setting, most often in criminal cases where the victim's remains are more or less skeletonized....
      , the analysis and identification of human remains in the service of coroners or medical examiners. This research often provides law enforcement with important evidence.


Renowned biological anthropologists

  • Richard Leakey
    Richard Leakey

    Richard Erskine Frere Leakey , is a Kenyan politician, paleoanthropologist and conservationist. He is second of the three sons of the archaeologists Louis Leakey and Mary Leakey, and is the younger brother of Colin Leakey....
     (1944- )
  • David Pilbeam
    David Pilbeam

    David Pilbeam is the Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University and curator of paleoanthropology at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology....
  • Elwyn Simons
  • Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
    Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

    Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a French philosopher and Society of Jesus Catholic priesthood who trained as a Paleontology and Geology and took part in the discovery of Peking Man....
     (1881 - 1955)
  • Phillip V. Tobias
    Phillip V. Tobias

    Phillip Vallentine Tobias is a South Africa palaeoanthropology and Professor Emeritus at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He is best known for his pioneering work at South Africa's famous hominid fossil sites, and is one of the world's leading authorities on the evolution of humankind....
     (1925-)
  • Alan C. Walker (1938- )
  • Sherwood Washburn
    Sherwood Washburn

    Sherwood Larned Washburn , nicknamed "Sherry", was an United States biological anthropology and pioneer in the field of primatology, opening it to study of primates in their natural habitats....
     (1911 - 2000)
  • Ralph Holloway
    Ralph Holloway

    Ralph Holloway is a physical anthropologist at Columbia University and research associate with the American Museum of Natural History. Since obtaining his Ph.D from the University of California, Berkley in 1964, Holloway has served as a professor of anthropology at Columbia....
     (1935- )
  • Milford H. Wolpoff
    Milford H. Wolpoff

    Milford H. Wolpoff is a paleoanthropologist, and since 1977, a professor of anthropology and adjunct associate research scientist, Museum of Anthropology at the University of Michigan....
     (1942- )
  • Pardis Sabeti
    Pardis Sabeti

    Pardis C. Sabeti is an Iranian American evolutionary genetics, who developed a statistical method which identifies sections of the genome that have been subject to natural selection....
     (1975- )
  • Raymond Dart
    Raymond Dart

    Raymond Dart was an Australian anatomist and anthropology best known for his discovery in 1924 of a fossil of Australopithecus at Taung in Northwestern South Africa....
  • Eugenie C. Scott (1945- )
  • Randy Skelton
  • Donald Johanson
    Donald Johanson

    Donald Carl Johanson is an American paleoanthropology. Along with Maurice Taieb, and Yves Coppens he is known for the discovery of the skeleton of the female Hominidae australopithecine known as "Lucy ", in the Afar Triangle of Ethiopia....
  • Yohannes Haile-Selassie
    Yohannes Haile-Selassie

    Dr. Yohannes Haile-Selassie is an Ethiopian paleoanthropology. An authority on pre-Homo sapiens hominids, he particularly focuses his attention on the Rift Valley and Middle Awash Valleys of East Africa....


External links

  • - Electronic articles published by the Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History.
  • - free full text review articles available
  • pdf
  • ppt